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Robert Mapplethorpe And Obscenity Charges - Research Paper

Robert Mapplethorpe And Obscenity Charges

Robert Mapplethorpe began taking photographs in 1970 with a Polaroid camera given to him by a friend. Nearly twenty years later, when Mapplethorpe died at the age of forty-two, he was considered one of the most important photographers of his time. His elegant and sometimes shocking nudes, the black-and-white portraits, flower still lifes, and images of sexual sadomasochism had been exhibited widely and were the subject of serious critical attention in Europe and America. A few months after his death, Mapplethorpe became the focus of an acrimonious debate over federal funding of the arts when an exhibition of his work was cancelled by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. The ...

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of menstrual blood, clothing made of condoms, and a depiction of Jesus Christ as a drug addict and sex object.

In 1990, after the NEA helped fund Robert Mapplethorpe's ''homoerotic'' photos and Andrew Serrano's crucifix in a jar of urine, Congress took action.

It passed a bill requiring the NEA to consider ''general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public,'' as well as artistic excellence, in awarding grants.

Some NEA supporters objected, including Karen Finley - who had previously received a grant for smearing her naked body with chocolate, an act judged to be artistic excellence.

Finley filed a lawsuit, arguing the decency standard was too vague - and also that it violated free speech.

Inexplicably, she prevailed on the trial and appellate levels, setting the stage for a Supreme Court hearing next year.

Decency is no less vague than artistic merit, the only standard that Finley finds acceptable. The quality of art is very ...

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Robert Mapplethorpe And Obscenity Charges. (2005, March 23). Retrieved April 18, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Mapplethorpe-And-Obscenity-Charges/24135

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/23/2005 01:16:06 AM
Category: Legal Issues
Type: Free Paper
Words: 1005
Pages: 4

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