Brooke Shields Exploited by Nude Childhood Photo
A prestigious art museum in London is under fire for their decision to display a nude photo of a 10-year-old Brooke Shields that critics and child advocates fear will be a “magnet for pedophiles.”
A detail from the original photograph of Brooke Shields by Gary Gross, which Richard Prince used in his artwork displayed at the Tate.
The image, titled ‘Spiritual America,’ is the work of Richard Prince and shows the young actress naked from the knees up, wearing make-up and covered in oil. She is looking directly at the camera.
Tate Modern decided to display the image in their ‘Pop Life: Art In a Material World‘ show after seeking legal advice and moved the piece to a separate room that warns visitors of its “challenging imagery.”
‘Spiritual America’ is actually a 1983 photograph of a 1975 photograph taken by artist Gary Gross, who hired Shields as a model and claims he had her mother’s consent. She tried unsuccessfully to buy back the negatives in 1981, before Prince incorporated it as his own. A judge ruled her as a “hapless victim of a contract.”
Children’s advocates reacted to the Tate’s decision with shock. Michaele Elliott, founder of Kidscape, told the Telegraph he felt Shields was being exploited.
“She could not have given informed consent to it being used. It must be bordering on child pornography. It is certainly not art.
If you are using a picture of a naked child to bring people to your exhibition, then you are exploiting that child. It’s as if they are using a 10-year-old girl for bait. I find it disturbing and they should be ashamed of themselves. And putting the picture in a room with a warning outside really is a magnet for pedophiles.”
Well, apparently that contract really doesn’t mean jack. The image has been removed from display after a visit to Tate Modern by officers from the obscene publications unit of the Metropolitan police.
source: Tate Modern removes naked Brooke Shields picture after police visit [guardian]
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