Festival International d’Art Singulier
Artist: Marie Morel & Demin
Year: 2014
Date of Action: June 23, 2014
Region: Europe
Location: City of Aubagne, France
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Nudity, Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Installation, Painting, Sculpture
Confronting Bodies: Aubagne Municipality
Description of Artwork: The artwork of Marie Morel is a large-scale erotic painting titled L’Amour. The sculpture of artist Demin is a kinetic work of a woman giving birth, complete with red-colored water titled Machine à Accoucher.
The Incident: The mayor's office claimed the works were "pornographic". The municipality pressured the festival organizers to censor the specific works of Morel and Demin.
Danielle Jacqui, the festival director stepped down because of the controversy. Pressure from the mayor's office to remove the labeled "pornographic" artwork caused the festival to be canceled completely.
Results of Incident: Both of the artists have spoken out against the censorship. Morel claims that the censorship is a "growing trend toward excessive caution around erotic art."
Source:
• http://news.artnet.com/art-world/censorship-snuffs-art-bienniale-in-south-of-france-46009
