Strike Three (photograph)
Date: 2001
Region: North America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Photography
Artist: Andrea London
Confronting Bodies: The PNC Human Resources Department
Dates of Action: June, 2001
Location: PNC Bank Firstside Center Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Description of Artwork: Commercial and media photographers were asked to create a piece that in some manner incorporated a baseball. In Strike Three London placed the stitches of a baseball under the blackened eye of a pregnant woman who's carrying a suitcase and walking out a door. Three other images in question were: a photograph of a blonde model striking a Marilyn Monroe pose and holding a baseball; a close-up of a woman's legs with a baseball in front of them; and two baseball gloves, each holding balls and exchanging double entendres by way of captions.
The Incident: Prior to the opening of the American Society of Media Photographers' annual show, the PNC human resources department asked that four works be removed from Object Show 2001, because several employees had objected to their content. One of which was Andrea London's Strike Three.
Results of Incident: Rather than remove the four works, the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers took down whole exhibition. The bank claimed that it was not censorship because it was a private space and it was their right to reject unwanted art. The show did go up at a different venue. Upon hearing of the show's cancellation, One Gateway Center offered to house the exhibit in a public conference facility. The show was anticipated to travel to other sites in Pittsburgh.
Source: NCAC, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6.22.01