Exquisite Community
Date: 1995
Region: North America
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Painting
Artist: Ben Rubin, Cedar Nordbye, Julie Purwin, and Steven Giese
Confronting Bodies: University of Iowa officials and police
Dates of Action: 1995
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
Description of Artwork: Exquisite Community is a set of nine paintings showing human body parts on bed-sheets. When assembled the paintings form three figures. One of the paintings contains a picture of male genitalia.
The Incident: After the necessary permits were obtained, the paintings were attached to an outside wall of a university building as the backdrop for a campus event promoting fine arts. However, the director of planning and administrative services, Richard Gibson, ordered the pieces to be removed. He claimed that they violated the schools policy prohibiting the attachment of materials to the outside of university buildings. Police also suggested that people called to complain about the paintings. The police removed the paintings from the buildings.
Results of Incident: The artists have requested compensation for pieces damaged in the removal. The Iowa District Attorney is processing the request.
Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack, 1996
