I am writing in regard to Brigham Young University's recent censorship of Auguste Rodin's The Kiss, Saint John the Baptist Preaching, The Prodigal Son and Monument to Balzac. As an artist and an art educator, I find myself surprisingly emotional about this situation. It is extremely rare that a community of our size has the opportunity to view works of this caliber.
This motion of censorship seems to make sport of our society's attempt to enrich our knowledge of and appreciation for great works of art. It seems to me a tragedy that these images, wrought with such passion and skill, sit right under our noses and yet we will not have the opportunity to study them. If we expect the youths of Utah to mature into lovers of culture, this sort of act tells them otherwise.I find further, biting irony in the fact that an institution of higher learning, especially one that claims to grapple with questions of faith, meaning and spirituality, would censor an artist whom the rest of the world regards as one of the most profound investigators into human experience, integrity, contemplation and ecstasy. If reaching into one's soul for images that seek to record the meaning of life is not "reverent or honorable," then the whole of art has been misled.
Campbell Gray has said the issue is not nudity and, in fact, I tend to agree. I believe the issue here may revolve partly around male nudity and the triumph of the double standard. I am frightened at the simple-minded explanation of this fiasco. Why agree to show a Rodin exhibit if you don't have a rooted appreciation for some of his most important works?
Rebecca Campbell
Salt Lake City