Several works by photographer Sally Mann displayed at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth were reportedly removed following Texas Republican officials’ calls for an investigation into her artworks. In the days prior, the right-wing outlet Dallas Express had published several pieces equating Mann’s photographs of her nude children with child pornography.
The Texas visual art publication Glasstire reported that multiple photographs by Mann and accompanying wall texts had been removed from the group exhibition Diaries of Home, which features the work of 13 women and nonbinary artists including Nan Goldin and Carrie Mae Weems, opened on November 17 and explores feminine spheres.
Three of the works that were reportedly seized, none of which depict sexual content, portray her three children nude and are publicly viewable online, including on the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Guggenheim Museum’s websites. “Popsicle Drips” (1985) is a zoomed-in portrait of Mann’s young son’s torso, including his genitals, covered in what appears to be popsicle drippings. “The Wet Bed” (1987) shows a young girl lying in a soaked bed, and “The Perfect Tomato” (1990) captures a girl jumping on a table dotted with tomatoes.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth confirmed that an “inquiry” was made into four artworks in the Diaries of Home exhibition, which is slated to remain on view until February 2.
“These have been widely published and exhibited for more than 30 years in leading cultural institutions across the country and around the world,” the spokesperson said. The museum said it was unable to comment further.
A spokesperson for the Forth Worth Police Department confirmed in an email to Hyperallergic that there was an active investigation into Mann’s photographs and declined to comment further.
In a 2015 New York Times essay, Mann defended her works, writing, “All too often, nudity, even that of children, is mistaken for sexuality, and images are mistaken for actions.” She described “The Perfect Tomato” as “one of those miracle pictures in this series that preserve spontaneous moments from the flux of our lives.”
On Monday, January 6, the right-wing news site Dallas Express said police executed a search warrant to seize certain photographs. Weeks earlier, the publication published an inflammatory article lumping the exhibition’s LGBTQ+ content with allegations of criminal child pornography. Days later, Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare demanded the photographs be taken down immediately and be investigated by law enforcement, calling them “troubling and offensive.”
Hyperallergic has contacted O’Hare’s office for comment.
“If you’re not also focused on upholding moral standards, this kind of degeneracy creeps in,” Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French told the Dallas Express. “Our wonderful museums should be promoting excellence instead of radical perversion.”
The Danbury Institute, a right-wing Christian group, also condemned Mann’s photographs in an open letter on December 28.
“These images are presented under the guise of art, but in reality, they sexualize children and exploit their innocence. This exhibit should be called what it is: child pornography,” the letter reads.
Mann has not yet replied to Hyperallergic’s request for comment via Gagosian gallery.
The artist was first met with criticism over her photographs of her nude children in 1992 when she first published her collection Immediate Family, which included images of her kids in and around her Virginia home.
“ … The release of Immediate Family just happened to coincide with a moral panic about the depiction of children and that brought the whole question to the fore,” Mann said in a 2016 interview with the National Book Foundation. “It was unpleasant for a while but, as a country, it would appear we’ve moved on to other sources of paranoia.”
The international artistic freedom advocacy organization Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) issued a statement Thursday, January 9, condemning the reported seizure of Mann’s artworks, writing that the organization denounces “intimidation tactics to pressure artists and museums into censoring work.”
“This brazen act of censorship by Texas authorities not only undermines artistic freedom but also sets a dangerous precedent for the cultural sector in the United States,” Julie Trébault, executive director of ARC, said in an email to Hyperallergic.
“The targeting of Sally Mann, a celebrated artist whose work delves deeply into themes of family and identity, is emblematic of a troubling trend of intimidation and moral panic used to silence challenging voices — particularly those of women, LGBTQIA+, and marginalized artists,” Trebault continued.
Republican lawmakers similarly made moves to alter an East Tennessee State University political art exhibition that contained imagery meant to critique far-right authoritarianism last month. Following calls for the exhibition’s removal, the state-funded university museum began asking visitors to sign a liability release before viewing the exhibition.
