(WSJ) The Tate Modern's “Pop Life: Art in a Material World” exhibition in the UK, which officially opens to the public tomorrow, is already stirring up controversy.
According to a spokeswoman from the museum, a famous 1983 piece by Richard Prince called “Spiritual America” –- which features a 10 year-old, naked Brooke Shields in a bathtub -– has been closed off to the public.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police are investigating whether the image breaches the Obscene Publications Act. The Tate’s show features several well-known –- and provocative –- works from artists like Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst that address issues of celebrity, sex and money. Much of the work in the show is from the 1980s and 90s.
The Brooke Shields piece is actually one of the artist’s famous “thefts”: it’s a Richard Prince photograph of an image taken by commercial photographer Gary Gross in 1975 (Brooke’s mom Terry paid Gross $450 to have him take it). Terry Shields later sued to reclaim the copyright on the image, but lost.
Recently the photo "Spiritual America" was exhibited at the Guggenheim museum in New York - without problems.
Later Prince also took pictures of Shields, as shown above.
