Teachers' group removes professor's suggestive art
by Monique Beeler
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Writer Oakland Tribune also published in the Fremont Argus
Friday August 23, 2004
Hat in hand, the man in a suit and tie stand next to a pile of what
appear to be library books, but his gaze isn't fixed on anything
academic. What catches his eye is the blonde seated behind the desk
in a provocative pose that reveals her black garters and well-toned
legs.
[Image http://www.kenney-mencher.com/]
Reference Desk oil on canvas 48"x60"
To the artist, Kenney Mencher, an associate professor of art and art
history at Ohlone College in Fremont, the painting presents an
uncertain scenario each viewer is invited to interpret individually.
To employees at a state building in Sacramento, it was artwork that
made them uneasy and didn't belong near their work space.
Along with work by two other artists, Mencher's paintings went on
display April 9 in an informal exhibition of teachers' artwork at the
California State Teachers' Retirement System offices. One work day
later on April 12, four of Mencher's paintings were removed after
several employees complained.
"Some of them are rather risqu=E9," says Kirsten Macintyre, a
spokeswoman for CalSTRS. "There's one of a woman sitting at a desk
with her skirt hiked up and her garter showing, and there's a man
staring at her. It's suggestive and it's not appropriate for a state
workplace."
The department policy prohibits the ". . . displaying of ***ually
suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons or posters."
Mencher says he doesn't disagree about the removal of this painting,
called "Reference Desk." or another canvas called "Macys" in which two
women face each other through a doorway. One is seen from behind in a
camisole-style top, while the second, wearing a bra, turns toward her.
[Image http://www.kenney-mencher.com/]
Macys, oil on canvas 36" x 36"
But Mencher, 39, a Palo Alto resident, says he's mystified about the
removal of two other paintings, one of two boys playing with water
shooting from an uncapped fire hydrant and a scene of a svelte young
woman in a sleeveless dress and heels standing beside the passenger
door of a car.
[Image]
[Image]
Another Roadside Attraction
oil on canvas 24x30" Hydrant, oil on canvas 48"x60"
Mencher says he strives to depict subjects with ambiguous meanings,
something like an artistic Rorschach test in which the viewer examines
ink splotches to decipher underlying significance.
"My feeling is if women feel uncomfortable with (these paintings),
they're definitely bringing their own baggage to it," Mencher says.
Painting in a realist tradition reminiscent of illustration work of
the 1950s, Mencher says he often gleans inspiration from the era's
films and magazines.
And while he says his work is popular with many viewers and has sold
well in recent years, this isn't the first time his choice of subject
has sparked controversy. His three-year relation****p with HANG Art
gallery in San Francisco came to an end in November over similar
issues.
"His work started to go in a direction that didn't feel like a match
for the gallery," HANG Art Director Michelle Townsend says. "It was
clear he wanted to take his work beyond what the staff was comfortable
with."
Townsend calls the parting with Mencher amicable. Representing an
artist and his work well, she says, calls for enthusiasm from gallery
staff members, something that had diminished among HANG Art employees,
most of whom are women.
There is a frankness to Mencher's work that Townsend calls unabashed.
"There's a cheesy side to all of our fantasies that Kenney is
interested in, and as consequence, some of (his paintings) are funny
and overt," she says.
Personally, Townsend says, she sup****ts Mencher's artistic drive and
encourages him to "go crazy in whatever direction he wants to go."
But if she had been the curator of the Sacramento exhibition, she
would have been more conservative in choosing which of Mencher's
paintings to show.
There are several ways a curator could approach such situation, says
Mitchell Schwarzer, chair of visual studies at California College of
the Arts.
"What often happens in museums or galleries, they'll put a warning (in
the) wall text: 'The work has adult content that is ***ual or
violent,' "Schwarzer says.
Viewers should be forewarned, he says, when they're about to encounter
challenging artwork.
"It's very much like when you go to the movies," Schwarzer says.
"The rating system is letting people know that they're getting into."
"Noone should be forced to view potentially offensive art in their
place of employment, but neither should art be banished from the work
place altogether," he says. Where space allows, Schwarzer suggests
placing controversial pieces in a separate room accompanied by a
warning label.
It's a tactic, that would allow the public to choose whether to view
the art, while remaining respectful toward the artist and his work.
Whenever art is incor****ated into public spaces, controversy is bound
to follow, particularly as viewers become more vocal about what they
will and won't tolerate, Schwarzer says.
"By and large, controversy is good for the artist." he says. "The
work enters into a public discourse and (creates) publicity for the
artist."
That's already proven true for Mencher, who has received inquiries
from several galleries interested in displaying his paintings. He has
no intention of taming his future work.
"It made me feel good that people had such strong reactions to it,"
Mencher says. "Maybe I've got my finger on something that ought to be
scratched."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can e-mail Monique Beeler at mbeeler@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
or call
(925) 416-4860
--
Kenney Mencher MA MFA
Associate Professor of Art and Art History
Ohlone College, Office: 4316
43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont,
California 94539
Phone: (510) 659-6000, Ext. 5081
KMencher@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
