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The show generated controversy in London and New York due to the
inclusion of images of Myra Hindley and the Virgin Mary. The show Royal Academy, London
consisted of work from the collection of Charles Saatchi. It was
criticised by New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and others for attempting to boost the value of the work by showing
it in institutions and public museums.[1]
Works
The artworks in Sensation were from the collection of Charles Saatchi, a leading
collector and publiciser of contemporary art. Norman Rosenthal, the Royal
Academy of Arts exhibitions secretary, helped to stage the 110 works by 42
different artists. Many of the pieces had already become famous, or notorious,
with the British public (for example, Damien Hirst's shark suspended in
formaldehyde titled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone
Living, and Tracey Emin's tent titled Everyone I Have Ever Slept With
1963–1995). Others had already achieved prominence in other ways, such as a
successful advertising campaign using an idea from Gillian Wearing's
photographs. Sensation was the first time that a wide audience had had the
chance to see these works en masse. The Royal Academy posted this disclaimer
to visitors on entry: Myra: 1995 depiction of the child
killer Myra Hindley by the YBA
There will be works of art on display in the Sensation exhibition which Marcus Harvey
some people may find distasteful. Parents should exercise their judgement
in bringing their children to the exhibition. One gallery will not be open to those under the age of 18.[2]
London
The opening of Sensation at the Royal Academy caused a public furore and a media frenzy, with both broadsheet
and tabloid journalists falling over themselves to comment on the show’s controversial images, and unprecedented
crowds queuing up to see for themselves what all the fuss was about. Around a quarter of the RA's 80 academicians
gave a warning that the exhibition was inflammatory. They and some members of the public complained about
several other exhibits, notably the installations by Jake and Dinos Chapman, which were of child mannequins with
noses replaced by penises and mouths in the form of an anus.
However, the biggest media controversy was over Myra, an image of the murderer Myra Hindley by Marcus
Harvey.[2]
The Mothers Against Murder and Aggression protest group picketed the show, accompanied by Winnie Johnson, the
mother of one of Hindley's victims,[3] who asked for the portrait, made up of hundreds of copies of a child's
handprint, to be excluded to protect her feelings. Along with supporters she picketed the show's first day. Myra
Sensation (art exhibition) 2
Hindley sent a letter from jail suggesting that her portrait be removed from the exhibition, reasoning that such action
was necessary because the work was “a sole disregard not only for the emotional pain and trauma that would
inevitably be experienced by the families of the Moors victims but also the families of any child victim.”[4] [5]
Despite all the protest the painting remained hanging. Windows at Burlington House, the Academy's home, were
smashed and two demonstrators hurled ink and eggs at the picture as a result, requiring it to be removed and
restored. It was put back on display behind Perspex[6] and guarded by security men.
The show was extremely popular with the general public, attracting over 300,000 visitors during its run,[6] helped by
the media attention which the strong subject matter had received. The BBC described it as "gory images of
dismembered limbs and explicit pornography".[7]
Berlin
Sensation was shown at the Berlin Hamburger Bahnhof museum (30 September 1998 – 30 January 1999) and
proved so popular that it was extended past its original closing date of 28 December 1998.
New York
The exhibition was shown in New York City at the
Brooklyn Museum from 2 October 1999 to 9 January
2000. The New York show was met with instant
protest, centering on The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris
Ofili, which had not provoked this reaction in London.
While the press reported that the piece was smeared
with elephant dung, Ofili's work in fact showed a
carefully rendered black Madonna decorated with a
resin-covered lump of elephant dung. The figure is also
surrounded by small collaged images of female
Brooklyn Museum of Art
genitalia from pornographic magazines; these seemed
from a distance to be the traditional cherubim.
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had seen the work in the catalogue but not in the show, called it "sick
stuff" and threatened to withdraw the annual $7 million City Hall grant from the Brooklyn Museum hosting the
show, because "You don't have a right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else's religion."[6] Cardinal
John O'Connor, the Archbishop of New York, said, "one must ask if it is an attack on religion itself," and the
president of America's biggest group of Orthodox Jews, Mandell Ganchrow, called it "deeply offensive".[8] William
A. Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the work "induces revulsion".[6]
Giuliani started a lawsuit to evict the museum, and Arnold Lehman, the museum director, filed a federal lawsuit
against Giuliani for a breach of the First Amendment.[8]
Hillary Clinton spoke up for the museum, as did the New York Civil Liberties Union.[9] The editorial board of The
New York Times said, Giuliani's stance "promises to begin a new Ice Age in New York's cultural affairs." [10] The
paper also carried a full-page advertisement in support signed by over 100 actors, writers and artists, including Susan
Sarandon, Steve Martin, Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, Kurt Vonnegut and Susan Sontag.[8] Ofili, who is Roman
Catholic, said, "elephant dung in itself is quite a beautiful object."[8]
The United States House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution to end federal funding for the museum
on 3 October 1999, and New York City did stop funding to the Brooklyn Museum. On 1 November, federal judge
Nina Gershon ordered the City not only to restore the funding that was denied to the Museum, but also to refrain
from continuing its ejectment action. On 16 December 1999, a 72-year-old man was arrested for criminal mischief
after smearing the Ofili painting with white paint, which was soon removed.[11] The museum produced a yellow
Sensation (art exhibition) 3
stamp, saying the artworks on show "may cause shock, vomiting, confusion, panic, euphoria and anxiety."[8] and
Ofili's painting was shown behind a Plexiglass screen, guarded by a museum attendant and an armed police
officer.[10] Jeffrey Hogrefe, art critic for the New York Observer, commented about the museum, "They wanted to
get some publicity and they got it. I think it was pretty calculated."[6] The editor-in-chief of the New York Art &
Auction magazine, Bruce Wolmer,said: "When the row eventually fades the only smile will be on the face of Charles
Saatchi, a master self-promoter."[8]
Australia
The show was scheduled to open in June 1999 at the National Gallery of Australia, but was cancelled, the director,
Brian Kennedy, saying that, although it was due to be funded by the Australian government, it was "too close to the
market" since finance for the Brooklyn exhibition included $160,000 from Saatchi, who owned the work; $50,000
from Christie's, who had sold work for Saatchi; and $10,000 from dealers of many of the artists.[12] Kennedy said he
was unaware of this when he accepted the show. Saatchi's contribution, the largest single one, was not disclosed by
the Brooklyn Museum, until it appeared in court documents.[12] Similarly, when the show opened in London at the
Royal Academy, there had been criticisms that it would raise the value of the work.[12]
YBAs
• Jake & Dinos Chapman
• Adam Chodzko
• Mat Collishaw
• Tracey Emin
• Marcus Harvey
• Damien Hirst
• Gary Hume
• Michael Landy
• Abigail Lane
• Sarah Lucas
• Chris Ofili
• Richard Patterson
• Simon Patterson
• Marc Quinn
• Fiona Rae
• Sam Taylor-Wood
• Gavin Turk
• Gillian Wearing
• Rachel Whiteread
Sensation (art exhibition) 4
Further reading
• Rosenthal, Norman, Adams, Brooks, Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), Saatchi Collection. Sensation:
Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection. April 1998. Thames and Hudson. London. book cover image
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0500280428)
• Hirst, Damien. Damien Hirst pictures from the Saatchi Gallery. London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2001.
• Rothfield, Lawrence (ed). Unsettling 'Sensation': Arts-Policy from the Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy
(http://www.amazon.com/Unsettling-Sensation-Arts-Policy-Controversy-ebook/dp/B000RL54I0). Rutgers
University Press, 2001.
External links
• BBC review of the Sensation exhibition (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/43401.stm)
• A timeline of the New York protests (http://www.artnotart.com/f-sensation.html)
• Links to the various artists involved in Sensation (http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/sensation.html)
• David Bowie ran the virtual Sensation exhibition (now over) (http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-515862.
html?legacy=zdnn)
• Royal Academy of Arts (http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/)
• Brooklyn Museum of Art (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/)
• Berlin Hamburger Bahnhof Museum - website and page on the Sensation exhibition in German (http://www.
smb.spk-berlin.de/d/exhibition/sensation/index.html)
Article Sources and Contributors 6
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