Chaos Theory 13: Randy Slack Decides Not to Accept Suzanne Falk's Painting -- Is it Censorship? (NSFW)

KissAssTheory

Great art show Friday.

This wonky thread is hard to follow, but i got through it.

Didn't something like this happen last year??

At least this time you can better isolate the cankers.

Insightful contributions steampunk handpuppet plagiarist dude. Ha!

Although Ms. Falk seemingly approves of you few lobbing empty malatovs at, ...well everyone, you aren't doing her any solids.

http://emilydickinsome.tumblr.com/

Yawn.  You take the shock value of of the piece & you're left with nothing.  I don't care whether it's boobies OR wieners OR vaginas...it's all a big yawn,,sooooo shocking.....It's adolescent, I'm sure Suze knows that....It appears to be a reactionary piece, and really, not a great one at that.  I bet she knows that, too.  She's an awesome painter, but no one's going to accuse her of being a mature one.

I think what irks me most--and perhaps I'm simply inferring here--is Kathleen's statement. She seems to imply that Suzy's work is invalidated because it's (partially) a response to the review last year. I think Suzy's work has been anything but safe if you allow yourself to actually read beyond much of the surface of the imagery (which is one of the things encouraged at most art schools) and look at the psychosexual undertones of much of the work. Her latest work is in fact (in my view) a more overt statement of much of the work dismissed as simply still lifes.

Randy has been 'censoring' me for 14 years.

:(

It is his pad.

Sigh... maybe next year.

Yawn...typical Suzie Falk stunt. Not nearly as inappropriate as showing up with steampunk/handpuppet guy in an attempt to upstage Clint & Lara at their own wedding. I give it a 3/10 on the S.O.F.A. (Scale Of Falk Antagonism).

Falk needs to get over herself. Slack made the right decision for an ALL AGES show. Its egos like Falk's that is the problem in the Phx art scene

Was at the show last night and really enjoyed it.  The art was very good and fairly diverse.  I had my 10 year old with me and appreciate Slack's courtesy in making the show an environment in which a 10 year old could approrpiately view and appreciate the works that were displayed.

Remind me not to invite her to dinner. She will probably shit in the living room. No sense of shared responsibility or common good anymore. What happened to her?

I loved her real style before the polar shift.

What seems lost in all this is that Falk's depiction of a circle-jerk is a truly apt metaphor for the Downtown art scene, and the Chaos Theory show in particular: Bravo!

good points raised by both "sides",however the veto power does lie at the feet of Randy and his fellow studio mates.if something crosses their thresh-hold and they do not like it,then that is justt about the long and short of it.i have seen the piece.i like it.it is well done,and reminds me of something from a 50's softcore mag or something,minus the softcore part,of course.i hope she sells it,but really,i dont care.i do have a problem with my friend being labelled a 'homophobe.' If you do not happen to like 8 or 9 cocks in various states of tumescence,it does not translate to gay hating.i personally get up to make the tea when i see straight people making out in movies,and i do the same when ever i see 2 guys kissing.does this mean i am a homophobe?no,because i am too lazy.Suzy volunteered the fact that she could not procure the $20 needed (or suggested) to enter into the show,so randy helped out by offering to buy,or buying a piece from her for $50.again,good points made,good discussion,but put the homophobe shit to bed,for reals.....david dauncey.

The artist did this piece solely to ruffle feathers of the art critic and to garner attention for herself without regard for the community or other participants of Chaos Theory. Poor judgement on her part.

While I strongly agree that there exists a double standard in the world of Art regarding female nudes, her point could have been made much better by producing a quality work rather than this "shock for shock's sake" piece.If I had a nickel for every time a work I submitted to a group show was rejected (whether fair or unfair), I wouldn't have to work for a living- a true Creative always has a plan "B", and I think Eric Cox is a shining example of true professionalism in regards to Ms. Falk's immature reaction.Because she's acting like a dumped tween, no one will get to see her work, and a vital opportunity has been lost for self promotion, even with tthe extra juice provided by his soon to be forgotten tempest in a teapot.In the end, it is the Gallery's call as to what gets shown, not the Artist who painted it. If you don't like that concept, heck- open your own space and show whatever you like.Taking to FaceBook in the manner of a twelve year old and boycotting the show over a bruised Ego is just stupid, if not disrespectful to the Arts community in general.respectfully,Wayne Michael Reich (http://WayneMichaelReich.Blogspot.com)PS: I'll be at Chaos by 8, so if anyone has a severe dislike of my opinion, feel free to come over and discuss it with me in a civil fashion.

Well really what it all comes down to is that it's two things and one thing is different than the other thing. ANYONE CAN SEE THIS! It's really a clear choice of what's right and wrong here and it's really a situation that's quite a situation.

I love "in heaven everything is fine".  It is an incredible painting and anyone should be proud to be having it hang (no pun intended) where ever.  Art is supposed to challenge and this painting definitely does and does it well.

so, nudity isn't allowed by alcohol & sexualized women are? that sounds fair.

http://downtowndevil.com/2012/10/05/31925/chaos-theory-gallery-to-display-wide-scope-of-artistic-styles

More than 60 artists will be involved in the free, one-night public show from 6 p.m. to midnight, featuring painting, photography and sculpture. The only stipulation is that artists show something reflective of their most current style, said James Angel, who founded the first Chaos Theory with Slack and David Dauncey.

“(It’s) a time for people to kind of take risks and step out of the box a bit and not stay so safe,” Slack said. “It’s more of an avant-garde thing.”

---

Whoops.

Wait a second, Randy Slack. So what you’re saying is the content of YOUR work which we’ve all appreciated for years now and features women in varying stages of undress is okay and Suzanne Falk’s isn’t? The same Suzanne Falk who got savagely criticized for her innocuous work in your show last year and decided to do something different this year, while your work was most recently on display at an art show put together by a certain nightlife promoter with whom you have more than a passing acquaintance with who’s suddenly a ‘curator’ and which work’s subject matter featured a topless woman with a slab of meat for a vagina? Do I have the facts of the matter right here that the central premise of your argument is based upon? Please correct me if I do not.  And that you told Suzanne Falk that she should go have children and then she would understand? Everyone knows you didn’t mean for that to sound the way it did, but it’s still an offensive thing to say to a female artist. These are all things that can’t be said in the article because it’s not the way journalism works, but it doesn’t make them any less true.  Another true thing is that the premise of the Chaos Theory show is that it operates as an invitational with pieces that the artists work really hard on, sometimes for months, with the work remaining sight unseen until drop-off. It’s a showcase of the best and the brightest that the city has to offer and most importantly, what they’re working on right NOW. That’s what everyone loves about the show, its immediacy and ambition. It’s always been a great kick off to the fall and to cooler weather and what might be termed as the art season here. But then somehow you have final say and the power to reject something all the way up until show time, because it’s YOUR space and moreover, so as NOT to offend the sensibilities of the larger crowd you are trying to program for? That’s bad business and also bad curating as it’s really not reflective of the direction that the artists might actually be taking and so perhaps it’s something that needs to be addressed in the future as this show and this city evolves. Otherwise you might get accused of artist on artist censorship which is pretty much socially unacceptable in other more developed art markets. In fairness to you, this town does suffer somewhat from a lack of actual curators and programmers who know what they’re doing and a long-time dearth of usable real estate and so that’s why we have always had so many artist run shows in non-traditional spaces. But it doesn’t actually make what happened here okay. We really can do better. And everyone knows you work really hard on this show and it is mad appreciated by a lot of people, myself included. But still. Also I’m not sure Kathleen Vanesian should be the go-to person in this article about what qualifies as censorship and what does not. Seems like there just might be a small conflict of interest there. Just saying though. Real talk.

Its his show and if he doesn't want to display porn that is his perogative.  There is a definite line between edgy and porn and Slack apparently felt that Falk crossed it.  I think she crossed it in a big way.  I'd think the same thing if half the figures in her painting were female instead of male so its not a gender issue but an issue of graphic-ness (if I may coin the word).  Slack was even willing to make an accommodation had he have had more time "And if she approached me earlier, we could have made a booth or something." (which is more than I would have done).

Seems like a big to do about a pouty artist insisting on displaying an inappropriate painting in an inappropriate venue.

People are getting hung up on the wrong things. I don't think anyone's disputing that Chaos Theory is Randy Slack's show and that he can't do what he wants. Calling it censorship is silly because, as was noted, Suzy Falk has other avenues through which to exhibit the painting.

What I think is at issue is *when* the line is drawn regarding making curatorial choices. If Slack is rejecting art as it's being dropped off (which happened to Falk and Eric Cox, according to the article), that seems to indicate that he's not being clear about what he's looking for when he invites artists to participate. If the goal is to have art that is appropriate for all ages, then that probably should have been mentioned alongside the invitations to participate. (Maybe that was the case, but it doesn't seem like it.)

All that said, yep, it's Randy Slack's show; he gets the final say. It's just unfortunate that miscommunication/lack of communication has lead to Falk not being in the show. In any case, Chaos Theory will still be a great show and Suzy Falk is still amazingly talented.

FTA:  "was inappropriate for the all-ages audience that usually floods the huge studio/gallery space on Van Buren."  This says it all he wants works that are appropriate for his audience and by doing  so exposes a larger group to non traditional art.

 If I had young Children I would not want them to see this anymore than I would want them to see a painting  of a heterosexual orgy

Just because you think edgy is going to a homoerotic circle jerk from bunnies does not make it so, it is called shock value, edgy skirts the  bounds of societal acceptance  while invoking thought debate and introspection, sorry but guys playing with their peeners in a group does not do that !

As far as Censorship goes, many should learn that  Censorship is something  the  Govt. does not private individuals!