‘Involved in a Sexual Act with a Dog on a Bed of SS Helmets’: MACBA Barcelona Show Canceled Over Pornographic Artwork Ridiculing Spanish King Juan Carlos

“It’s a work of art inscribed in the great tradition of works about art and power.”

— Valentín Roma, one of the curators of the exhibition

MACBA director Bartomeu Marí proposed that the sculpture be removed. When the artist and the curators declined, he canceled the exhibition. 

Lorena Muñoz-Alonso and Brian Boucher report: An artwork depicting the former Spanish king Juan Carlos and Bolivian Labor leader Domitila Chúngara involved in a sexual act with a dog on a bed of SS helmets has led the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) to cancel the exhibition “La Bestia y el soberano” (The Beast and the Sovereign) on the day it was meant to open (see After 20 Years, Portrait of Spain’s Royal Family Is (Nearly) Finished). The offending artwork, Not Dressed for Conquering, is a sculpture by Austrian artist Ines Doujak.

“I don’t want to spend time describing the piece, which I consider inappropriate and contradictory to the museum’s line.”

“It’s a work of art inscribed in the great tradition of works about art and power,” Valentín Roma, one of the curators of the exhibition told El País.

[Read the full text here, at Artnet News]

“Art has been caricaturing the archetypes of power for centuries, which is what Doujak’s work is doing” (see Why Self-Censorship of Controversial Artwork is Wrong).

“I have always fought to defend contemporary art and its role in the reality that surrounds us, but in this case, I completely disagree with the inclusion of this work in an exhibition that reflects on the concept of sovereignty in all its aspects.”

— MACBA director Bartomeu Marí

The exhibition was to include more than two dozen artists and artist duos or teams, including Juan Downey, León Ferrari, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Mary Reid Kelley, and Wu Tsang. In an open letter, the curators assert that the museum management was fully informed of the show’s theme and contents:

The curators never hid any information about the exhibition to the director of the museum: he was informed by Paul B. Preciado and Valentín Roma of the concept and the full list of works of the exhibition. The director had validated the project and not only its text and description but also the list of artists were already published in the MACBA’s internet page months ago.

MACBA director Bartomeu Marí claims he had not seen the artwork until Monday.

“I don’t want to spend time describing the piece, which I consider inappropriate and contradictory to the museum’s line,” Marí told El País. “I have always fought to defend contemporary art and its role in the reality that surrounds us, but in this case, I completely disagree with the inclusion of this work in an exhibition that reflects on the concept of sovereignty in all its aspects.”

The show was curated by Hans D. Christ and Iris Dressler, co-directors of Stuttgart’s Württemberg Kunstverein, along with writer Paul B. Preciado and Valentin Rome. According to the curators, the works “call into question different uses of sovereignty:

In the case of Ines Doujak, first and foremost white male sovereignty in regard to colonial and sexual exploitation; in the case of the artists from Kazakhstan, Viktor & Yelena Vorobyeva, the exercise of totalitarian power; in the case of Sergio Zevallos, the use of sacred and military iconography as well as normative sexuality, to name just a few.

Marí proposed that the sculpture be removed. When the artist and the curators declined, he canceled the exhibition. The organizers promise in the open letter that they will open the show in Stuttgart as soon as possible.

It’s the second time in several months that a provocative artwork has resulted in turmoil at a Spanish museum. Last year…(read more)

Artnet News

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