Recently I got an invitation to view some nude art pictures on line and participate in a discussion on them. One of my friends who added the discussion on an artist network was protesting and complaining that his pictures were banned from some shows in his country. He said: "Where is the artistic freedom? Why was my work banned? There are nude pictures on walls of some Hindu Temples (yes everybody gives this example. It is so boring to hear it over & over again). In India nudity was accepted since ancient times. So I expect people in this country to support me."
"No way", I told him. Yes, any artist who does nude work has the freedom to do whatever he wants to do. But at the same time he has to respect the opinion of the people who refuse to see his work and buy his work. He cannot force his work on people who don't want it.
He even mastrubates, posts the pictures on networks & says it is a type of art work! Another artist ejaculates semen on to canvasses to create different patterns & says this is a type of art work! Surely there must be a line drawn between artistic freedom & spreading vulgarity in the name of freedom. I don' do nude art work because I am not comfortable with it. But I respect other artists' freedom to do whatever work they want to do. I am not comfortable watching the nude art work either. I refuse to see it or buy it. I don't approve it on my network. Ning too doesn't approve nudity on its authenticated sites. And nobody has any right to bring pressure on me to accept it or see it. They have no right to protest when others refuse to accept it.
Yes, nudity was shown on the walls of some ancient Hindu Temples. People who appreciated nude works in those times might have created them. That doesn't mean everybody in ancient India approved it. And aren't we more evolved than nude Neanderthal men? Those who give examples of these ancient nude art works in India & Neanderthal men to support their view can go back to their times.
What has to be kept inside closed doors should be kept there when people refuse to see it outside and show the work only to people who want to see them. Like you have your right to produce your work, I too have my right to refuse it and see it in public places.
Arguing and protesting don't change me. Yes, I belong to a more cultured society that doesn't belong to ancient times.