Silenced Sexuality

“You could argue that image was homoerotic,” says one source familiar with the video. “But it was definitely quality art.” Last week, the National Coalition Against Censorship sent a letter to Nicole Pietrantoni, director of TAC’s Visual Arts, Craft and Media Program protesting the refusal to exhibit Rehm’s videos.

“As winner of TAC’s Individual Artist Fellowship in Media Award, Ms. Rehm was invited to have a show at the TAC gallery,” the letter states. “Shortly after she delivered the works, however, you rejected the videos because one of them contained partial nudity and the others were, in your words, ‘too suggestive.’ You gave Ms. Rehm the option to show some of her older videos. Suspecting that those, too, would be ‘too suggestive,’ she declined.”

Rich Boyd, TAC’s executive director, denied the censorship charge. Though he conceded there was some nudity in the video, he insisted that had nothing to do with the agency’s refusal to display it.

“The problem with the video wasn’t the nudity but rather a lack of artistic value,” Boyd says. “We’re already displaying her drawing, but the video wasn’t as good as her other work. Also, I should add that we’re not obliged to show her work, and for that matter [TAC] isn’t even required to run a gallery service or show anything.”

“That’s positively absurd,” responds Justin Goldberg, a spokesman for the National Coalition Against Censorship. “What’s he going to do, clear the Tennessee Arts Commission of art? TAC’s mission is to show and support art. TAC is also a governmental entity and has a higher First Amendment obligation not to hold back on free speech.”

One thing’s for sure: TAC should have known what it was getting itself into with Rehm. Earlier this month, the agency sent out a postcard inviting art lovers to a reception in Rehm’s honor. And that card, which featured a facsimile of the artist’s pen-and-ink drawing “The Lack,” described Rehm as a performance artist whose work “explores identity, eroticism and obsession.”

Reached last week, Rehm, a Murfreesboro artist, declined comment and referred all questions to Hedy Weinberg of the Tennessee American Civil Liberties Union. “I definitely think this is a question of censorship on its face,” Weinberg says. “Rehm is an award-winning artist and was invited to participate. So we’re in contact with her and looking into the case, and we’re concerned that there appears to be a pattern here.”

Indeed, in 2001 TAC refused to exhibit the work of artist Ernie Sandidge because some of his paintings featured nude figures. The National Coalition Against Censorship at the time accused TAC of having an unofficial “no nude figures” policy.