From the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times


Wednesday, May 23, 2001


Bikini-Clad 'Our Lady' Will Remain on Display
From Times Wire Reports

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery bikini--a work both denounced as disrespectful and defended as free expression--will stay at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Museum officials recommended that "Our Lady," by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, remain on display. The state-run museum, "in the spirit of reconciliation," will close the exhibit that includes the work nearly four months early, on Oct. 28, an official said. Archbishop Michael Sheehan said he will continue to oppose the display as sacrilegious and insensitive.