http://www.advocate.com/html/news/052401/052401ent03.asp
advocate.com
Thursday, May 24, 2001
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Bikini-clad Virgin of Guadalupe stays in N.M. exhibit
The bikini-clad image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Our Lady, a collage by
lesbian artist Alma Lopez, will remain in the exhibit Cyber Arte: Tradition
Meets Technology, according to the BBC. The image has been drawing fire
from local Catholics ever since it was added to the exhibit at the Museum
of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M., and has been labeled both offensive
and sacrilegious by protesters. The artwork, whose subject wears a two-piece
swimsuit made of flowers, has been exhibited elsewhere without inspiring controversy.
The board of the Museum of New Mexico decided that the image will stay, although
the exhibit itself will be cut short. Lopez says she is pleased with the compromise:
I almost see it as the only fair decision for them, to acknowledge that
some people in the community were offended but that the work needed to remain
on exhibit. The exhibit will end in October as opposed to the previous
schedule date next February.