National Gallery Of Canada Supporting Artist AA Bronson’s Request To Remove Work From American National Portrait Gallery In Protest Of Censorship Of David Wojnarowicz Work By Smithsonian

The New York Times reports that the National Gallery of Canada is supporting a Canadian artist, AA Bronson, who wants one of his works withdrawn in protest from an American National Portrait Gallery show, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." Bronson says he strongly objects to the Smithsonian hasty decision to remove a video installation by the late American artist David Wojnarowicz titled “A Fire in My Belly” that contains an eleven second segment depicting ants crawling atop a crucifix, from the show after it was criticised by the Catholic League and right-wing religious conservatives. The work is Mr. Bronson’s “Felix, June 5, 1994,” a wall sized photograph owned by the Canadian museum, on loan to the portrait gallery for the exhibition. It depicts Mr. Bronson’s partner, Felix Partz, lying in bed, shortly after he died of AIDS. Earlier this week, Bronson asked Martin Sullivan, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, to remove the photograph, but as of Friday, the gallery refused, stating it wanted to keep all the works currently in the show on view. However, Marc Mayer, the director of the National Gallery, said he had sent an e-mail to Mr. Sullivan in support of Mr. Bronson’s stance, and while the Canadian museum said it was willing to honour its loan agreement, it is “informally asking them to please comply with the artist’ wishes,” adding that it was “only in the most extreme circumstances that we would pull a loan,” but he understood Mr. Bronson’s position and hoped the National Portrait Gallery would respect it. A spokesperson for the gallery said that discussions were ongoing and that the issue should be resolved shortly. AA Bronson is one of the pioneers of contemporary gay-themed art, and said of his request to remove his work “I did this out of solidarity with David Wojnarowicz. I feel I have no choice but to withdraw the work. As far as I'm concerned, everybody in the show should withdraw their work." In an e-mail sent to Martin Sullivan Wednesday, requesting the removal, Mr. Bronson wrote in part “I had resisted taking this step, hoping that some reconciliation could be reached regarding the censorship of the David Wojnarowicz video, but it is clear that this is not coming anytime soon. As an artist who saw firsthand the tremendous agony and pain that so many of my generation lived through, and died with, I cannot take the decision of the Smithsonian lightly. To edit queer history in this way is hurtful and disrespectful."