Govt Consider's Rating System for Artworks in Galleries

THE ADVERTISER | HERALD SUN

"Only woman bleed" (2008) By Adam Cullen

AUSTRALIA - The visual arts industry is appalled by a proposal to apply a classification scheme to artworks exhibited in galleries across the nation. In 2008, the inclusion of [Adam] Cullen's "Only Woman Bleed" in the Blake Prize for Religious Art prompted one judging panel member to quit and another label his work "really offensive". Throughout his career Cullen, who in 2000 won the Archibald Prize for his portrait of actor David Wenham, has courted controversy with his works having been described as "crude" and "puerile" by detractors. The 200-page report, released late last week by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, says the defence of "artistic merit" is not enough to allow some controversial works of art to be exhibited, particularly when it comes to those that depict children. [link]