By Brittany Chain, Political Correspondent For Daily Mail Australia
10:49 22 May 2024, updated 10:49 22 May 2024
A mum has lashed out at the Art Gallery of South Australia for a graphic installation which she says children should be ‘safeguarded’ from viewing.
Sarah Game, a One Nation MP in South Australia, shared several photos of the artworks, which include a nude man with female genitalia smoking a cigar and an ape breastfeeding a human baby.
The enormous pieces of art are situated in a room full of ‘radical classical’ art, including traditional paintings hanging on the walls behind.
A painting of baby Jesus and Mary is situated directly behind one of the sculptures.
‘I support free speech but I believe parents have the right to safeguard their children’s moral and ethical upbringing,’ Ms Game said.
‘I used to love taking my children to the Art Gallery of South Australia, but after seeing these photos from a concerned constituent, I won’t be going back anytime soon.’
Ms Game is calling for the artworks to ‘be placed in an adult-only area’ if they ‘must remain’ at all.
She hopes they will be removed entirely from the gallery following complaints from locals.
A Change.org petition has been launched to ‘ensure our children’s environment remains appropriate and family-friendly’.
Concerned parents have since told Ms Game their children have already seen the statues.
One mother said her 14-year-old daughter came home from a school excursion speaking of ‘the ape with the big open bum hole’.
Another described the two works as ‘confronting and grotesque’.
‘Tolerated perhaps at an adults oriented gallery but not one where families and schools frequent.’
Another critic said it sparked unwanted conversations with their seven-year-old nephew, after he asked ‘why the bronze statue of a man has a vagina’.
‘I shouldn’t have to have a conversation like this with him going to the art gallery,’ they said.
The artist behind the ape work, titled ‘Big Mother’, is known for her unusual mediums and themes, often portraying ‘future dystopias’.
Patricia Piccinini spent the first three years of her life in Sierra Leone, and later said of Big Mother: ‘If you have ever lived in Africa, you always have a lot of stories.’
She recalled hearing from a friend that their baby sister was ‘abducted by a grieving baboon’.
‘To me, this story tells us that in the face of grief, and the pain of losing a child, the differences between different species aren’t that important. We have more in common in the love for children than we differ genetically – and even then the genetic differences are actually pretty tiny,’ she said.
She was also inspired by her own difficulties breastfeeding her son, and subsequently learning how to feed him through breastfeeding her sister’s baby.
‘It was really interesting how strange and unusual it is for a mother to breast-feed another person’s baby,’ she said.
‘Even stranger perhaps is how much more comfortable we are drinking the breast milk of another animal – say a cow – than another human being.’
The work stands 175cm tall and is made of fibreglass, leather, silicone and real human hair.
The other work, ‘Buck With Cigar’ is created by British artist Mark Quinn, and is part of a series of works showcasing a man who has undergone plastic surgery to give himself female genitalia.
Some of his works not included in the gallery but part of the same series are even more controversial, featuring a woman with male genitalia engaged in a sex act.
An Art Gallery of South Australia spokesperson said: ‘We aim to create experiences that speak to and reflect the diversity of society today and are inclusive of our audiences and artists, whose voices are at the foreground of what we do at AGSA.
‘We proudly and innovatively present works of art to the Australian public and to International visitors. Our exhibition and collection displays aim to inspire and educate.
‘Art at AGSA is curated to spark conversation and debate, and sometimes may be controversial. It is the role of artists and galleries like AGSA to encourage viewers to see the world, culture, and politics from different perspectives’
‘AGSA is a proud melting pot of artistic cultural and intellectual views. We acknowledge that art is often the best platform for having challenging conversations’.
‘We at AGSA firmly support the rights of artists. We also believe in preserving and celebrating diverse cultural expressions, and would not remove a work from public display’.
‘The Gallery does not deem the sculptures Buck with Cigar by British artist Marc Quinn and Big Mother by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini to be unsuitable for viewing by children.
‘We prepare our visitors including school groups and encourage pre-visits from teachers and educators. When required we issue sensory, cultural and content warnings.’