Chen Xi's "Fly Onto Clouds"

I betcha read about the case of that Chinese nude oil painting which had to be hidden from the eyes of minors a month back. I'd wanted to mention this because 251 is also about women's sexuality, art and repression. Why the hell are we so scared of women's eroticism? Why the hell is an oil painting controversial all of a sudden?

If anyone has a graphic of the original work (the one on the side is a screengrab from Psycho, stupid), please tell us. Scandal breeds curiosity.

The following article is from here.

Nude painting sold after Singapore prohibits general viewing

Singapore- A 4-metre-high nude painting barred from general public viewing in restrictive Singapore has been sold for 60,000 US dollars to an art collector, the gallery owner said on Wednesday. The painting by China artist Chen Xi showed a naked woman covered with soap suds and a parrot flying overhead.

The work, Fly Onto Clouds, was part of a month-long exhibition of Chen's works at the atrium of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts building.

SooBin gallery owner Chua Soon Bin managed to display it for only a few hours during a reception. The ministry pointed to guidelines stipulating that nude or erotic artworks "should not be displayed in venues which are easily accessible to general audiences, including
children and youth."

He was allowed to show it in his gallery to prospective buyers.

Chua took the painting back to the gallery and had to display it horizontally since the ceiling was not high enough to accommodate the work.

"It's an important painting and people like to collect major paintings," gallery-owner Chua said.

The painting was sold to a Singaporean, whose identity was withheld.

Chen told The Straits Times she plans to paint at least four other nude paintings for a solo exhibition in Beijing this year.

"I hope Singapore can become more open in the future," the 38-year-old artist was quoted as saying.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

Also see here, here, and here.