Hello, and welcome to another edition of Pour it Out! Today, we’re going to talk about a hot topic that’s popped up in the group multiple times: what’s considered “inappropriate” when it comes to art?
A Little Background
Recently, a group member posted an embellished pour that featured the top half of a nude woman. It was a beautiful painting, clearly created by someone with a multitude of artistic talents. The composition, color, and movement of the piece were harmonious and bold. Altogether, I thought it was a great piece, as did many of the other group members.
However, the painting kept getting reported to us as a violation of the group rules. Having written these rules, I’m pretty familiar with them—and I want to clarify, nowhere in the group rules do we say that nudity and swearing aren’t permitted (swearing is another hot topic). We do specify that hate speech and bullying are not tolerated, and we do not display paintings depicting sexual acts #1, because Facebook doesn’t allow that, and #2, there is a line of what can be shown in the group and it’s drawn at pornographic images and excessive violence, or pictures depicting abuse or torture. Just not the vibe we’re going for here.
I was surprised to see the painting reported so many times, since it didn’t fit into the category of pornography, torture, or violence. There really wasn’t anything obscene about the painting. So, why was it reported?
The comments told the story. “I’ve invited my friends to this group, and didn’t know this kind of art would be displayed”, “this is obscene, where are the admins?”.
Here’s the thing: art is extremely subjective, right? What looks like art to me, may not look like art to you. However, no matter your perspective on what art actually is, the definition is quite clear.
Art (noun): the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
By this definition, the “offending” piece was indeed art. It certainly elicited strong emotions within the group! That’s what art is—provocative, beautiful, sometimes a little hard to understand but it’s always a peek into the mind of the artist.
What does this all mean?
Folks, the internet (and the world) is a big, vibrant place. There are lots of things you’ll be exposed to every day that you won’t like, alongside the things you love to see. Fortunately, unlike in real life, you have the power to just scroll by things you don’t want to look at on Facebook.
To be very clear, our stance on nudity or otherwise inappropriate artwork is this: artwork containing nudity is permitted, as long as it’s still an acrylic pour. The following items are exempt and will be deleted immediately:
- Abuse of humans or animals
- Graphic violence and torture
- Sexual acts of any kind
- Offensive works that specifically and harmfully target a group of people based on their religion, race, sexuality, nationality, etc.
Final Thoughts
Art is expressive and that doesn’t always mean it’s beautiful or PG. Capturing human emotions and experiences is the most unique gift that an artist can give. Let’s agree to disagree if you don’t like these works, but please do scroll by instead of negatively commenting. Let’s celebrate the skills of our talented community and help build each other up!
Sara Wagner is an author and artist from Upstate New York. She is the owner of Studio Blackwater and can typically be found covered in paint, cats, or her two young daughters. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram as @studioblackwater.