Four photos by Sally Mann were removed from the walls of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas this week and the Fort Worth Police department is investigating after officials raised allegations of child pornography.
The images at the center of the inquiry were made by photographer Sally Mann. She had 21 pieces included in the “Diaries of Home” exhibition, some that featured her naked children. One photo centers on her naked daughter jumping onto a picnic table. Another is a frontal portrait of her son with popsicle drips running down his torso, legs and genitals.
These portraits have been displayed frequently and lauded and lambasted since their debut. The museum released a short statement alluding to this: “These have been widely published and exhibited for more than 30 years in leading cultural institutions across the country and around the world.”
A label inside the gallery acknowledges the controversy surrounding Mann in the 1980s and 1990s. A separate sign at the beginning of the show warns, “This exhibition features mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.”
“In the media, some images were presented in isolation from the series, becoming touchstones for moral and political debates about art and censorship,” the tag reads. “Since then, the knee-jerk controversy has faded.”
Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) today strongly condemned the reported seizure by Texas authorities on Monday of Sally Mann’s photographs from the exhibition Diaries of Home at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. ARC unequivocally denounced intimidation tactics to pressure artists and museums into censoring artwork and called for the immediate return of the works to public viewing.
ARC’s Executive Director Julie Trébault said: “It is quite alarming to witness the use of moral panic and legal action against the artist and the museum. This is not an isolated incident but rather, part of a pervasive backsliding of democratic norms and artistic freedom in the U.S. and worldwide. The targeting of women, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized artists whose work challenges societal norms is a common tactic borrowed from authoritarian states around the world. We must act now to prevent these incursions from creating a domino effect of intimidation and self-censorship across the American cultural sector. ARC calls on policymakers, cultural leaders, media outlets, and the public to condemn this harmful action and defend the right of artists and institutions to present works that engage with difficult subjects and provoke meaningful dialogue. Anything less jeopardizes the role of art as a cornerstone of a free and open society.”
The controversy began last week when local government officials and some visitors to the museum were outraged at Mann’s work–which features her own children in the nude–and deemed that it constituted pornographic content. Politicians and local media outlets were quick to call for the closure of the exhibition and the pursuit of a criminal investigation targeting the artist as well as the museum in a seemingly orchestrated attack on artistic freedom and freedom of expression.
On January 6, the Dallas Express reported that “a warrant has been issued and executed regarding child pornography images at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The images have been secured as potential evidence and will not be visible to the public while the investigation is pending.” Both the artist and the museum have not made any public statements yet, and it remains unclear as to the number of art works that were seized from the exhibition.
Trébault said: “Sally Mann is an award-winning photographer whose work, while often provocative, has long been celebrated as a profound exploration of family and identity, firmly situated within the canon of contemporary art. Her photographs, including those in Diaries of Home, reflect deeply personal themes drawn from her own life, offering intimate and thought-provoking insights through the lens of art.”
The wider exhibition, Diaries of Home, which includes Mann’s work, brings together renowned American women and non-binary photographers to explore themes of family, identity, and the complexities of domestic life. Featured artists include Patty Chang, Jess T. Dugan, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Nan Goldin, Debbie Grossman, Letitia Huckaby, Deana Lawson, Laura Letinsky, Arlene Mejorado, Catherine Opie, Laurie Simmons, and Carrie Mae Weems. Each artist brings a unique perspective, contributing to a collective narrative that examines the profoundly personal and often challenging realities of home and belonging. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has taken a responsible approach by including a public advisory on its website, emphasizing that the exhibition addresses “mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.” This measure reflects the museum’s commitment to informing the public while honoring the inclusion of diverse perspectives. In doing so, it has fulfilled its mission as a cultural institution to foster critical dialogue and creativity in the face of challenging themes. ARC considers such measures sufficient to protect both the artwork and the institution from unwarranted controversy.
Main Image: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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