Oshawa gallery apologizes for putting mature-content warning on exhibit with gay themes

"We wanted to apologize for any hurt or damage the sign caused," said Lucas Cabral of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery after a visitor complained about a content warning on an exhibit by local artist Andil Gosine.

Thestar.com
March 21, 2018
By Reka Szekely

An Oshawa art gallery has apologized for displaying a mature-content warning in an exhibit that included a video of two men kissing.

Douglas Boyce, who grew up in Oshawa and now lives in Toronto, complained after noticing the warning at an exhibit at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery by local artist Andil Gosine, titled All the Flowers, at the end of February.

Stepping into the gallery, Boyce said he noticed a small sign that said "'This exhibition contains mature content,' which is something I've never noticed in visiting the art gallery in years past."

Initially, Boyce said he was unsure what the objectionable content was, whether it was a pun incorporating the phrase "glow job" or a reference to killer Luka Magnotta.

However, after speaking to the gallery's curator, he believes the warning related to a video of two men kissing.

"I sort of went, 'you're kidding me,'" Boyce said. "There were two men and they were laying on a bed and they were kissing, there was nothing more than that … they were just sort of necking on what appeared to be a bed."

Boyce said he told the gallery, "I don't object to that, I object to the sign you put up about that."

"I said, 'It's 2018, why are two people kissing (deemed) mature content.'"

Lucas Cabral, communications and digital lead for the RMG, said the mature-content sign is something that has been used in other art galleries and said it was put up after discussions with the artist.

"We work with a lot of children and families and do a lot of programming for youth, we wanted the sign to be a heads to people so they know there are potentially content that might require a conservation," he said.

Cabral said the mature-content sign was removed after the complaint.

"We realized that in the same breath we're also offending an entire community, unintentionally, so we brought in this exhibition to strengthen our ties with the queer community and the sign — despite our intentions — was not accomplishing what we had set out to do," he said.

Cabral offered apologies on behalf of the gallery.

"We wanted to apologize for any hurt or damage the sign caused," he said. "It was never our intention, we're always learning and growing here and look forward to working more closely with our communities when developing projects and exhibitions."

Cabral said the gallery received some complaints about the content of the exhibit but that wouldn't prevent the RMG from exhibiting similar works in the future.

The exhibit ended March 18.

"Our intention is to program, critical, contemporary art work, we're very focused on driving and supporting work that causes people to think differently, to be critical, to think about their place in the world, about what they see and they experience, so yes we would continue to have exhibitions like this absolutely," said Cabral.

Boyce said he doesn't think the gallery would have put up the sign if it was a heterosexual couple in the video.