ARTS : Threat Closes Beijing Art Exhibit

A major exhibition of avant-garde art, which opened amid controversy last week, was closed for a second time today after an anonymous letter writer threatened to blow up the gallery, artists said.

Police barred the entrance to the prestigious China Art Gallery in central Beijing and authorities posted a sign saying the show was closed for two days for security reasons. The exhibition of pieces satirical, sexual and strange opened with a bang Feb. 5 when a woman pulled out a small pistol and fired two bullets into her work--two glass telephone booths--as an expression of “action art.”