Gallery Director Defends Exhibit of Erotic Photos

The art gallery director who is on trial for showing homoerotic photos by Robert Mapplethorpe testified in his own defense Wednesday that he never wavered in his commitment to display the works.

Dennis Barrie, on trial with the Contemporary Arts Center on obscenity charges, said he and the gallery’s board had talked about the controversy that an exhibit of the photos had caused in Washington, D.C.

The government-supported showing of Mapplethorpe’s photos was canceled last year in Washington amid a debate over federal funding of art. However, Barrie said the gallery’s board strongly supported going ahead with the exhibit.

“This was an exhibition of high quality. It had been seen in other cities and was by a well-known artist,” Barrie testified under questioning by his lawyer in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

Seven photographs in the 175-photo exhibit, “Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment,” are at the center of the trial. Five show graphic sex acts involving men, and two show children whose genitals are exposed.

Under cross-examination by assistant city prosecutor Frank Prouty, Barrie restated the gallery’s commitment to displaying the photos.

“I thought we had every right and every reason to bring this exhibition to this city,” he said.

Prouty showed Barrie Mapplethorpe’s five photographs of explicit sex acts and asked Barrie to comment on them.

“He knew about light. He knew about shadow . . . . As difficult as the subject matter may be, you see the ability of the man working through. He was brilliant with a camera,” Barrie said.

Judge David Albanese told the jury to expect to get the case today.