Someone out there in St. Louis is working really hard to cover our asses.
White Flag Projects founder and director Matthew Strauss says he arrived at 10 a.m. yesterday morning to discover someone had vandalized a large print hanging outside the gallery (4568 Manchester Avenue, 314-531-3442). The image is a promotion for the art nonprofit's current photography exhibit, Coconut Water.
"It's an unpleasant reminder of what you're up against sometimes with this kind of thing," Strauss sighs.
See also: -Total Exhibitionist: Matthew Strauss has audacious plans to remake the city's art scene
The print has only been hanging for a couple of days and is an adaptation of a photograph entitled Zachary by Ryan McGinley, a renowned New York City-based photographer whose work often features nudes, at times in surreal settings (check out more of his work here).
However, someone who was roaming the Grove neighborhood early yesterday turned vigilante censor. The vandal covered the model's nether regions -- or "side butt" as Strauss calls it -- with a roller and some white paint.
"It's not like it's full-frontal male nudity," says Strauss. "It's a very classically composed portrait by internationally recognized artist."
Click through for more photos and the response of the artist.
