Eli Langer
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| Eli Langer | |
 Eli Langer, Los Angeles 2007 |
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| Birth name | Eli Langer |
| Born | 1967 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Field | Painting, Drawing |
| Works | 1993 Exhibit at Mercer Union |
Eli Langer (born Montreal, Canada 1967) is a Canadian visual artist. Langer rose to prominence in 1993, while 26 years old, in the Toronto art world with a solo exhibition at the Mercer Union Gallery in Toronto. The exhibition consisted of 5 paintings and 35 drawings addressing various issues of childhood sexuality.[1] Toronto police raided the exhibition under Canada's new child pornography legislation.[2] This event and ensuing media coverage created a national debate over the reach of law and freedom of expression.
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[edit] 1993 Art Show
A press release prior to the show opening suggests the curators knew the material could be controvesial:
"Langer's work focuses on the tender and often abject aspects of sexuality and intimacy. His images are largely informed by intuitive personal and social drives, exploring the phenomenon of intimacy where it exists without the compensation of social or cultural consent.In this series of paintings and drawings, Langer often boldly develops a sexual ambiguity that inadvertently addresses our cultural taboos and the formation of morality."[1]
Langer's exhibition at the Mercer coincided with the addition of s. 163.1 (the "Child Pornography" section) to the Canadian Criminal Code. The new section of the Criminal Code forbids any depiction of a person under the age of 18 engaged in an explicit sexual activity or for a sexual purpose. The law makes no distinction between works of the imagination and works that are based on reality. Langer and the director of the Mercer Union Gallery were arrested by Toronto police, however, ultimately the paintings were the only things put on trial. [3]
The Canadian art community particpated in Langer's defence. Well-known figures of the art world such as Michael Snow, Avrom Isaacs and Dennis Reid (a former curator of the National Gallery) testified at the highly theatrical trial, that the works exhibited at the Mercer Union had "artistic merit" (a defence provided by s. 163.1 of the Criminal Code).[4] Ultimately the works were exonerated and returned to Langer.
Langer's legal victory led to reinterpretation of 'prior restraint' to prevent inexperienced police officers from again using an easily obtained "tele-warrant" to carry out similar raids on art exhibitions. Obtaining a warrant now requires the stricter scrutiny of experienced judges.[5]
[edit] Current Artistic Career
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Langer has not attempted to exploit the media notoriety resulting from this arrest in 1993.[citation needed] His difficult personal experience at the center of the media sensationalism and legal interpretations of his practice at the time did not long interrupt his interests and development as an artist. He claims the event was a culmination of testing the boundaries of conventions and that the event made art and freedom of expression a household topic in Canada, where the consequences and implications of making art have hardly reached beyond the walls and floors of Canada's provincial and insular art world.
According to Langer, his art practice developed beyond the morality issue fight-picking he did as a younger painter and with which he exhausted his dealing with legal and moralistic entities. He adds that he moved on, seeking clarity and distance from the event and clearing the way for a 'more substantive articulation of ideas and art making practice'.
He has shown painting and other works in international exhibitions none of which referred to the art or controversy of the Mercer Union show and debacle.
He teaches painting at UCLA in Los Angeles.
On January 18 2008 langer had his third solo show at Daniel Hug Gallery in Los Angeles. [6]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b ARCHIVES >> Main Gallery: Eli Langer. Mercer Union (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
- ^ "Police to File Charges Over Seized Works", Toronto Sun, 1993.
- ^ Farnsworth, Clyde H. (1994). Canadian Test Case: 'Pornography' vs. Imagination. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
- ^ Tyler, Tracey. "Artist backs right to paint sexual work", Globe and Mail, October 1994.
- ^ Tyler, Tracey. "Artist's sexual images ruled legal", Globe and Mail, April 1995.
- ^ Daniel Hug Gallery Exhibitors List. Daniel Hug Gallery (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
