Australian Beauty

Two naked women cavorting in a bath to promote a new art gallery have drawn fire from a family group.

Peak-hour motorists have been treated to the nightly spectacle for the past week to advertise an exhibition at the Joshua Levi Galleries, titled Naked New York, the Courier Mail reports. The exhibition by world-renowned artist Tracey Keller and featuring 25 original acrylic paintings on linen depicting naked women in various poses, has reignited controversy about artistic freedom following the recent Bill Henson furore . In the stunt, two apparently naked women take a bath together and separately from 5pm to 7pm in the gallery's window, in candle-lit scenes reminiscent of those made famous by Mena Suvari in the movie American Beauty.

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Is the controversy justified? The models are at least partially covered and as the exhibition is of nudes, relevant to the theme. Art isn't just about painting and sculpture and an exhibit featuring live models might seem a perfectly legitimate piece of modern art.

However, the nude models in the gallery window are clearly not an artwork but a piece of advertising. If the gallery wanted to promote Tracy Keller's exhibition, why not display examples of her work? It would give the public a much more accurate idea of what to expect. This is, of course, a cynical attention grabbing stunt and most who take an interest are unlikely to be art lovers.

The problem for 'family groups' who protest about this kind of exploitation is that their protests are counter productive. Creating a scandal just provides very welcome free publicity.

It certainly worked for Bill Henson.