Nude Sidewalk Art Creates Controversy

Fernadina Beach, FL -- Two sides search for the naked truth in the fight over a painting on display in a downtown shop. Some say it's art, others say it's just indecent. With brick crosswalks and a cozy atmosphere, downtown Fernandina Beach seems pretty family friendly. But the image of a large lady has thrown that into question for some neighbors. "It's hysterical. I mean, it's fabulous," chuckled Beverly Hansen, a tourist from Washington, DC who strolled past the painting of a big woman that's causing the big stir. In front of Sax North Third Street sits a copy of one of the gallery's hottest-selling reproductions, "Il Bagno," a painting by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. "Il Bagno" is Italian for "The Bath," and the painting shows a caricature of a nude woman's back, from head to toe, as she looks in her bathroom mirror. "It's a Botero butt. The artist is Botero," Hansen said. "It's a work of art. It's fun," she added. Sid Sax, the gallery's owner, feels the same way. "It is art. A-R-T, art," he said passionately. Displaying the striking painting is, "a fundamental right and it's a necessity to make a living," Sax said, explaining that the work draws passing shoppers into his store. One of his neighbors, though, is protesting the portrait. "My children stepped out of the car and noticed this painting. And I just felt that it was inappropriate and indecent," said Brett Whitaker, who owns a nearby business. He says the bathroom shot starts down a slippery slope. If a painting is OK, what's to stop a real photo, he suggests. What about a shower scene that is out-and-out obscene?"What is appropriate? I think that every community needs to establish that. And I think that we've never really had a need to do that here, and this has just simply raised that issue," Whitaker said. But the shopkeeper is holding firm. Sax says if he gave in and pulled the painting of the woman and her mirror, he wouldn't be able to look himself in the mirror. "Nobody can tell me what I can do with it. And if I want to display it inside, outside, my home, my business, it's my First Amendment right," Sax said. Whitaker has taken his concerns to the City of Fernandina Beach. Sax says he originally had the painting displayed on the outside wall of his shop, but a city code enforcement officer told him it violated the city's sign ordinance. He says the officer instructed him to take down the painting. He did, and now props it up next to his gallery's front door. Sax says he hasn't heard from the code enforcement officer since then.