THE Scottish Conservative leader has spoken to the police after street art spelling out “porn” was put up in a Moray town.
Douglas Ross, who represents Moray at Westminster and is also the MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, took issue with the art installation outside Gallery Pop in Forres.
The piece by Highlands-based artist Mark Creaney uses large Scrabble-style letters to spell out the word “porn” on the gallery’s external wall at 44 High Street.
The art is intended to create a discussion about the pervasiveness of pornography in society and prompt the audience to think about their own reaction, according to Gallery Pop.
Ross told the Forres Gazette that he had spoken to the police after constituents complained about the “offensive” artwork.
"Over the weekend I received several complaints from local residents about an offensive sign on the wall of the pop-up gallery in Forres,” he told the newspaper.
"Given the number of people who got in touch, I contacted the person in charge at the gallery on Sunday and advised them of the complaints.
"I asked if planning permission had been sought for the sign and when I was advised that it had not been I informed them that I would be contacting Moray Council, asking them to look into the situation.
"I have also made Police Scotland aware of these complaints."
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Police Scotland has been contacted for comment.
The exhibition at Gallery Pop is running from October 9-30. The gallery has been contacted for comment, but put out a statement yesterday regarding the row over their installation.
“The decision to install the Scrabble street art on the exterior of the building was not taken lightly,” the owners said. “The piece containing four letters spelling the word porn, a shortened form of the word pornography, is intended to highlight how letters come together and create words which can create an emotional response.
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“Art has always been contentious and a platform for discussion which often creates hostility as well as unity.
“Art is intended to open discussion and in a society where we are always two clicks away from pornography, the installation is a platform to notice our response to this piece. The installation does not seek to formulate opinion only to invite the audience to notice why they have the response they do.”
Meanwhile, Creaney told The Scottish Sun: “This is not a pro-porn piece. I think the easy access to porn in our culture is damaging kids.”
Moray Council is also looking into the matter.
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