Chicago Tribune, Friday, June 3, 1977 Ð Section 1

Nude Art Makes ‘Big John’ Blush
By Richard Phillips

Artist Jane Wenger bent over backwards to create her photographic art for a public showing in the John Hancock Center.

But because she did it all in the buff, her exhibit of self-photographs enjoyed only a brief appearance before an embarrassed Hancock official removed it Thursday.

The action by John Briggs, Hancock’s director of public relations, has precipitated a storm of protest by other women artists whose works are on display in the building’s second-floor lobby. Several of the artistsÑmembers of Artemisia, a women’s art cooperative at 9 W. Hubbard St.Ñthreatened to withdraw their exhibits to protest what they termed “art censorship” by Briggs.

The photographs are small, measuring only 2 by 3 inches. They consist of angle shots of Wenger’s nude bodyÑbent over backwardsÑwith clouds in the background. Her head is not seen in the photographs.

The eight black-and-white photographs were to be the lead attraction in the Hancock lobby. Before Briggs removed them with a pair of pliers Thursday, they hung from a wall panel a few steps from the lobby escalator, close to the building’s directory of corporation residents and the offices of Upper Avenue Bank.

“There’s no nudity allowed,” Briggs explained. “We have never permitted nudity in our lobby displays.”

Wenger, 33, of 1509 N. Wicker Park, said she specializes in nude photography, and her works have been displayed without objection in other states.

“This is outrageous censorship,” she said.