The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has published an open letter to the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut, demanding the restoration of an artwork taken down in late June. Rebecca Goyette’s video installation “My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake” (2021), included in The Will to Change: Gathering as Praxis, was removed just three days after the show’s opening over concerns that it was “inappropriate for children” and was “disturbing audiences.”
Dedicated to late critic bell hooks, The Will to Change was guest-curated by Nasty Women CT and brings together 65 works from contemporary feminist and queer artists including Christen Clifford, Michelle Hartney, and Yvette Molina. NCAC Executive Director Christopher Finan commended the museum’s willingness to compromise in substituting a watercolor pencil rendering and QR code for Goyette’s full video, but lamented the “sad irony” of removing a work that uplifts sexual and gender positivity for middle-aged queer people.
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“References to sexuality are present in many artworks, both classical and contemporary,” Finan wrote. “Seductive nudes and scenes of violence and rape grace the halls of most museums. Children and school groups visit and emerge unharmed. Contemporary feminist treatments of sexuality are, perhaps, more in your face, but, arguably, present a healthier, often funnier and more equitable viewpoint.”
“My Snake Is Bigger Than Your Snake” is a campy, surrealist film based on Goyette’s experience selling her late father’s house to a man in a shirt bearing the title phrase. She appears as a lobster queen with a soft sculpture vagina squaring off against a “snake man” in a MAGA-style red hat. Along the way, the Virgin Mary appears and gives birth to a child that belongs to the queen’s community rather than a specific mother and father. According to the artist, the film explores mourning as a creative process.
In an interview with Hyperallergic, Goyette said she often receives “friction” for eliding heteronormative ideals in this way.
“I am exploring how to take sexuality out of the secret closet without holding onto shame,” Goyette said. “This is a consenting, generative realm for us all, whether connected to procreation or not. The more we can talk about kink and queerness, the more control we have, and the more likely we can avert sexual violence and discrimination.”
Lyman Allyn Director Sam Quigley contends this was not an act of censorship but “curation,” citing the museum’s receipt of a state-issued grant to waive youth admission fees. In an interview with Hyperallergic, he claimed that all 65 works arrived quickly before opening, leaving little time for review.
“We knew this exhibition would push the envelope, but when we offered the gallery to Nasty Women, we were unaware they would be mounting an unjuried show,” Quigley said. “I felt this particular work was overly attention-grabbing, which was a disservice to the other artists on view in the immediate vicinity. I am totally comfortable with this compromise, and I regret that the artist is upset.”
In an email sent to Goyette on June 21, Lyman Allyn Registrar Jane LeGrow admitted that a “technology glitch” during installation prevented her from seeing the full 13-minute video. As a result, the museum has placed a printed version of the NCAC letter beside the altered display.
Goyette claims this administrative snafu, paired with the timing, has created a difficult situation not just for her, but for Nasty Women CT and artists at large as government officials strip away rights securing bodily autonomy.
“The museum really put a wrench in much of this, because now the Nasty Women curators are not promoting the show or posting any images on social media,” Goyette said. “But I am not trying to hurt other artists — I am looking for justice. I do not think this was handled properly, and I believe all artists who go through this need to speak up.”
Source: Hyperallergic.com