Art doesn’t always fit into the classical conventions regarding form, style, and method. Neither does it always meet the audience’s expectations of beauty and aesthetics. Some rebel artists use artwork as a medium for protest and provocation, thus triggering various negative or confusing feelings in the audience or raising subversive themes about silenced narratives. Here is a review of the top 3 controversial artwork exhibitions that went down in modern history.

Top 3 Controversial Artwork Exhibitions of Modernity

#1 Marcel Duchamp, “Fountain” (1917)

Marcel Duchamp can probably be regarded as a pioneer of scandalous, provocative artwork exhibitions with unusual shades of meaning. His 1917 “Fountain” sculpture represented a porcelain urinal with the artist’s signature “R. Mutt” on it. The art object was submitted for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists but was never displayed in the open area. Duchamp explained his choice of a regular urinal as an art object with a desire to elevate everyday objects of routine household use to a work of art. “Fountain” was later lost, with the only original photo by Alfred Stieglitz available for viewing. Yet, many replicas were created afterward, and the unusual sculpture became the symbol of 20th-century avant-garde art.

#2 Emma Sulkowicz, “Mattress Performance” (2014-2015)

The thesis project by Emma Sulkowicz, also referred to as Carry That Weight, lasted from 2014 to 2015. A student at Columbia University in NYC, Sulkowicz organized this performance to attract the faculty’s attention to sexual assault on campus and push for the expulsion of a student she alleged raped her. The student wasn’t expelled, so Emma continued her performance until her graduation, carrying the mattress on stage during the graduation ceremony. Though her efforts to seek justice failed, the performance attracted lots of attention among art critics and the public.

#3 The Guerrilla Girls, “Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?” (1989)

Over the years of its existence, the anonymous Guerrilla Girls group has created many radical artworks with feminist messages to challenge the patriarchal organization of the global art industry. The group was formed in 1985 in response to MoMA’s survey, which showed only 13 women out of the total of 169 artists whose works were showcased at the Museum. The Guerrilla Girls launched a poster campaign, with the 1989 poster titled “Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?” becoming the most popular. The posters pointed to the scarce representation of female artists in the top art spaces, which stood in sharp contrast with the dominance of female nudes on display.