Melbourne Artist Cleared Of Child Pornography Charges

Victorian artist Paul Yore has been cleared of charges of possessing and producing child pornography following a decision handed down by Melbourne Magistrate Amanda Chambers yesterday.

Yore was charged with the offences more than a year ago, in June 2013, when his installation Everything Is Fucked caused waves upon its unveiling at St Kilda's Linden Centre For Contemporary Arts. The art at the centre of the furore was alleged to depict sexualised minors, with the ensuing, drawn-out battle seeing his work pulled from the Sydney Contemporary art fair. 

Yore's work was featured as part of an exhibition in honour of controversial Aussie artist Mike Brown — no stranger to the ire of the courts, having been convicted of obscenity in the 1960s — and included a series of images depicting superimposed children's faces on adult male bodies engaging in sexualised acts. One such work featured Justin Bieber's head pasted onto a cardboard cut-out child, which was urinating from a dildo. 

"The Everything is Fucked 2013 installation will divide opinion," Magistrate Chambers said in her decision, according to reports. "There will be those who find aspects of his work offensive and obscene.

"Others ... will view the installation ... as being open to a wide range of readings, for example as a critique of the commercialisation of teen sexuality.

"The critical question is whether, when viewed in context, the images constitute child pornography as defined."

In making her decision, Magistrate Chambers acknowledged that Yore's work entailed "a large number of collage images, phallic and pornographic, toys, balloons, electric lights, images of fertility, numerous dildos; all interspersed with images from popular culture, including multiple depictions of (pop star) Justin Bieber", but could not condemn it outright as child pornography. In explaining why, Magistrate Chambers referred to the context of the installation, accepting National Gallery of Victoria senior curator (contemporary art) Max Delany's view that Yore's art was "characterised by an interest and exploration of sexual identity and cultural politics, the excesses of consumer culture and the influence of capitalism on subjectivity".

Seven images in total were seized by police upon initial execution of the search warrant — a process with which Magistrate Chambers also expressed reticence — but, with the exception of one picture, which featured a close-up of a boy's face apparently performing fellatio on an adult penis (although his mouth is covered by a Pokemon sticker), Magistrate Chambers said the context in which the works appeared — in conjunction with the fact they had been classified and approved for display by the Australian Classification Board — was sufficient enough defence against the charges.

With regard to the image that the magistrate felt did breach the definition of child pornography, the Australian Classification Board had deemed it Category 1 Restricted — unsuitable for people under 18, but kosher for those of legal adult age.

Magistrate Chambers ordered that Yore's legal costs be covered by the Victoria Police chief commissioner. The artist has not publicly commented since being cleared, but currently has work on display - yes, featuring penises - at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, for the Primavera 2014: Young Australian Artists exhibition. See the museum's website for more details.