Ah, the French. Always showing off their worldliness, their familiarity with wine, their appreciation of art, their love of culture. It was only natural that the city-owned Museum of Modern Art in Paris would be the first to mount a Larry Clark retrospective, paying homage to the American photographer who gave us an unflinching look at adolescents obsessed with sex and drugs.
Clark, who's 67 years old, grew up with a camera in his hands. After a series of well-received books depicting his young friends (Tulsa, 1971; Teenage Lust, 1982; The Perfect Childhood, 1992), he directed his first movie, 15 years ago, Kids, a scripted story (by 18-year-old Harmony Korine) filmed in a dispassionate, documentary style. Clark's refusal to judge the "underage" sex earned the film an NC-17 rating (it was eventually released "unrated"), although it's pretty tame compared to what anyone can find these days on the internet.
And the retrospective at the Paris museum, nothing really shocking either, given that Clark's photographs have been widely exhibited. So what's the hangup?
The mayor of Paris, Bernard Delanoë, personally ordered the museum to turn away patrons under 18 because, he claims, the images show pedophilia: the kids in the pictures are minors. His office claimed the city of Paris was afraid of complaints and lawsuits by conservative groups. This is Puritanical hypocrisy, not French enlightenment. (The front page of the liberal daily Libération printed one of the more controversial images on its front page, without a peep from anyone; it was even shown on national television's roundup of newspaper front pages). The subjects depicted in the show are neither exploited children nor paid models, and the purpose of the photographs is their gritty reality, not their occasionally prurient appeal. Mayor Delanoë's edict threatens every small museum in Paris that might be considering an innovative exhibition.
Then again, it might be a trick to stir up interest in the show. With the French, you never know.
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