Gallery ordered to take down naked cowgirl painting displays 50 nudes in protest

A gallery ordered by police to take down a painting of a naked cowgirl has opened an exhibition of dozens of nudes in protest against “provincial prudery”.

Police responded to complaints by locals in the Welsh market town of Hay-on-Wye about the painting displayed in the window of the gallery.

Now Val Harris, the owner of The Chair, Hay-on-Wye, has organised a protest exhibition consisting entirely of nudes to fight back against “prudery”.

The gallery is now packed with 50 images of naked men and women, and a full-frontal male nude has been placed in the window. The work of 30 artists, all of whom applied to have their pieces included, is on display.

Ms Harris told The Telegraph she wanted the show to be an “educational tool” which would help to “normalise” nudity in the Wye Valley.

She said of the complaints: “I think it’s the way we’ve all been brought up. It’s a local thing, it’s a bit of a provincial thing.

“Hay is a bit of a mix. You have the sort of liberal bunch, and those who have been born and brought up there. It’s old-fashioned prudery.”

Ms Harris said that while nudes are standard for arts schools, galleries and life drawing classes, they are not commonplace in rural Powys.

In September, she was asked by police to remove a painting by Poppy Baynham, a 22-year-old student, which depicted a woman wearing cowboy boots with her legs spread.

Mr Harris said she was told by police that some locals had made complaints about the image, titled This is not P---ography. Others showed support for the gallery.

The protest exhibition, called Slay Hay, opened on Thursday which Ms Harris said was intended to try to avoid controversy in future by “normalising” the sight of the naked human form.

Mr Harris said: “There is now a full-frontal male nude in the window, and men just pass by and laugh, there’s a bid off ribaldry. Women also find it funny. You can imagine.

“But when we had the female image in the window, despite her having a thong on, people were outraged and offended.”

She added that in her view the outrage came “from women of a certain age”.

The Slay Hay show will run until Nov 9, but Ms Harris hopes to make the exhibition an annual event.