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Langer remembers the apparent willingness of Bloore to testify against his art as being strange, but at trial Ronald Bloore turned the leading questions of the Crown against them, citing the state censorship by the Nazis and calling Langer's artwork "marvellous." Taken aback by the trojan horse witness, the Crown called a recess. Bloore was greeted by an elated Eli Langer and his mother Pearl, and told them, "
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Langer's work focuses on the tender and often abject aspects of sexuality and intimacy. His images are largely informed by intuitive personal and social drives, exploring the phenomenon of intimacy where it exists without the compensation of social or cultural consent. In this series of paintings and
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Langer's exhibition at the Mercer coincided with the addition of section 163.1 (the "Child
Pornography" section) to the Canadian Criminal Code. That section of the Criminal Code forbids any depiction of a person under the age of 18 engaged in an explicit sexual activity or for a sexual purpose. The
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According to Langer, his art practice developed beyond the morality issue fight-picking he did as a younger painter and with which he exhausted his willingness for dealing with legal and moralistic entities. He adds that he moved on, seeking clarity and distance from the event and clearing the way
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and legal interpretations of his practice at the time did not long interrupt his interests and development as an artist. He claims that the event was a culmination of testing the boundaries of moral and creative conventions and that the event briefly made art and freedom of expression a household
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A witness for the Crown prosecuting the case, Ronald Bloore was no stranger to art censorship in Canada. In 1965 his wife, Toronto gallery owner
Dorothy Cameron, had been charged and prosecuted in relation to an exhibition of art at her gallery and the results had been catastrophic for her. Eli
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On
January 18, 2008, Langer had his third solo show at Daniel Hug Gallery in Los Angeles. Langer taught painting in both the undergraduate and graduate program at UCLA in 2009. Langer exhibited at Clint Roenisch gallery in Toronto in 2015 and continues to paint and exhibit internationally.
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Langer's legal victory led to reinterpretation of "prior restraint" to prevent inexperienced police officers from again using an easily obtained "tele-warrant" to carry out similar raids on art exhibitions. Obtaining a warrant now requires the stricter scrutiny of experienced judges.
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law makes no distinction between works of the imagination and works that are based on reality. Langer and the director of the Mercer Union
Gallery were arrested by Toronto police, but ultimately the paintings were the only things put on trial.
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Gallery in
Toronto. The exhibition consisted of 8 paintings and 50 drawings addressing various issues of childhood sexuality. Toronto police raided the exhibition under Canada's new
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legislation and seized 5 paintings and 35 drawings. This event and ensuing media coverage created a national debate over the reach of law and freedom of expression.
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He has shown painting and other works in international exhibitions none of which referred to the art or controversy of the Mercer Union show or subsequent trial.
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drawings, Langer often boldly develops a sexual ambiguity that inadvertently addresses our cultural taboos and the formation of morality.
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Canadian Legal
Information Institute: Canadian Federal Statutes and Regulations, Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 s. 163.1
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165:" To this day Langer believes the difficulty of his trial was worth it for the poetic justice done by Ronald Bloore.
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Well-known figures of the
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A press release prior to the show opening suggests the curators knew the material could be controversial:
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153:(late artist). They testified that the works exhibited at the Mercer Union had "
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Tyler, Tracey (October 1994). "Artist backs right to paint sexual work".
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for a "more substantive articulation of ideas and art making practice ".
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I've waited 27 years to get these bastards for what they did to my wife!
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Tyler, Tracey (April 1995). "Artist's sexual images ruled legal".
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His difficult personal experience at the centre of the media
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262:"Canadian Test Case: 'Pornography' vs. Imagination"
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145:(gallerist), Dennis Reid (former curator of the
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234:"Police to File Charges Over Seized Works".
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329:Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 487.1
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108:art world with a solo exhibition at the
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380:"UCLA Art Education Facility Visiting"
316:"Quotations from or about Ron Bloore"
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359:"Daniel Hug Gallery Exhibitors List"
498:Paul Petro's page profile of Langer
260:Farnsworth, Clyde H. (1994-01-07).
566:21st-century Canadian male artists
561:20th-century Canadian male artists
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509:ArtSlant.com Global Artists Show
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503:Eli Langer @ Paul Petro Gallery
466:thefinleygallery.artcodeinc.com
546:21st-century Canadian painters
536:20th-century Canadian painters
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83:1993 Exhibit at Mercer Union
48:1967 (age 56–57)
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405:"CARAVANSARY OF JOY | CRG"
361:. Daniel Hug Gallery. 2008
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35:Eli Langer, self portrait
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304:CCCA.ca writing: Murray
173:Current artistic career
100:) is a Canadian visual
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551:Artists from Montreal
182:topic across Canada.
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514:2009-01-05 at the
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471:2024-05-14
447:2024-05-14
390:2009-12-01
365:2008-05-21
273:2008-05-20
220:2008-05-20
141:(artist),
90:Eli Langer
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23:Eli Langer
197:Footnotes
512:Archived
94:Montreal
58:, Canada
52:Montreal
238:. 1993.
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106:Toronto
68:Painter
102:artist
98:Quebec
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