October 10, 2007 | Sex & Society

Swedish art critics turn violent

On Friday, four masked vandals, suspected to be neo-nazis, took it upon themselves to save the world from art they deemed offensive. Armed with axes and crowbars, they forced their way into the Kulturen Gallery in Lund, Sweden, knocking over tourists and screaming “We don’t support this!” They filmed their attack and, as any Internet savvy punk will do, posted their rampage on YouTube.

The exhibition, “The History of Sex,” was created by New York artist Andres Serrano. He is known for photographing images of a sexual nature which some consider objectionable, including works for this exhibition of a woman fondling a horse's penis and a man being fisted by a woman.

“I was shocked and horrified,” Mr. Serrano said in a telephone interview yesterday from New York. “I never expected something like this, especially in this magical town, which is so sweet I joked about it being like something out of Harry Potter.” Of course, even the Harry Potter books had a dark side.

Damages are estimated to be over $200,000. What ever happened to the good old days when people just drew moustaches and missing teeth on images they didn't like?