Police probe Elton art display for child porn

Police seized the image just hours before it was due to go on display at a multi-million pound contemporary arts centre.

The image was taken from one of five exhibitions due to be displayed at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts, in Gateshead, which included Thanksgiving, a selection of Sir Elton John’s collection of photographs taken by controversial American photographer Nan Goldin.

This collection and another, entitled Irrespektiv, by South African artist Kendell Geers, carried content warnings alerting visitors to the graphic nature of the exhibits.

A police inquiry is under way to see if the image, believed to be of a young girl, breaches pornography laws.

It was taken before the exhibits were unveiled to the public the following day but police and gallery bosses are refusing to say what the exhibit was or which exhibition it was seized from.

A spokeswoman for the Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, which represents Geers in the UK, confirmed that the seized artwork did not belong to the Irrespektiv exhibition.

A spokesman for Sir Elton, Gary Farrow, refused to discuss the matter and told the Press Association: “All calls are being re-directed to the Baltic.”

Concerned management at the flagship Baltic arts centre called in police and officers removed the exhibit from the multi-million pound art gallery which stands on the banks of the River Tyne.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said today: “We attended the Baltic last Thursday at the invitation of management who were seeking advice about an item from an exhibition prior to it going on public display.

“This item is being assessed and Northumbria Police in consultation with the CPS is investigating the circumstances surrounding it.”

A spokeswoman for the Baltic said: “We are working alongside the police and are not in a position to comment further.”

Photographer Goldin, 54, who is well known for her shots of young, semi-clothed girls, was not available to comment today.

In March 2001, police were called to the Saatchi Gallery in north London after complaints that controversial photographs of naked children taken by  Goldin were indecent and would appeal to paedophiles.

One of her photos, featuring a very young naked girl looking up between the open legs of a semi-clothed older child, had been criticised for making money from exploiting children.

It was published in a book alongside similar works to accompany an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery.

But a CPS spokesman said that after careful consideration there was no realistic prospect of any conviction under the Protection of Children Act 1978.

Ahead of the Baltic exhibition, the curator of The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, Jane Jackson, said of Goldin: “Elton was first attracted to the directness, truth and poignancy of photography and her work forms a central part of Elton John’s collection.

“She is recognised as one of the world’s most prolific, important and compelling contemporary photographers and her work has not only had a lasting impact on photography and film-making.”

In the gallery’s pre-exhibition publicity, Peter Doroshenko, director of the Baltic, said: “We are delighted to be showing work from Elton’s expansive collection.

“During this autumn season we are presenting two exhibitions taken from private collections courtesy of Elton John and the Zabludowicz Collection, enabling the public to see works that would not normally be available to them.”

The £46 million Baltic, on Gateshead’s Quayside, opened in 2002 and has since attracted 2.5 million visitors.

Baltic staff today warned members of the public as they entered the gallery that some of the exhibitions contained sensitive material.

A guide to the autumn series also displayed warning symbols next to details of the Thanksgiving and Irrespektiv exhibitions with the note: “We would like to advise you that this exhibition contains some material of a sensitive nature. It may include explicit language, nudity, sexual imagery or violence.”

Under 16-year-olds were advised not to visit these exhibitions without an adult.