Oakville Galleries is making a change to the poster it was using as promotion of its current exhibit at the entrance of the space it shares with the Oakville Public Library Central Branch.

Monday, the Galleries confirmed it would use a different illustration, based on a resident’s complaint about the promotional poster for The Illuminations Project, and its suggestive nature and positioning on the wall of the Navy Street entrance to the shared space.

It also removed a smaller version of the illustration from library’s rear entrance.

“It’s never our intention to cause any upset or concern and when we heard the image had done that, we decided to take it down. We apologize for any offence we may have caused,” said Matthew Hyland, Oakville Galleries’ director.

Resident John Kay emailed Ward 3 Councillor Dave Gittings on Nov. 29 asking what approval process was followed.

Kay told the Oakville Beaver Monday he’d since been in contact with both Gittings and Keith Bird, retiring Ward 3 councillor.

Kay said he first saw the poster advertising The Illuminations Project by Shary Boyle and Emily Vey Duke Saturday afternoon while on a walk with his wife.

“I was just shocked… I looked up and thought, 'Am I seeing what I’m seeing? That’s bestiality'. I thought I actually need to do something about this,” he said.

“The fact that this was a promotional poster outside the library, that kids could see it if they were taking a look… that’s what concerned me.”

When contacted by the Beaver, Boyle said she did not feel this was a freedom of expression issue she needed to protest.

"If a member of the public is uncomfortable with a sexual image in a common area, I support their voicing it and am happy to exchange the image with something less provocative," she said in an email. "I believe the public has a right to express their boundaries, and I enjoy engaging in that conversation and finding a creative compromise.

"This is not censorship — my artwork is freely exhibited upstairs at the Oakville Gallery and anyone is invited to view The Illuminations Project in the safe and welcome space of the gallery."

Hyland said Oakville Galleries staff approves the promotional material for its exhibits.

“The drawing in question is culled from a larger body of work on a fantastical narrative. It’s dream-like in nature. It shows a lagoon where humans and animals are frolicking together in the buff,” Hyland explained.

“We did have a discussion as a staff about it to being used as an image; it was used in promotional materials as it captures the essence of the exhibition very well — an other world where humans can explore the freedoms and dangers of the wild free from contemporary life.”

Hyland noted that while the image was “indeed suggestive, it was never our intention for it to cause any upset.”

He said Oakville Galleries had not received any complaints regarding the promotional poster for the exhibit. Neither had the Oakville Public Library when asked by the Beaver.

However, upon learning of the complaint, Hyland said the poster located in the stairwell on the ground floor of the Central Branch library, leading to the parking lot, would be taken down and replaced by an alternative piece.

The larger billboard Kay spotted at the front of the 120 Navy St. library would be removed Tuesday, noted Hyland.

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Kay said he was happy to hear Oakville Galleries was taking such quick action, but that he would still be pursuing the matter with the Town of Oakville.

“I want to know how it came about and what I might do as a citizen to encourage a little more diligence with the approval process,” he said.

Upon reflection, however, Kay said he became increasingly concerned over the content of the artwork, particularly after reading a review of the exhibit.

In fact, he was so concerned he contacted Halton police Tuesday morning.

Officers investigated and attended the exhibit Tuesday afternoon.

Halton police spokesperson Sgt. Chantal Corner later confirmed with the Beaver the case was deemed to involve “a point of artistic merit,” and there would be no charges, however, the promotional ad at the front of the library building was to be taken down, and a disclaimer for the exhibit was warranted.

The Illuminations Project opened on Sept. 14 and is on at the Oakville Galleries’ Centennial Square (at the top floor of the Oakville Public Library’s Central Branch) until Jan. 4, 2015.

The exhibition, on display for the first time since its completion, is the end result of a 10-year collaborative between Boyle and Vey Duke where the pair undertook a call-and-answer exchange.

Vey Duke would send a text to Boyle who would then produce a drawing in reply.

She would keep that initial drawing, produce a second and send that back to Vey Duke, who then would write two texts, keeping one and sending the other.

The process continued through 31 exchanges, which would eventually produce the final exhibit.

The project loosely charts the journey of a character named Bloodie, a young girl who travels across fantastical lands populated by all manner of creatures — human, animal and otherwise — including fellow traveller Peg-Leg and his gang of Wild Boys.