The simple answer is: you canât.
If you think about it, there is no way an artist can make really anything that says anything about important current issues or topics that wonât offend someone, so to ask that artists refrain from making art that offends people is to basically ask that we never make anything that even references real life problems or topics. Thatâs not only boring, but also extremely concerning from a historical standpoint, given that restricting the arts like that is usually strongly associated with fascism, whether political or religious. Authoritarian bodies donât like art that challenges people and makes them think about stuff, and they often frame it as âprotectingâ people from âdepravityâ and âoffensive material,â when really itâs just about control.
The knee-jerk reaction to any recommendations of âavoidingâ certain topics in art is to assume that the party asking for that refrain intends to sanitize and censor art, which is never really a good thing if you give it too much consideration. You canât make people think deeply on important matters if you just let them sit in their comfortable sense of ignorance. There has to be a disturbance, a touch of emotional violence, to get people to really think about their history, their place in the present world, and why some things are the way they are and if they should stay that way.
Yes, the artist does have some responsibility over the impact of their work, but the audience has their own set of obligations when entering the gallery space. Namely, they need to learn not to take things at face value, analyze their initial impressions with additional context, and perhaps most importantly in cases like this, read the wall text. Seriously, if you see something that looks really offensive, 90% of the time itâs made by somebody whoâs experienced that nasty thing and wants to drive discussion about it. Rape survivors often depict and discuss rape in their art, not because they want to promote it or hurt anyone else that has experienced it, but because they want to drive social commentary on it, for example. Having context helps a lot if youâre the type who needs it, and most mainstream audiences do kinda need it to really appreciate the work; thereâs no shame in that, just be mindful of it.
