OSO NEGRO DOESN'T WANT POSSESSION OF INTOXICATING ART

A Heritage City coffee house decided to stick to beans not buds by asking a
local artist to remove his photographic exhibit of marijuana plants from
their walls.

Artist Patrick Burley hung nearly 20 photos on the walls of Oso Negro
earlier this month and after three days, they had to come down leaving the
coffee shop walls empty.

Burley says the buds got a lot of buzz as he sat in Oso Negro the Sunday
morning his show opened. It was exciting for him and he felt positive about
his work, the natural and richly coloured photos. He says he wasn't
condoning drug use.

But there was a lot of smoke outside Oso Negro as some people take a toke
on the business's steps. Burley says he's heard there was so much of the
illegal activity going on outside their business, they didn't want to seem
to be condoning cannabis inside.

"They were not the bad guys at all in this situation," he says blaming the
image itself for stirring up coffee house controversy. "These are simply
plants, still-life's that aren't allowed to be displayed. There is no other
plant in the world that would be approached this way."

The photographer has been working on the exhibit for about a year, spent a
great deal of time and money on printing and framing the images. He
decided, after wrestling with what people might think of him, to seek out
wall space for his "Can-not-bis" exhibit.

"I took the photos just after a fishing trip. I discovered the crop and I
went back a few days later with a full bag of camera equipment," he says.
"They were shot a year ago and it took a year to pluck up the courage to do
the display."

He knew his subject matter would be controversial but he chose to capture
the beauty of the plants despite the risks he was taking as a budding
artist with a straight and narrow career.

"This is actually a harmless plant and you can't smoke the photo," he says.
"Taking them down was expected but still difficult. The blank walls for a
week were as much a statement as the pictures themselves."

While Oso Negro didn't flat out "just say no to drugs," they did recommend
Burley rework his exhibit to include a wider variety of composition,
explains Jon Meyer of Oso Negro.

"We asked Patrick to provide a broader spectrum of material," he says. "We
would ask any artist putting up an exhibit to have a variety … If
anyone else came with photos, sculptures or painted pictures and it was the
exact same thing, I would have the same response."

Oso Negro admits to having a problem with people smoking pot just outside
their business which makes some of their customers feel uncomfortable or
offended as they walk through the wafting smoke, says Meyer.

"Oso is about respect and room for everybody," he says. "We want everyone
to feel comfortable and on equal footing."

Still, they weren't opposed to the exhibit's subject matter. Meyer explains
their business is coffee and art and they weren't concerned with people
making a connection between Oso Negro and marijuana.

"We said to him that he could keep a couple of them up," he says. "It just
didn't seem to be very tasteful in an artistic sense. We have to make sure
that whatever we put up is appreciated by a wide spectrum of people. I
don't know of anyone who would like to look at that many buds on all the
walls."

The exhibit now hangs in the backroom of Holy Smoke Culture Shop just off
Baker Street where the owners are more than happy to provide wall space to
Burley.

"It's art. It's bound to offend someone. People didn't like the naked David
either," says owner Dustin Cantwell.

Cantwell's partner Paul DeFelice says it's unfortunate the pictures had to
come down. He doesn't see a plant as controversial.

"Because it's art and Nelson being an art town and having the Artwalk, I'd
like to think they could hang anywhere," he says. "It's a shame in this day
and age because of prohibition - one of the first casualties of the war on
drugs is truth - that you can't even show pictures of a plant."

But as a store owner, DeFelice understands the position of Oso Negro who
often deal with crowds of smokers outside their business. They're facing
added pressure, he says.

"People don't always know their boundaries and that's what happens there,"
DeFelice explains. "Then when people see an exhibit there of plants like
that and they think Oso doesn't care so they light up."

DeFelice says there is no way to deny there are plants growing in the area
and because they are well hidden, most people don't get to see the beauty
captured in Burley's exhibit.

"I think this is a treat," he says. "In the oddest places, you'll see
acceptance and in the oddest places you don't."

While Burley feels good about his photos hanging at Holy Smoke where they
are accepted, he feels his audience has been limited.

"I've been pigeon holed. Only a select segment of the population is
actually going to see them and it's displayed in an area that's overwhelmed
with pot images already. There is so much of this in the store already they
don't stand out for what they are," he says.

Oso Negro was his first choice.

"It's where I hang out and it's where a lot of people I like hang out. As
far as I am concerned, those are the most prominent walls in town. It's the
place to get the show," he says.

Artwalk coordinator Pat Henman suggests the exhibit should never have went
up in the first place if it was inappropriate for the space reserved by the
artist.

"If the venue knew before hand, they would have said no and that's their
prerogative," she says. "The artist has to find the right venue for their
work. He's allowed to show whatever he wants. Artistically, we're a free
country - let's not take that away but also the store has their rights."

Artistic controversy isn't an anomaly in Nelson, says Henman. There are
nudes on exhibit now at the All Seasons restaurant as a part of Artwalk but
the business has to be comfortable with what they hang on their walls.

"There has to be a market for their work and artists have to know their
town," she says. "Show your work and ask."

This is the first time Oso Negro has had a problem with an artist's exhibit.

Because this was Burley's first exhibit and he put all his resources into
it, he says he wasn't able to provide anything else as Oso Negro suggested.