Do the people who shut down such exhibitions have sick minds or...

Do the people who shut down such exhibitions have sick minds or is it the artist himself that does.

SYDNEY, May 23 (Reuters) - A photographic exhibition in
Sydney of naked 12 and 13-year-old children, closed by police
only hours before its opening night, has sparked a heated debate
over whether adolescent nudity is art or pornography.

Police on Thursday night closed the exhibition by Australian
photographer Bill Henson which features photographs of naked
children, saying they were investigating its legality.

The show includes large photographic prints of topless girls.

"I think they're revolting. Kids deserve to have the
innocence of their childhood protected," Australian Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd told local television on Friday.

"I have a very deep view of this. For God sake let's just
allow kids to be kids, whatever the artistic view or the merits
of that sort of stuff. Frankly I don't think there are any."

Child protection advocate Hetty Johnston said the
photographer and exhibitor should both be prosecuted.

"You can call it anything you want, but at the end of the
day, these are images of naked adolescents," Johnston said.

"We all have a responsibility to look after children. Putting
naked photos up there on public display in a gallery ... and even
on the internet is just totally betraying our duty of care to
children," Johnston said.

In media interviews ahead of the exhibition, Henson said he
left interpretation of the images to audiences.

"You can't control the way individuals respond to the work,"
he said, saying he photographed adolescents because they
reflected a humanity and vulnerability.

Artists and gallery patrons, some of whom were turned away
from the gallery on Thursday night, said the shutdown of the
photographic exhibition was censorship of art.

Art market analyst Michael Reid said the images had not been
"sexualised" and were not pornographic, adding Henson frequently
used young adolescent models as part of his range of work.

"I think the sexualisation of children is an extremely
important (issue). The naked body, whatever age, has been a
subject for thousands of years," Reid told local radio.

"The question is was there consent, which I can't answer, and
has the image been sexualised? In my opinion, it wasn't."

Senior curator of photography at the Art Gallery of New South
Wales, which has exhibited Henson's work, defended his images.

"I think it is unfortunate if people confuse it with
pornography. I think the question then goes back to these people,
these rabble rousers, what do they think is pornographic about
this work?," said Judy Annear.