Death threat to Muslim artist (From The Argus)

Death threat to Muslim artist

1:10pm Saturday 1st November 2008 in News By Miles Godfrey

Death threats have been made against a controversial Muslim artist whose pieces include a picture of a woman in a headscarf holding a pig.

A gallery showing photos by the Sussex artist Sarah Maple, 23, said it had received an email using “unsettling” images of Ms Maple and her family and threatening their lives.

This week the glass frontage of the SaLon gallery in Notting Hill, west London, was smashed and staff said they had received regular angry and abusive phone calls since the exhibition opened on October 16.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were investigating the damage to the gallery’s window.

He said it was too early to confirm whether the force was also dealing with the threatening email.

The 23-year-old Crawley artist, who was born in Sussex and trained in Worthing, has attracted fierce criticism from sections of the Muslim community for her portrayal of her religion.

Some of her photographic selfportraits feature her in a headscarf in provocative and suggestive poses, and one painting shows the artist in a headscarf with a bare breast.

Her pieces are said to explore the compatibility of Western society with Muslim beliefs.

Other works make satirical comment on politics, celebrity culture and the art world.