Wife, friends defend artist over gallery 'sex show'
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Viewers who attended the gallery show generally expressed confusion at the detention, according to performance artist Guo Zhenming, who was also detained by police last June for taking part in a nude display.
"There was no public disorder," he said. "All the audience was made up of either performance artists or art critics. They were prepared mentally for what they were going to see and were very quiet during the process.
"He (Cheng) was using his art to criticize the current situation in the art circle, where people seem to lose their principles. It is his way of expressing irony that art today is over-commercialized," added Guo.
However, many legal experts and netizens welcomed the decision to detain Cheng for a year, including Zhu Jianyue, an attorney at Jintai Law Firm and a member of the Beijing committee of the National People's Congress.
"There's no doubt the punishment is correct," he said. "I also think the artists should learn the law, because they are behaving in China and should follow the regulations. His (public sex) act challenged the bottom line of the law and was not appropriate.
"It's a real pity the man lost his freedom just for attracting the public's attention with unusual behavior. The law is equal for everyone and artists are no exception. They should not hold the idea that the law does not restrict their art," he added.
A police spokesman refused to offer more details on the case when contacted by China Daily on Monday. He was also unable to shed light on what penalty, if any, the woman who participated in Cheng's performance might face.
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