The controversial artist who planned to showcase life-size leaked naked photos of celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton in an exhibition has had a change of heart.
The Wrap reported that artist XVALA has decided to cancel his "No Delete" exhibit at the Cory Allen Contemporary Art (Caca) gallery in St Petersburg, Florida after receiving several "persuasive" online petitions asking him to reconsider his idea.
"It wasn't just about being 'hacked' images anymore, but now presented in the media as stolen property," XVALA said in a statement. "People were identifying with Jennifer Lawrence's and Kate Upton's victimization, much more than I had anticipated, which is powerfully persuasive."
In a separate statement Cory Allen added, "It was inspiring to see people take action through a petition, signing their name and not just commenting on a thread."
Earlier this month, the artist and gallery announced that they would display life-size, unaltered images of the celebrities - including Kirsten Dunst, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Victoria Justice - who fell victim to last month's massive hack. The FBI is currenly addressing the hacking allegations, but no suspects have been identified by authorities.
Earlier this month, Cory Allen and XVALA said they were going through with the upcoming art show despite outrage from the public. The pair claimed that they were showing the "images as art."
"The public's response to cancel the event wasn't just about invasion of privacy, but becoming more of an issue of the exploitation of women; specifically the two celebrities," a press release read. "Empathizing with these real concerns, the artist decided to turn the cameras around on him; wanting the focus to be about an individual's privacy and not just the exploitation of women."
Instead, XVALA's exhibit will feature the artist's self-shot, life-size, nude images.
"This concept was always about self-examination in our current culture," XVALA said. "Why we feel the need to know and cross the lines of other individual's privacy."
