Escape nightclub manager Paul DeCouto has blasted ZBM for showing an uncensored version of the controversial Manuel Palacio painting decorating his nightclub.

Mr. DeCouto, apologising first and foremost to his parents and the public, commented that he had expected ZBM to "have a bit of dignity and respect for their viewers".

"I didn't tell them not to (show the picture uncensored)," he said, "however I would have expected it.

"I believe this picture has a place in my nightclub, as a nightclub is for mature people - but it is not for kids to see. I do have boundaries that I don't cross.

"If you are old enough to be in a nightclub, to drink, to have sex, then you are old enough to see artwork that's descriptive. It is not appropriate for younger viewers who are not mature enough to understand it as art."

The picture depicts a black couple locked in a sexual embrace, although it does not actually show the act of sex. Mr. Palacio said it was inspired by the Miles Davis tune `So What'.

Mr. Palacio was unapologetic for the nature of the painting, saying that he was trying to be honest about sex. The artist is no stranger to controversy over his paintings, which often depict acts of a sexual nature.

A perfect match, then, for Escape nightclub, which Mr. DeCouto says has sexual overtones.

Mr. Palacio's paintings may not be appropriate for Front Street, he commented, however when the agreement was made to hang the picture in Escape, "he (Mr. Palacio) said, `I think I've found a home for my picture'," said Mr. DeCouto.

ZBM news ran the story after a woman who entered Escape called the painting "shocking" and "not for public view".

ZBM reporter Coggie Gibbons estimated that the picture was on the air for perhaps a minute and a half to less than two minutes.

"As a reporter, my view is this," he said, emphasising that he spoke strictly on a personal basis, and not as an official representative of the Bermuda Broadcasting Company. "That is what is on the wall, what the viewers see."

Granted, he continued, those viewers are supposed to be old enough to be in a nightclub, however ZBM News is a medium of sight and sound as much as words, and the visual impact of the painting would have been lost had it been censored.

In fact, when Mr. Gibbons himself saw the painting, he admitted that it was different from how he had pictured it when it was described to him.

"Had it shown intercourse we wouldn't have shown it, but it doesn't," he said. "We wouldn't have been able to convey the nature of the picture (without showing it) . . . a picture paints a thousand words."

Darlene Ming, programme director at ZBM News, told The Royal Gazette: "We do regret that some viewers may have found the picture offensive, however it hangs in a place to which the public is invited.

"We know that this is the kind of art that Manuel is creating. It's provocative, it creates a sharp reaction, and Manuel admits that people should be honest about such subject matter."

"I'm not embarrassed," said Mr. DeCouto. "It adds style and class to my club, it's natural art - but it is not appropriate to be put on TV."

ZBM did precede the videotape of the story with a disclaimer warning that some viewers could find the material offensive, said Ms Ming. "If the picture did offend . . . we certainly regret that. But our duty is to inform."