The Sunflower & Poppy Gallery in Southampton Road

• I READ with interest your article about the gallery next to St Dominic’s church, Southampton Road, because I worship in that church every Sunday and have passed the gallery where in the window the words “God is Coming” and “Bodies of Shame” are written in large letters which can hardly be ignored, (Gallery’s front window penis paintings ‘not appropriate near school’, June 22).

And the male genitals associated with the words are clearly visible. I just wonder what possessed the owner of the gallery to publicise such things.

The artist Merel Ellen has, like many these days, only controversy to hold onto because, let’s face it, my eight-year-old grandson creates better paintings than she does.

The point is why next door to a Roman Catholic church? Is it on purpose? What on Earth have we done to the Sunflower & Poppy Gallery to be insulted in this manner?

And where has Ms Ellen got the ideas that the Roman Catholic Church has a shameful relationship with sex and the human body?

In my country of origin, Italy, we have statues of naked men and women in our public squares and maybe Merel Ellen should learn something from our artists. And you can’t really get more Catholic than Rome can you?

I for one have enjoyed plenty of full-hearted sex in my life and no priest has ever told me off because of that. In one of those delightful sessions I conceived two beautiful children. So no shame there.

I feel sorry for this gallery and this very bad artist. They just want to offend for the sake of it because they think that Catholics and Christians in general are an easy target. But God is real and one day they might find that out and it won’t be pretty.

Please do leave my name in this letter if you decide to publish it because I’m not afraid to stand up for this church who has given me so much.

JOSEPHINE BRUNI, NW5