Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia says an art exhibition featuring a sex chair covered with the face of Lord Ernest Rutherford on $100 bills is offensive and inappropriate.
The chair is on display at Pataka museum in Porirua. A recording camera has been installed in a hollow in the seat and the chair is decorated with notes featuring Lord Rutherford.
Mrs Turia says she was contacted by a member of the public, who was offended by what she described as smutty art.
She questions whether it is appropriate to have the face of the father of modern physics used in this way.
Museum director Darcy Nicholas says the piece is about money and power, not Lord Rutherford.
He believes the exhibition has not crossed the boundaries of taste or culture.
