Another dimension to this, particularly in music, which often has words, is whether the art has any "offensive" message articulated within it. As a fairly serious Christian 14-year old (yes, really!), I loved ELP's Tarkus, my first rock album, but I had real difficulty with the song 'The Only Way' on the second side, which was openly atheistic.
But how can we find purely instrumental music offensive? Does Wagner's music suddenly depreciate because of his links with Nazism? Do you love the music one day and hate it the next upon finding out the ugly truth about the man himself? It's a piece of music that either works for you or it doesn't. Does a house design cease to be exquisite because the designer had a thing about sheep? I don't think so. Mind you, if he pens an explicit and juicy ode to a particularly handsome Friesian, we might, if we're squeamish about such things, bristle with disapproval! Otherwise, it makes little sense, as far as I can see. When we like a piece of art, it's the art we're enjoying - the guy who created it and the petty paraphernalia of his existence are not the issue.
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