After raising criticisms from the Catholic League and members of the House of Representatives, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has removed a video from an exhibition called Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, which explores, among other things, homosexuality. The video, called “Fire in My Belly,” was made by David Wojnarowicz in the 1980s and depicts a crucified victim with ants crawling over his body. Wojnarowicz died of AIDS in 1992. With Congress stepping in and the debate of how taxpayers money should be used to promote the arts rekindled, some think we’re back in the famed cultural wars of the 1980s. Here’s a quick refresher on past controversies; be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.
Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ (1989)
Piss Christ is the name of a photograph taken by Andres Serrano in 1987. As the name implies, the photo is of a plastic crucifix submerged in Serrano’s urine. When it was exhibited in North Carolina in 1989 with money from the National Endowment of the Arts, Senator Jesse Helms said the work “dishonor[ed] the Lord” and that he “resent[ed] it and I think the vast majority of the American people do.” Ultimately Serrano received death threats and lost grants as a result of the work, but also enjoyed a rise in fame.
Comments (10)
This isn’t actually NSFW at all, Flavorwire… Great article, though.
Oh and incidentally, a Christian lunatic took to a print of Piss Christ with a hammer when it was exhibited at the National Gallery in Melbourne, Australia, resulting in the exhibition being cancelled. Unfortunately the US doesn’t have a monopoly on religious nutjobs unilaterally deciding to censor art because it happens to offend their particular beliefs.
Hey Tom. Agree that it’s not super racy, but I added the NSFW tag because there is some nudity in the post.
Balancing the negative criticisms of these works with the artists’ intents behind these works would have made this a stronger piece– mainly because the criticisms were, for the most part, purely politically motivated.
This is great. I’ve been surprised how ignorant many young (20-something) artists are about the NEA debacles of the late 80′s/early 90′s. And before that, the battles fought by Beat poets and writers to overcome literary censorship. The ongoing evolution of what cultural lines are drawn and crossed when and where-it’s important, and fascinating.
Photographer Jock Sturges was not treated as kindly by the FBI. His main body of work are nude images of adolescents on the beaches of California and France. In 1990 his studio was raided and his images and equipment confiscated. He was charged with child pornography.
I think the artist’s intents are implied through their work. I wouldn’t want the author to interpret the meaning for me. With all do respects to Mr. Schlinkert, I think the images are the story, and the artcile is the informational background and timeline.
Perhaps nothing stirs thought and discussion more than the actual acts of ignorance behind their censorship. Jesse Helms has probably done more for social progress than he could have ever imagined. Now that’s irony.
[...] This came out a while ago but here is a brief history of censorship. You can see Mapplethorpe there along with Serrano’s piece that cut funding for the NEA in the late 80s: http://flavorwire.com/133635/art-censorship-controversies-a-brief-history-nsfw [...]
[...] these controversies seem to spring up a few times every decade. Usually, it’s because some right-wing politician thinks that a particular exhibition or work [...]
Funny how some of these posts are criticizing a few Christians and of course Republicans for getting angry at anti-Christian “art” such as Piss Christ, but there is no disdain at the almost nationwide self censorship at displaying anything that might upset Muslims, such as cartoons of Mohammed, which would likely lead to bombings and murders (as they have in Denmark) and huge uproar by more than just a few Muslims. Let’s see some art that is offensive to Muslims and see how they, and those of you complaining about censorship, react then.
[...] photograph of a plastic Jesus submerged in a jar of urine, caused outrage when it was exhibited in the U.S. in 1989. The photo caused a stir not just for its content, but for the National [...]
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