Public Art Controversies

8/6/2019 Public Art Controversies

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Is it Art?


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(canineexcrement)


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Thec

hanging face of t

heartmuseum

Trends and Controversies


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But is it Art?

Thedevelopment of Modernismand Post-Modernism in the visualarts has led to amajordivide between theart world*and thegeneral

population Disagreements on what art is orshould be

Art world: increasingly secular, political,againsttraditional forms of art and traditional value systems.

*Art world: theculturecomposedcritics, curators,andtheorists, as wellas artists themselves,art dealers,art collectors.


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Museum Mechanics: theart canon

Canon:comprised of artworks decided to be

of major significance to thehistory of art

Decided inlarge part by Curators

Critics

Theorists


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TheArt Curator

Curator:an individualconcerned with

Stagingloanexhibitions

Arranging

d

isplay

s ofmu

seum

s permanen

tcollections

Makingacquisitions (buyingart, securingdonations

of artworks from benefactors)


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TheArt Theorist/ Art Critic

Make valuejudgments on works of art.

Publish in books,journals,magazines,and

online. Playanactiverole both indiscussingart history

and,directly or indirectly,affecting the

trajectory of futureart.

Question the valueand therole of art in

society.


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Why talkabout museums in thecontext

of publicart?

Art is public basednot onwhere it is, but on what

it does. Publicart encourages thedevelopment

of active,engaged,and participatorycitizens,a process whichgenerallycan occur only

through theactivism of anartist and the

provocation of art.- Patricia C. Phillips


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Private to Public

Thoughart museums, ingeneral,havealways beenopen to the public, theaudienceand intent hasshifted.

Oldconception: temples of art, morgues formasterpieces, warehouses, primarily foracademics.

New Conception Themuseumas a treasurehouse, school,church,anda

battlefield

Themuseumas a blend betweena comfortablearmchairanda fistfight

A space foracademics AND thegeneral public.


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Significant Developments

AIMS to increase the inclusion of the public/

increaseattendanceandrevenues:

Theadvent of art educationandart outreachas amuseumresponsibility:engaging the

communitydirectly


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communitydirectly.

Free/pay-wh

at-you-want entrydays.


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communitydirectly

Free/pay-wh

at-you-want entrydays The inclusion of pop culturalartifacts


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communitydirectly

Free/pay-wh

at-you-want entrydays The inclusion of pop culturalartifacts

Blockbusterexhibitions


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AIMS to increase the inclusion of the public/increaseattendanceandrevenues:

Theadvent of art educationandart outreachas a

museumresponsibility:engaging thecommunitydirectly Free/pay-what-you-want entrydays

Blockbusterexhibitions

Theexhibition of pop culturalartifacts

The inclusion of highlycontroversialartworks To show multiple viewpoints or to stir public interest (and

thus, increaserevenues)?


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Disclaimer: Theart wearelooking

at today is chosenas theyare pieces

that havecalled the idea of

nationally fundedart into question,not simply for the sake of shock

value. All images haveappeared in

thenationalmedia in thesecensoredforms.


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Robert Mapplethorpe, from a series titledThe PerfectMoment


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Chris Ofili,Holy Virgin Mary


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Protest against Ofili

MayorRudy Giuliani

threatened to close themuseum

and take back funds the

Brooklyn Museumreceived fromthecity.

Themuseum sued themayor

and NYC for the violation of First

Amendment rights.


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Brooklynmuseumdirector

defends work:

Ofili is Catholic

Elep

hant dung

has sacred

and practicaluses inhis

nativeNigeria.

Used to treat post-

pregnancy inflammation ofthe breasts.

Themuseum wins its case.


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A 72-year-oldmannamed

Dennis Heiner vandalized thework,covering the painting in

white paint to cleanse or veil

the Virgin Mary

Do thedifferences inculture

make Ofilis workless offensive?


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Renee Cox,Yo Mamas LastSupper


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Whydoes it matter? Cant

museums show what they want to?


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museums show what they want to?Museums andartists receive public fundingand

show their work in publicly funded venues.


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museums show what they want to?Museums andartists receive public fundingand

show their work in publicly funded venues.

Onemajor source: the NationalEndowment for theArts.


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NationalEndowment for theArts (NEA)

According to the NEAs website:The NationalEndowment for theArts was established by

Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal

government. To date, the NEAhas awardedmore than $4

billion to support artisticexcellence,creativity,and innovation

for the benefit of individuals andcommunities. The NEAextends

its work through partnerships with statearts agencies,local

leaders, other federalagencies,and the philanthropic sector.

2010 funding: $167,500,000


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NationalEndowment for theArts (NEA)

Challenges to the NEA

RonaldReagan, 1981

Senator Jesse Helms (R, NC)Reaction to Piss Christ

Joined by theAmerican FamilyAssociationandreligiousfigures suchas Pat Robertsonand Pat Buchanon.

1990, NEA Four performanceartists Artists denied fundingdue to thecontroversialnature of their

work. Challenged NEAs decision in theSupreme Court as anact of

censorship and won. NationalEndowment of theArts v. Finley


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Newsweek Poll, June 1990

Which is more important?

That adults likeyourself have theright to determine

what theymay seeandhear.

That societyhas laws to prohibit material that may

be offensive to some segments of thecommunity.


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Which is more important?

(75%) That adults likeyourself have theright to

determine what theymay seeandhear

(21%) That societyhas laws to prohibit material

that may be offensive to some segments of the

community


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Should federal funds beused to encourage

and support selectedarts projects, ornot?


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Should federal funds beused to encourage

and support selectedarts projects, ornot?

1990 1989

Should 42% 35%

Shouldnot 50% 47%


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FineArt or Foul?Newsweek Magazine, July 1, 1990.

http://www.newsweek.com/1990/07/01/fine-art-or-foul.html


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SisterWendy on thePiss Christ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pAKdkJh-Y


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Why is there sucha push for

freedom of expression inart?

Thehistory of censorship:events like

theDegenerateArt Show


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TheDegenerateArt ShowGermany, 1937


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DegenerateArt Show

Label of DegenerateArt: Includednearlyall

Modernart.

Degenerate:having fallen below anormal or

desirablelevel,especially in physical ormoralqualities; deteriorated; degraded.

Degenerateartists weredismissed from

teaching positions and were often forbidden tocreateart.


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DegenerateArt Show

Degenerate versus Nazi propagandist art

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0VWlzAlUbg

Footage of theDegenerateArt Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwlMnDRXSsc

&feature=related


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DegenerateArt Show

Inlight of the show and other forms of

censorship and propaganda programs in the

old world, it is understandable that American

artists continue to push for therights of freespeechandexpression.

That said,manyartists areagainst many

modernists art movements, perhaps to the pointof labelingartwork to be degenerate.


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Anti-Art WorldArtists

Today we willlookat artists that are very

critical of thecurrent art establishment

While themajority of protests come fromnon-

artist citizens,criticism of theart worldand,

more specifically,museums comes fromartist

groups:

TheStuckists

The Gorilla Girls


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TheStuckists

Group comprised of British figurative painters

Active from 1999-Present

Known primarily for protests outside of theTate

Gallery in London

Stuckist Manifesto:http://www.stuckism.com/stuckistmanifesto.html#manifest


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TheStuckists arehighlycritical of theTate Modern in London

In particular theTurner Prize, often seenas thegoldencalf of art

world prizes

In the following slides, we will seea few nominees and winners of

theTurner Prizealong withStuckist protests.


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TheDetergent Bottle

versus

TheBlueBunny Manhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8LxUAEkdU


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How ageingart punks got stuck into

Tate's SerotaAlice OKeefe,The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/dec/11/arts.artsnews1?INTCMP=SRCH


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The Guerrilla Girls


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Guerrilla Girls

Founded in 1985; stillactive today.

Place posters all over New York City

A

llmembers areanonymous,adopting th

enames of dead femaleartists as pseudonyms.

Began focusing on thecritique of art

institutions, but now the GGs create work that

addresses political issues beyond theart world.


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Waging Guerrilla

Warfare Against the

Art WorldRobertaSmith

NewYorkTimes, 1990

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DD1F3BF934A2

5755C0A966958260&pagewanted

=1

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Public Art Controversies