The Physical
Impossibility of Death
in the Mind of
Someone Living
Damien Hirst, 1991
Glass, steel, silicone, 14ft. tiger shark and 5% formaldehyde solution
2.14 x 6.4 x 2.14 m |
 |
|
This story hit the world headlines 24th September 1998...updates
follow below...
The art world loves a scandal and we have not had a good one since
Andres
Serrano's "Piss Christ" shocked Australia and led to the resignation
of the Art Gallery of Victoria's curator. Before that we had the homoerotic
photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe causing police to close exhibitions
of his work in 1989. Included in this group we must name the likes of Picasso,
Klee, Braque, Kandinsky, Munch, Chagall, Grosz, Dix, Matisse -
all artists labelled "degenerate" by the Nazis. When Hitler decided the
Germans should be taught what "sick" art was and shown how he would eradicate
it from German culture, he put it on display in his new Haus der Kunst
in Munich 1937 juxtaposing it with a display of acceptable German
art. Much to the Nazi's dismay over two million people poured through the
doors eager to catch a glimpse of the "degenerate art" that was
soon to be forbidden for over eight long years.
No doubt The Brooklyn Museum of Art will have a record attendance for
"Sensation:
Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection" which they are staging
at a cost of $US 1 million. This represents a large part of the annual
$US
7 million the museum receives from city funds toward annual operating
expenses and $20 million toward capital costs.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is now threatening to withdraw these funds if
"Sensation" goes ahead. "I don't believe the taxpayer's money should go
toward desecrating somebody else's religion." said Giuliani in reference
to last year's Turner Prize winner Chris
Ofili's painting of a black Madonna enhanced with elephant
droppings. Other works he objects to are by Britain's most infamous
young artist Damien Hirst who saws pigs in half and pickles whole
sharks.
The Brooklyn Museum have taken the unusual and somewhat hypocritical
step of setting the rule that children under seventeen will
be refused admission unless accompanied by an adult to the exhibition.
Giuliani protests that this R-rating is an abuse of the First Amendment
rights of the children.
CNN have run an internet poll to gauge how people are reacting to this
controversy and so far, they are on the side of Giuliani by a narrow margin.
It is true that whilst the publicity now given to the show will attract
large crowds the majority of people who see it, will probably dislike what
they see.
Hitler quoted A. Udo's Manifesto of 1915 to describe how the
Nazis felt about the avant-garde artists of their time.
"They say it themselves: we act as if we were painters, poets
or whatever, but what we are is simply and ecstatically impudent. In our
impudence we take the world for a ride and train snobs to lick our
boots."
The "snobs" in this case being art critics, curators, collectors and those
who mingle in artistic circles warmly embracing all new art rather than
risk appearing short on intellect. They form a distinct minority in the
midst of New Yorkers who vote for Giuliani and are pleased with his success
in cleaning up the city. The normal man in the street is going to wonder
why he should be paying to sensationalize an enormous portrait of convicted
child killer Myra Hindley.
Another more earnest and less pretentious group are those that believe
simply in the freedom of artistic expression. They are the ones who sent
ARTnewspaper.com a desperate e-mail urging all you internet users
out there to call the Mayor's actionline and "Make sure he knows you'll
never vote for him with these kind of cultural policies!"
The only ones happy about all the fuss are the 42 artists still largely
unknown to the American public. The commercial value of their work
is guaranteed to soar as the scandal grows.
ARTnewspaper.com doubts if the exhibition will be cancelled. It is due
to open on October 2nd. 1999 Watch this space for an update...
|
A LETTER TO THE EDITOR New
"
This
is why we should avoid religious sectarianism and political posturing in
our reading of what seems to be a historical excavation by Ofili for the
purpose of recovering a lost tradition that is threatened with extinction
"...[more]
|
|
: 28th September 1999, Tuesday
Whilst the museum world awaits the decision of Arnold Lehman, The Brooklyn's
director whether the doors will open to "Sensation" this Saturday or not,
prominent voices take sides...
HILLARY BACKS THE BROOKLYN
It must have been a tricky question for Hillary who has chosen New York
as the state from which to launch her political career. She needs
to sway voters in her direction but could hardly adopt the conservative
view and say Giuliani is right, when the Republican Mayor
is one of her political opponents. Instead she threw caution to
the wind and is defending the freedom of artistic expression faction. Although
she is doing a bit of "fence sitting" by saying at a Harlem school this
morning that she does not necessarily condone the choice of exhibits in
"Sensation", especially Chris Ofili's portrait of the Virgin Mary.
"I share the feeling that I know many New Yorkers have that
there are
parts of this exhibit that would be deeply offensive," Hillary Rodham
Clinton said. "I would not go to see this exhibit." But she said, "it is
not
appropriate to penalize
and punish an institution such as the Brooklyn Museum."
Giuliani responded to Clinton's comments with:
"Well, then she agrees with using public funds to attack and bash
the Catholic religion."
Indeed, the church has stepped in to support Giuliani's stand against
The Brooklyn Museum. Cardinal John O'Connor of New York has voiced
his complaints.
"I'm saddened by what appears to be an attack not only on
our blessed
mother . . . but one must ask if it is not an attack on religion
itself and in a
special way on the Catholic Church," O'Connor said in his weekly sermon
at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Others, less passionate than the Cardinal have taken a logical cool-headed
attitude like New
York Civil Liberties Union Director Norman Siegel who explained the
threat to cut
funding violates the First Amendment.
"His assertion that New York City can withdraw all funds for
the museum
based on a single exhibition that he finds offensive illustrates a
serious
misunderstanding of the Constitution," Siegel said.
Update : Monday 27th September
1999, New York
BROOKLYN CONSIDERING A COMPROMISE : NO VIRGIN MARY?
The Holy Virgin Mary,
1996
paper collage, oil paint,
glitter, polyester resin, map pins, elephant dung on linen
Robert S. Rubin chairman of the board for the Brooklyn Museum
put forward the proposal to city officials at a meeting in the office
of Corporation Counsel Michael Hess that Chris Ofili's controversial
elephant dung adorned Virgin Mary be removed from the upcoming exhibition.
This news will horrify those who stand opposed to Mayor Giuliani's threat
to the museum. In removing this so-called "offensive" work of art,
the Brooklyn museum concedes defeat.
However it appears Mr Rubin's proposal aimed at appeasing the Mayor
did not agree with Arnold Lehman, the museum's Director and the idea was
quickly cancelled.
"Whatever I discussed is now off the table," announced Robert
S. Rubin.
Another idea put forward by Rubin that Lehman is not opposed to was segregating
the most problematic works of art from the rest of the exhibition. ARTnewspaper.com
imagines that this would create a kind of "peep show" room within
the present allotted exhibition space. An XXX-rated show within
an already X-rated arena. Visualize the queues to get in! If you have to
be over seventeen to get in now, would you have to be over twenty-one to
see the segregated works? What kind of an art exhibition are they
running here?
"I have to tell you I'm concerned about this picture," Lehman
said of Ofili's rendering of the Virgin Mary, "I'm concerned that people
have such passionate feelings about it."
The artistic integrity and credibility of the entire show would be placed
in jeopardy should Ofili's work be sacrificed. The law of precedent would
establish itself within the museum world and perhaps Mayor's in every
city would start censoring art exhibitions.
Meanwhile, Ofili sits in his London studio quietly becoming (thanks
to Giuliani) the most famous living artist at the close of the millennium.
Let's hope he has a good agent who can cash in on it.
Update : Friday 01 October 1999
ITS WAR! ITS OFFICIAL...
The Brooklyn Museum of Art has filed a lawsuit in federal court
against the Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani accusing him of violating
the First Amendment. It seems the Museum has decided to drop negotiations
with the City Council and forget compromising the integrity of their exhibition.
By suing the Mayor, they have declared their position as 'righteous victim'
in the affair. Mr R.S. Rubin, a shrewd businessman and also Chairman of
the Museum who at first tried to pacify Giuliani by suggesting compromises
including the removal of certain "offending" works of art, has now seen
the advantage of making The Brooklyn Museum a cause célèbre
and released the following statement to the press:
"This litigation is not just about the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
It is being undertaken in the interests of all public institutions - museums,
universities and libraries - that are dedicated to the free exchange of
ideas and information, and in the interests of the people they serve."
Giuliani on the other hand, appears ever more the narrow-minded aggressor
as he retaliated by cancelling the Museum's scheduled payment today for
half a million US$.
Update : Sunday 3rd October 1999
ITS OPEN!! As ARTnewspaper.com predicted on the first day the
scandal broke to the press (Sept. 24th 1999) Giuliani was not effective
in preventing the SENSATION exhibition from opening yesterday in New York.
With policemen guarding the outside of The Brooklyn Museum and 100's of
reporters milling around, it is a publicity triumph for the museum
and for Charles SAATCHI, the advertising man from London and owner of the
works in the exhibition. Aspersions are flying about the whole scenario
being the skilful exploit of Saatchi and Christie's to inflate
the value of the collection. Saatchi sets the market for contemporary
art in Britain and has been successfully selling works from his collection
at Christie's for years.
As far as we know, the exhibition has opened as planned with none of
the controversial works removed or segregated.
There were only about three dozen protesters against the exhibition
at the opening, mainly animal rights activists. More impressive
was the turn out of around six hundred opposed to Giuliani who staged a
protest in Brooklyn the night before.
CNN's vote on the issue has now reached close to 18,000 with 50% in
favour of Giuliani's move to with-hold funds from a public museum and 50%
against with just a few votes over the limit in Giuliani's favour. He is
in fact, "winning by a nose".
|
THE WAR GETS NASTIER...
in retaliation to the law suit filed in
Federal court by The Brooklyn Museum against Giuliani, the City of New
York has now filed a law suit of their own quoting violation of the Fourteenth
Amendment and aimed at evicting the museum from it's premises.
(Caricature of Mayor Rudoph
Giuliani used by protesters outside the Museum
Saturday 2nd October
- we cannot confirm if it was contributed by one of the british exhibiting
artists) |
WARNING! THIS SHOW IS NOT SUITABLE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN....OR OTHER
QUEASY SOULS
CNN's poll today has Giuliani edging ahead with 51% of the votes from
a count of 21,000 individually submitted votes on the internet.
Figures have been released by The Brooklyn Museum who happily announced
on Saturday, the opening day that 9,200 people bought tickets at $9.75
each to get into SENSATION breaking all attendance records in the museum's
175 year old history. ARTnewspaper.com's editor saw the 'Sensation' show
in London a couple of years ago and suggests that a free plastic bucket
or airline travel-sick paper bag should have been issued with each ticket.
Have you seen some of the exhibits? A cow's head being eaten by maggots
and flies, the innards of a pig, a man's head sculpted from blood and if
offal and decay don't move you then maybe fear will when you recall the
film JAWS as soon as you see the shark. In fact, the museum's codename
for the show is "Sharkbite".
Meanwhile, Giuliani has discovered there is an up-side to all this mess
- he is getting unprecedented media coverage. Mayor Giuliani appeared on
NBC's "Meet the Press." Sunday. He is fast becoming the 'decent American's'
champion.
"am I going to approve the hard-earned dollars of the
people of this city supporting this? I have to say no. And for standing
up for that principle, I'm being attacked by the First Amendment hysterics,"
wailed the stubborn Giuliani.
Perhaps the blue-collar workers will have to wait for Norman Rockwell's
retrospective at the New York Guggenheim in 2001 before they can see art
they really like.
AMERICAN
ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
ISSUES
STATEMENT ON BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART’S
CONTROVERSIAL
EXHIBITION
Washington,
DC (September 29, 1999): Following recent events involving the Brooklyn
Museum of Art’s (BMA) exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from
the Saatchi Collection, Edward H. Able, Jr., President and CEO of the American
Association of Museums, made the following statement:
"Mayor
Giuliani has a record of strong and steady support for New York’s renowned
cultural institutions, particularly its world-class museums. He has shown
in the past that he understands the importance of these institutions to
the quality of life and to the financial well-being of one of the world’s
great cities. His position on this matter, therefore, is distressing.
"In
the recent past, attempts have been made to restrict the content of exhibitions
at museums of all kinds, including history, natural history, art and others.
When material is controversial, challenging and even offensive to some
visitors, such attempts can be expected. But the fact is this: time and
again, the American public has supported the right of its museums freely
to present information and experiences that reflect a true diversity of
culture, ideas and perspectives. Museums have a responsibility to preserve
our past and enlighten our present, often advancing new and challenging
interpretations of art, history and science. To restrict a museum’s ability
to do so strikes at the heart of its mission of service to the community
and its role in helping people understand and value who they are, where
they came from, and where they are going.
"In
the increasingly acrimonious debate over this particular exhibition, one
important fact is being ignored by the press and public figures. The Brooklyn
Museum of Art is an outstanding institution that has earned the trust and
respect of generations of visitors. It has served its community since 1823.
Of particular note is that BMA is accredited by the American Association
of Museums. Only 10 percent of museums in the country are so honoured,
a distinction earned by an institution that performs on all levels according
to the highest professional standards and practices, and fulfils its obligations
to its community and its many publics. The Brooklyn Museum of Art deserves
the mayor’s continuing support for its decades of excellence and its vital
contribution to the lives of the citizens of New York and the world."
The
American Association of Museums is the national association representing
the concerns of the museum community. AAM assesses museum programs and
accredits museums, provides education and training for museum professionals,
operates international museum programs, and advocates for the advancement
of museums. Since its founding in 1906, AAM has grown to include more than
16,400 members, including more than 11,400 museum professionals, 3,000
museums, and 1,900 corporate members.
|
Update : Monday
11th October 1999 IN COURT
“THE MUSEUM HAS a very strong First Amendment
argument and the mayor is on very weak ground,” said Harvard
Law Professor Laurence Tribe.
-
A decision will be made at the end of this week if an injunction is to
be served against Mayor Giuliani as a result of the first round in the
court case Brooklyn Museum of Art .v. The Mayor of New York. The case was
heard over three hours last Friday 8th October. It is the general opinion
of law experts in the country that the Mayor has not got a leg to
stand on. The main issue confronting Judge Nina Gershon in Federal District
Court on Friday was whether Mayor Giuliani had the legal right to cease
funding the Museum. The City's lawyer, Leonard Koerner concentrated his
defense on the argument that the Museum had broken a legal written contract
by staging an exhibition not suitable for children.
see "Sensation:
Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection"
Economic impact studies used by enthusiasts
to argue for state
support of the arts, are a dangerous two-edged
sword, according
to Tara Zahra ... [more] |
20
Oct. 99
The Web version of the show "Sensation" is available
at David
Bowie's website with narration by rock star turned art critic
David Bowie.
Bowie first became involved in "Sensation," which
opened in
London, when he learned it was coming to Brooklyn,
Zysblat said in a telephone interview from Orlando,
Florida,
where he was on vacation.
"We wanted to donate something to make sure the
funding was there for the exhibition," Zysblat
said. A call
to the museum had an unexpected result: they
wondered if the British rocker would be willing
to record a
taped tour of the exhibit. Next, Zysblat said,
"We asked them if
there were any Internet rights ..."
The museum which has its own site at
http://www.brooklynart.org -- asked Charles Saatchi,
the
British advertising tycoon who owns the works
being shown at
the Brooklyn Museum, if Bowie could put them
on the Net.
Saatchi, who knows the performer, agreed. In
the three
weeks since the opening, the Web site has
registered 7
million users, compared with normal traffic
of 2 million users a
month, said Zysblat. |
10/28/00 - this page has been visited 242.187
times since Oct.99
COURT DECISION ON BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART
American Association of Museums
Washington, DC USA United States of America
U. S. District Court Judge Nina Gershon has just announced her decision
in favour of the Brooklyn Museum of Art's request for a preliminary injunction
against the city of New York, to prevent Mayor Giuliani from following
through on his threat to freeze the city's normal contribution of $7.2
million to the museum.
The city had already withheld its $497,554 contribution for October
and sued in state court to evict the museum. |
Dec 01/1999 - Detroit
ARTIST FIGHTS BACK...first
it was the SENSATION exhibition versus Mayor Giuliani of New York then
the Detroit Institute of Art DIA closed down ART UNTIL NOW Nov.19th
- just two days after it opened - artist Jef Bourgeau's works
'Bathtub Jesus' and 'Nigger Toe' were considered not fit for the
public to view mainly because the titles used may be 'misconstrued as racist
and offensive' BUT the artist is now considering a lawsuit against
the art institute for breach of contract and violation of his First Amendment
rights.
Seems like the art world is witnessing the birth of a new phenomenom
- We will call it ...'The Brooklyn Reaction' |
|
Dec. 02/ 1999
| CANBERRA - Conservative capital of Australia. In the wake of
the Brooklyn Museum scandal The National Gallery of Australia has backed
out of hosting the SENSATION exhibition scheduled for the year 2000.
NGA press statement 26 November '99
The Director and Council of the National Gallery of Australia have
taken the decision not to show the exhibition Sensation: Young
British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the National Gallery of
Australia next year.
As a publicly funded institution, the Gallery will not proceed with a
show which has been the centre of a furore in New York over issues
which have obscured discussion of the artistic merit of the works of
art.
The Director and Council had wished to bring this much discussed
exhibition of Contemporary British Art to the Australian public. The
Gallery had looked forward to engaging the Australian public about
issues in contemporary art and will now seek other avenues in which
to do so.
For further information contact:
Jan Meek, Senior Adviser - Public Affairs, National Gallery of
Australia - 02 93878176 |
December 03/1999
PLEA FROM THE INTELLIGENSIA...ARTnewspaper.com received this
email today...
NYCLU Action Alert: Brooklyn Museum of Art
" PROTECT THE FIRST AMENDMENT
We won the battle at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Prepare for the next fight."
The NYCLU and The Nation Institute invite you to a First Amendment Teach-in
with NYCLU Exec. Dir. Norman Siegel, Legal Dir. Arthur Eisenberg, Nation
columnist Katha Pollitt, NY Foundation for the Arts Exec. Dir. Theodore
S. Berger,artist Fred Wilson, and playwright Christopher Durang &
the NYC premiere of the nea tapes a documentary about the fight for
funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Thursday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.
at the Society for Ethical Culture
Two West 64th Street, at Central Park West
Free Admission.
Co-sponsored by the NY Society for Ethical Culture, People for
the American
Way, and the National Coalition Against Censorship
|
