Putin Art

[Josh Wilson]

Piss Christ and Poop Madonna were some of the exhibits that got enough
political attention in the US for the US to severely cut funding for the NEA
after 1989. 

The organization has suffered ever since -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts

Not sure where that fall on the Putin scale - but certainly I would class
the moves by congress as collective punishment for all artists on the basis
on the "crimes" of a few... and collective punishment is usually decried in
democracies... 


Josh Wilson
Assistant Director
The School of Russian and Asian Studies
Editor in Chief
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
SRAS.org 
jwilson at sras.org


-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Stefani, Sara Marie
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 1:25 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Putin Art

In 1989, there was Robert Mapplethorpe's notorious "One Perfect Moment"
exhibition, which aroused the ire of the US Congress and also led to charges
of obscenity being brought against both the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts
Center and its director. They were both found innocent of the charges, but
the highly sexualized and, especially, homoerotic nature of Mapplethorpe's
images led to a significant nationwide culture war over federal funding for
the arts, as well free speech and the First Amendment. Around the same time,
there was also the scandal over Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ," which
similarly angered various US Senators (especially Jesse Helms), and some
religious and other officials sought injunctions against it being exhibited.
The injunctions were denied, but the attempts were still made. The argument
about federal funding was repeated in 1999-2000 with the "Sensation"
exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, particularly over its inclusion of
what is colloquially known as the "elephant dung Madonna." Then-mayor Rudy
Giuliani tried to get the Museum evicted from its location; Giuliani also
pulled all city funding for the Museum until a federal judge ordered him to
reinstate it, and the US House of Representatives likewise suspended federal
funding.

100% analogous examples may not exist, since American and Russian culture
each exist on different terms, but examples are still there in both
countries in recent memory. Americans seem to get less riled up over
political art than over religion and sex, especially homosexuality, as in
the case of Mapplethorpe. We also seem to use money as the weapon of choice
and the threat of pulling federal funding for "obscene" works (as if anyone
can define what "obscene" means), rather than using the law to pull a work
or forbid it to be exhibited (although the Corcoran Gallery refused to show
Mapplethorpe's exhibition, and I'm sure that if Giuliani had possessed the
same legal powers that Putin does, he would not have hesitated to use them
in Brooklyn!). 

What I find more interesting is why this particular painting was pulled by
the Russian authorities. Does anyone know what happened to Vera
Donskaya-Khilko's paiting "Wrestling," which was exhibited at the "Tochka G"
erotic museum in Moscow a few years ago? I might be wrong, but I think that
that painting was not pulled and was allowed to be shown. Her work depicts a
very masculine, muscular Putin and Obama preparing to do battle with their
very large, erect phalluses. Putin is shown as having not one, but two very
large "members." Altunin's painting, on the contrary, shows feminized
figures of Putin and Medvedev and contains strong homoerotic overtones - all
of which contradicts the hyper-masculine image that Putin has been
cultivating over the years. I can't help wondering if Altunin's painting was
confiscated not so much on political grounds as on image-making ones.

A fascinating discussion in any event. Thanks to everyone for the
interesting perspectives!



Sara Stefani

Assistant Professor

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Indiana University

________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[SEELANGS at listserv.ua.edu] on behalf of Martin Votruba
[votruba+slangs at PITT.EDU]
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 10:28 AM
To: SEELANGS at listserv.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Putin Art

> Don't forget about

I'll probably transgress the interdiction.

> taken down after strong reactions.

Susanne and David spoke, meaningfully, about comparing actions by the
authorities. Diego Rivera's mural was taken down by Rockefeller, an owner of
the building, not by the authorities.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

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