First, big thanks to @DonMooneyJr on twitter for the title! For those who were asleep this afternoon, Shepard Fairey’s mural on Pike Street in Covington, KY was painted over with white paint. Lauren Bishop wrote the story at Cincinnati.com and the image is present alongside the article. The mural was across the street from John G. Carlisle School.
For many of us, this harkens back harrowing memories of Mapplethorpe. The exhibit, held in 1990 at the Contemporary Arts Center, was titled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment. The exhibit had been in circulation throughout the country for almost a year before landing in Cincinnati. What culminated was a perfect storm in which massive protests lead by Citizens for Community Values eventually lead to the indictment of then CAC’s director Dennis Barrie and the CAC for pandering obscenity. An acquittal came 6 months later. The larger aftermath resulted in how the art world framed itself and art within the community. FANTASTIC Enquirer article Mapplethorpe Battle Changed Art World written by Jackie Demaline is a necessary read for those not familiar.
Two pervasive feelings; one is embarrassment over the censorship from the greater Cincinnati community. The other is seething anger over the exploitation of the location and Cincinnati’s history. Cincinnati is attempting to see itself as a world-class city and community and censorship flies in the face of our fledgling self-prescribed identity but this writer feels terrific anger toward an opportunistic artist using our history to further his own agenda and popularity.
I love the Contemporary Art Center. I’m a member. However, one is torn between knowing this controversy can be good for our city in garnering the art world’s eyes toward us and feeling that Fairey may have been booked for that very purpose. I also know that’s not fair. The CAC’s mission statement is
“…based on the notion that there is an inextricable link between art and life, and that connections are made through contemporary art.
We provide a space for reflection and dialogue, where the public can engage with artists, scholars, and each other around contemporary issues. We are committed to remaining the place where opportunity transcends boundaries.
The CAC is shaped by a symbiotic relationship with the community. We are a neighbor, a leader, and a facilitator. We believe in the idea of an open cultural forum where all are welcome to congregate and gain exposure to new ideas and where art is a means for people to connect to each other and to the world outside.” Contemporary Art Center
Platow fulfilled the CAC’s mission in bringing Fairey here. Was Shepard Fairey’s choice of mural and location exploitive? Yep. Should the owners of the space known? Yep. Is it benefitting him? Yep. Is it benefitting greater Cincinnati? Maybe.
Thanks to @LivingInGin for this archived gem: Elvis/Velvet Gala Opening
Some twitter comments from today’s feed:
@artsnob @CincyCAC monumentalizing and child soldiers with an mural, does not bring problems to light, it celebrates children at war
@5chw4r7z I guess Fairey should have done a mural with Dr King being denied lunch at Woolworths. would have fit with the current climate in KY
@LivingInGin Ax murder mural forces delay of Moscow Metro station opening. They should’ve hired Shepard Fairey. http://bit.ly/dj2xH0
@epavner shame that Covington’s arts district will be known for a Fairey cover-up instead of embracing a teachable moment
@DillyCafe Ah yes, maybe by painting over that image all the real child soldiers around the world will magically disappear.
Other reading:
Mapplethorpe & the CAC: 20 Years Ago Today
Mapplethrope controversy reverberates in Cincinnati 10 years later
Cincinnati Jury Acquits Museum In Mapplethorpe Obscenity Case
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
This situation is just ridiculous.
Clearly, this was meant to benefit the artist.
He painted on someone’s privately owned building WITH PERMISSION (which loses A LOT of street cred from authentic graffiti artists). If this was done on public, city owned space, it would be painted over. Would that be called censorship then? No. Why? Because defacing public property is illegal. In OH it’s a felony.
So this isn’t really even graffiti art. Which is what this is all suppose to be about, right? Censoring an artistic medium…
Whatever.
That aside, if you paint an image on the side of someone’s building that they find it offensive, they have EVERY RIGHT to cover it up. I don’t understand why this is being called censorship? You paint on my house, my car, my wheelbarrow, for christ sake, and I don’t like it–I COVER IT UP. Common sense.
But what really disgusts me is that he painted an image of a child soldier wielding a machine gun IN FRONT OF A SCHOOL. Is the use of children as soldiers an issue that needs to be talked about? Sure. But I am not sure what type of educated discussion is going to ensue at an elementary school about this, especially given our education system at them moment. In particular, an education system that is fighting to keep students in school and literate (I know all about this, I get to work with those kids that fall through the cracks everyday).
This is the type of conversation one has at home with Mom and Dad.
i have no problem with this image.
I do however find the placement of this mural to be exceptionally inappropriate. In addition, not only do I find that socially irresponsible, but I find that a blatantly disrespectful to the students, faculty, and school administration at John G. Carlisle.
I’m going to be honest, I don’t think that any community would be happy about this mural being placed in their community. But in front of a school? Come on!
This mural was certainly strategically placed. I have serious suspicions it had anything much to do with starting an educated dialog though. I would however venture to guess that it did have something to do with padding the artist’s pocketbook.
If you are tempted to buy this print (should it be available), because this is an issue you care so deeply about, don’t be a sellout like Mr. Fairey, why not donate here instead: http://www.child-soldiers.org/home
Librariangrrl, you say it so well.
Here is a link to two very good critiques of Fairey’s by local artists. The first explains pretty clearly the problem with this child soldier iconography in particular.
http://cincy-artsnob.blogspot.com/2010/03/shepard-fairey-greater-cincinnati.html
Actually Kathy the author of this post is @Classicgrrl. FYI.
@Loki – Think Kathy was replying to the first commenter, @librariangrrl, actually…
@librariangrrl & @Classicgrrl – I *gulp* enjoy the controversy. It exposes indifference and encourages people to make up their minds. Also, I agree with both of your interpretations of Fairey. He’s an artist, sure, but he’s also a businessman. He’s not going to turn down the opportunity for this amount of free press.
If I could disagree a little, comparing this to Mapplethorpe could be a little sensational. I believe Fairey-gate is an issue of common sense and indirect confrontation more than an issue of free speech; Mapplethorpe was a head-on attempt at censorship.
@Kathy D’oh! Somehow I did not see the first comment left by Librarygrrl. A good one too!
I don’t think this is censorship. The owner of the wall has every right t paint over it. OF course it would probably have been a wise move to get familiar with SF’s work before giving him carte blanche on one’s wall. It’s not hard to see how he courts controversy (like a true showman). I don’t think the wall owner thought beyond the “wow, it will draw people,” aspect of the situation.
I’m on the fence about SF to begin with. On the one hand I think he is a plagiarist, on the other I think he is challenging the ideas of fair use and copyright in an important way. It is going to take some time before I solidify my opinion on the subject to be honest.
As to the idea of graffiti, it does not apply. This was a sanctioned mural and has nothing at all to do with graffiti.
My own experiences with disaster always make me unhappy with the “not the right time/place,” arguments, so I will mull that part over more before I respond to it.
Nathan,
Should have made it more clear in the aricle that I’m not comparing Mapplethorpe and Fairey Gate as much as I am citing two instances of outside interests using Cincinnati to further their own agendas. Citizens for Community Values was a Republican backed group who waited until Fairey came here after touring for a year in other cities to galvanize a major protest. Fairey is using Cincinnati’s history and unique demographics for his own means as you pointed out.
Fairey stated he did not know there was a school across from the wall where the mural was placed. There is a playground right next to the school. I surmise he not only knew there was a school but that he chose that mural on purpose hoping to start a controversy. He is well aware of Cincinnati’s CAC art history – everyone in the art world is…
Thanks for the comment. LIke most, I have really mixed feelings on this; on the mural coming down; and on Fairey’s artistic strategy.
I agree with you. All the dude had to do was turn around and go “holy sh!t, a muthaf#*&in school.”
Nevertheless this brings up an interesting point that you may very well have thought of but I haven’t much, which is with all of this personal knowledge about Shepard Fairey, can we accurately judge his art or has the message been tainted? I know people that boycott films because of certain actors’ beliefs, or don’t listen to a band because of statements made by the lead singer. Can we, or are we supposed to, separate the art from the artist? How do you see it? If we do are we self-righteous xenophobes? If we don’t are we morally duplicitous?
Shepard Fairey is probably a nice guy; and you were right when you stated that what he did made good business sense.
Ty Cobb was an ass. But he was still a phenom of a ball player.
Clinton was a decent president. But he cheated on his wife.
Wagner pioneered musical advances. But his politics sucked.
Art is morally duplicitous and a self-righteous xenophobe because its creater is. Art = Human.
how was that for a mouthfull of bullshit?
That shit don’t stink.
Take a note everyone.
*Standing Ovation*
Excellent post- great conversation! Love the idea above to donate to: http://www.child-soldiers.org/home. No matter which side of the issue you are on, the point is that we have entered into dialogue with each other and in the end, I think perhaps that may have been Fairey’s whole point. It certainly raised awareness and discussion with my own children about several issues that would not have come up otherwise.
And this is exactly why I get conflicted about Fairey. The debeates generated by his work are of huge value in and of themselves.
I love love love it!
My #1 criteria to judge art is, does it evoke emoition?
By this standard fairey’s work strikes a home run.
I’ve never talked so much about art to anyone outside the art community before.
If people look at it and are bored, what was the point?
It’s probably an indicator of my NOLA roots, but I view art and music as the purest expressions of the human spirit. They communicate on so many more levels than mere language, visceral and primal levels as well as lofty intellectual ones. For instance punk rock and the symphony.
Art that makes you think or makes you feel is vital to one’s sanity, especially in the modern day when so much is prefab or polystyrene.
The real question is how are Shepard’s “works” uplifting the city given they’re at the same old hipster hangouts people always fawn over? Two Downtown, next to Arnold’s and Metropole, two in OTR, two in Northside, one in Mt. Auburn and one in Covington. Have I missed any? Way to push the envelope there.
How does fawning over the same pet places actually invigorate the city? It doesn’t…just another chance for people to pretend they’re working for the better without doing any heavy lifting. The above neighborhoods comprise just a small fraction of the city’s total population.
Why not plaster the murals in Price Hill, Walnut Hills, Colerain, Mt. Healthy or Sedamsville? Because it would require effort. And admit the city exists outside the same tired enclave of hip/up and coming neighborhoods we keep hearing about. How does this fight gentrification? What message does it send?
World class cities look to uplift the environment their citizens occupy. Here it this ‘burg, talking heads merely rearrange “problems” (pesky poor folks) and perpetuate this faux progress that’s more about building social capital and tweaking the tax base than anything else. Yeah, if we party hard enough and inject enough pretense, change will happen. Look out Portland, we’re sucking down the Stoli and aiming for you!
Same as it ever was.
Doug
I echo your sentiments word for word. Bravo.