Moonie Times: Debate site takes heat for Bush art
Bruce Olin
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041007-123855-2249r.htm
By Joyce Howard Price
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A debate of another nature continues at Arizona State University in
anticipation of next week's matchup there between President Bush and Sen.
John Kerry.
At issue is an exhibition of political art titled "Democracy in America:
Political Satire Then and Now" that coincides with the third and final
presidential debate Wednesday. It showcases historical art alongside
contemporary art and includes paintings, prints, cartoons and photos.
When plans for the display were first reported in Phoenix's New Times on
July 1, the publication said there would be enough anti-Bush art in the
exhibit at the Tempe campus to "make Michael Moore blush" - a reference to
the "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker.
The newspaper also published e-mails sent from the director of the ASU
Art Museum, the president of the university and other administrators,
seemingly concerned about the need for more "political balance" in the show.
Based on those e-mails, there were reports some works seen as anti-Bush
were being removed and replaced by others described as either more favorable
to Mr. Bush or more critical of Mr. Kerry.
However, Milton D. Glick, executive vice president and provost of ASU,
said in a letter to the American Association of University Professors that
the exhibit was in a state of flux when the first New Times article
appeared, and no "final decisions on acceptance of items" had been made at
that time.
The National Coalition Against Censorship said angry pieces deemed "too
heavy on the Bush-negative" might be removed.
"ASU administrators promised that the show would not go on unless it was
politically balanced," Joan E. Bertin, executive director of the
anti-censorship group, said in a fund-raising letter sent out last month.
In her letter, Ms. Bertin argues that "balance in an art exhibit is a
wrong-headed concept and one that defeats the very premise of the First
Amendment."
However, Mica Matsoff, spokeswoman for the museum, said only one work
was withdrawn from the exhibit, which runs through Nov. 19. The piece was a
series of eight photographs of angry children and was pulled not for
political reasons but for the quality of the art.
One of the anti-Bush works remaining in the exhibit is artist Lynn
Randolph's oil painting "The Coronation of St. George." It portrays the five
U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Florida's manual recount of
ballots in the 2000 presidential election, crowning Mr. Bush commander in
chief while demons hover nearby.
"It should come as no surprise that we found much more work that focused
on Bush because he had been in power for four years," Marily Zeitlin,
director of the museum and curator of the exhibit, told the State Press,
ASU's student newspaper.
Other anti-Bush art includes a print by Los Angeles artist Robbie Conal
that likens Mr. Bush to a fat, wrinkled prune. His profile is in front of a
mushroom cloud, and the message "Read My Apocalips" is overhead.
Mr. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, is criticized in a ceramic figurine
called "Kerry in Idaho" by Jim Budde. It features a bottle of Heinz 57
ketchup used as a phallic symbol.
