Nazi Exhibit Triggers Debate About 'Art'
Andrea Bostrom
By Richard Valdmanis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An exhibition set to feature Holocaust-related artwork
such as a Lego concentration camp kit and a "Giftgas Giftset" of designer
poison gas canisters is generating controversy well in advance of its opening.
Organizers of "Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art," to be shown at the
Jewish Museum in New York starting March 17, say the exhibition, far from
trivializing the Holocaust, seeks to present Nazi horrors in a
thought-provoking manner.
"We're bringing together a range of different artwork by internationally
recognized artists and presenting them in a careful and responsible manner for
the sake of the very important issues they raise," a museum spokeswoman said on
Friday.
But some critics were outraged.
"In practically any environment these objects are effectively Nazi propaganda
and are absolutely disgraceful, but the Jewish Museum of all places is
exhibiting them under the rubric of artistic freedom," said Phil Baum, director
of the American Jewish Congress. "Art assumes privileges that the rest of
society does not get."
Among the exhibit items are sculptures of infamous concentration camp doctor
Joseph Mengele, an artist's self-portrait with a Diet Coke inserted into a
photo of emaciated Jews at a death camp, and collages with bar codes that turn
into images of Holocaust victims.
TOY MAKER IRATE
The exhibit has angered Denmark-based toy maker Lego Co., which finds itself
drawn into the controversy because its name appears on the box of the
concentration camp set.
"This piece of so-called art is actually just a box depicting a Lego
concentration camp," said Lego spokesman Michael McNally. "The permission to
use the Lego name was given under false pretense. We certainly do not sponsor
this."
McNally said the artist, Zbigniew Libera of Poland, had in 1996 asked for
permission to use Lego blocks in the building of "little houses, and perhaps a
hospital" for art.
The heat generated by the controversy is reminiscent of the one created by the
Brooklyn Museum's "Sensation" show in 1999 that featured a feces-smeared
portrait of the Virgin Mary and animal carcasses.
Then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to evict the museum and cut off its funding
because he said the exhibition was tasteless and lacked artistic merit. In
November 1999, a federal judge ruled the mayor had violated the constitution
and the city ended up settling the case for $5.8 million.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has no plans to visit the Nazi
art exhibit and is not interested in entering the debate.
"Mayor Bloomberg finds the Holocaust and anything associated with it
offensive," said a spokesman at the mayor's office. "But he's not in the
business of telling museums what they can and can't exhibit."
18:22 01-11-02
EndlsRayne
>
>The exhibit has angered Denmark-based toy maker Lego Co., which finds itself
>drawn into the controversy because its name appears on the box of the
>concentration camp set.
I've seen this one before :
debby
Oh God!!!! They really DO have holocost lego systems. How Disgusting!!!!! I
thought this was just an invention of the artist..... Debby
S.<sarg...@infi.net>
EndlsRayne
>
>Oh God!!!! They really DO have holocost lego systems. How Disgusting!!!!! I
>thought this was just an invention of the artist..... Debby
>S.<sarg...@infi.net>
I don't think he's selling them ,and the 'kits' are just the empty boxes. He
did trick Lego into letting him use their name by telling them that he was
going to make "a hospital with smaller buildings around it..."