Art world stars join street artist Fed appeal NYC
ARTISTpres
Art World Luminaries Join Street Artists In Federal Lawsuit
Today the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, and The Metropolitan
Museum of Art will join artists, critics, art dealers and the ACLU in
appealling a
controversial Federal Court ruling. Lederman v. City of New York 94 Civ.
7216 (MGC)
charges New York City with violating street artists' First Amendment
rights. Also
included among the amicus briefs to be filed today as part of the appeal
in support of
five members of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics)
are those
from artists Claes Oldenburg, Jenny Holzer, Chuck Close and David Hammons;
art
critics Irving Sandler and Simon Schama; the New York Foundation for the
Arts, the
New York City Arts Coalition, the College Art Association; SoHo art dealer
Ron
Feldman and the A.C.L.U. and N.Y.C.L.U. The highly respected artists, art
experts
and institutions joined in condemning Federal Judge Miriam Cedarbaum's
controversial
decision that visual art without words or a political message is not
protected by the First
Amendment. Based on the judge's ruling, issued on 10/24/95 in United
States District
Court, Southern District, N.Y., the City has renewed its controversial
policy of
arresting artists.
According to A.R.T.I.S.T. president Robert Lederman, the pattern of
arrests,
confiscations and dismissals is part of an illegal and misguided "quality
of life" policy
aimed at intimidating artists into giving up displaying and selling their
original art on
N.Y.C. streets. Artists are repeatedly handcuffed and arrested. Their
original
paintings, photographs and prints are confiscated. Once arrested, the
artists are charged
with not having a vending license; the same license the City admits in its
legal brief is
impossible to obtain, or even apply for. While the City has made hundreds
of arrests,
and continues to make them on a daily basis, none of the artists have been
brought to
trial in Criminal Court or convicted of a crime. Every case is eventually
dismissed. The
confiscated art is sold at a monthly Police Department forfeiture auction
or destroyed,
often before the cases are dismissed in court. Since 1982 New York City's
vending
ordinance has specifically exempted other constitutionally protected forms
of
expression such as books, magazines and baseball cards, from the licensing
requirement, based on the First Amendment.
In a related action today, three A.R.T.I.S.T. members, Lei Chang, Joe
Costin and
Robert Lederman will be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court's DAT
section (100
Centre Street, 9:30 A.M.) and may become the first artists the City
attempts to
prosecute under Judge Cedarbaum's ruling. Attorney and SoHo art dealer
Marc Agnifilo
is expected to represent the three artists at the arraignment.
for more information contact: A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists' Response To Illegal State Tactics) (718) 369-2111
E-mail ARTIS...@aol.com or visit the A.R.T.I.S.T. web site at:
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~mar/nyc.html
Contents include Judge Cedarbaum's entire ruling; contact numbers for all
City officials involved in this
issue; legal precedents in other First Amendment cases and other research
materials for covering this story.