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Abdication of the Artists: A Retort
Larry Beinhart, author of Wag the Dog, just published an interesting essay titled, Abdication of the Artists. In his piece Beinhart bemoans the complacency of contemporary artists, using the annual exhibit produced by the Woodstock Guild of Artists as an example of the apathy he detests. Beinhart writes: “This year there were 152 pieces. Some were very clever. Some amusing….
Nagasaki Nightmare
August 6th, 2005, marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan. August 9th, marks the bombing of Nagasaki. Those who survived the blasts became known as hibakusha (Atom Bomb Survivors), and in 1974 the hibakusha began contributing artworks to an unusual project that would preserve for the world their memories of atomic fire. The Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK…
Thanksgiving? No Thanks!
I created this cartoon of a turkey at his Thanksgiving feast when I was only 17 years old. My pen drawing titled, No Thanks!, served as the cover for the Southern California psychedelic “underground” newspaper, The Tribe. This particular edition of the pre-Watergate paper hit the streets on November 26th, 1971. Its anti-Nixon theme certainly didn’t win me any friends,…
The Last Supper of Western Civilization
This essay will broach the subject of The Last Supper, a controversial artwork by photographer Elisabeth Ohlson. Deemed blasphemous by many, it was exhibited at the European Union Parliament in Brussels, Belgium in May of 2023. I will contrast Ohlson’s irreverent photo with a brief overview of how visual artists in the West have portrayed The Last Supper—the final meal…
- General | Museums | War on art
Eco-Extremists Attack Xmas Trees!
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, How faithfully you blossom! Through summer’s heat and winter’s chill Your leaves are green and blooming still. O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, How faithfully you blossom! The above lyrics are from an 1824 song written by German composer Ernst Anschütz. Over the years his composition O Tannenbaum (in German ‘Tannenbaum’ means fir tree), became closely associated with…
Art and China’s Revolution
Art and China’s Revolution is the latest exhibition at the Asia Society Museum in New York City. Running until Jan. 11, 2009, the exhibit focuses on the propaganda art produced in China during the so-called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution period of 1966-1976. The exhibit displays some 250 large-scale oil paintings, sculptures, woodblock prints, ink paintings, drawings, posters, and other art…