Thursday, June 19, 2008

Name Ten, Andrew. Just Ten.

Andrew Bolt - who evidently can't be bothered learning about any art, or artist, whom he decides to denounce - has cranked out another fulmination against an artist who makes 'mock of a faith which guards him while he sleeps'. This time the object of Andy's outrage is Argentinian artist Leon Ferrari, whose 1965 sculpture la civilización occidental y cristiana (picture) is on display in the Sydney Biennale.

So far this year, Bolt has tied his knickers - and those of his fans - in a knot over the following artists who've dared to blaspheme against Christianity but haven't the guts to blaspheme against Islam:
  • Alfred Hrdlicka whose 1984 etchings in tribute to Pier Paolo Passolini featured in a controversial retrospective exhibition in Vienna this year.
  • Martin Kippenburger, who died in 1997 but not before he produced a 'self-portrait' depicting himself as a crucified, beer-drinking frog (in 1990).
If, as Bolt maintains, the art world is infested with moral cowards who will quite happily blaspheme against Christianity but not Islam - because that's too dangerous - he ought to be able to name ten, just ten - career artists who have produced and publicly displayed such works in the past year.

Failing that, a little research into the careers of the next artist he lines up for denunciation might spare him a little embarassment. Wikipedia's stub biography of his latest target includes this note:

Ferrari has also written articles for left-leaning newspaper Página 12. His work and his politics have brought him into some controversy and notoriety. He was forced into exile in São Paulo, Brazil from 1976 to 1991 following threats by the military dictatorships.

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