Subverse Aphrodesia

"AFTER THE CULTURE WARS"
Censorship works best when no one knows it’s happening
By Richard Meyer

Last January, the White House dispatched Laura Bush to announce a proposed eighteen million dollar increase to the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts, the agency’s largest boost in over twenty years. However, there’s a catch: almost all of the funds are reserved for an initiative entitled “American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius,” an exhibition of art, dance, music and theater to tour all fifty states, including small towns and military bases, over three years. “Through American Masterpieces,” Mrs. Bush affirmed, “citizens will reconnect with our Nation’s great artistic achievement and rich cultural heritage.” The First Lady furnished no details about what the show would include but, as a columnist in the San Francisco Chronicle wryly noted, “It’s a safe bet Piss Christ won’t be featured.”

Click here to read the rest of the story

Alma Lopez, Our Lady, 1999, iris print on canvas, 14 by 17 inches (courtesy the artist).