Jessuh
(Thatsafrinlydogyagottherahmissah)
1999
oil on canvas
10" X 8"
OK, back in the nineteen hundred and eighties, there was a battle between the National Endowment for the Arts and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. Senator Helms led a committee that questioned the Federal responsibility to fund exhibitions, with public money, the committee deemed immoral. In 1990, Photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe exhibited his show titled The Perfect Moment at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Centre. The exhibit included some images of bondage and homosexuality. To most people, at that time, it was shocking. In the end, the committee tried, without success, to prosecute the CCAC for "pandering obscenity".
Thus, the question of the line between art and pornography was once again raised.
Although 1990 was less than 20 years ago, in hindsight it wasn't so shocking. The real question was "is there a moral standard for public money and who decides that standard?". It is an ongoing issue.
In this image I have presented an image of Jesse Helms as a mailman. He is being attacked by a German Shepherd. And now kids, lets break down the symbolism. The mailman delivers information. He is the purveyor of communication. and symbolizes, in this painting, knowledge of history. The dog represents Art. A beautiful majestic animal, with the dichotomy of comfort and offense. The shepherd attacks the genitals of the mailman rendering him incapable of procreation. In other words, Art has the power to dictate history.
Thinkof this: most of what we know about the ancient world is due to Art; architecture, painting, pottery, and sculpture. In the long and recent past the mood of the times was reflected in works of art. Those artists, many times, were not praised during their lifetimes. When you understand this you understand that what Mapplethorpe was giving us was a documentation of a period when a subculture (homosexuals) were dealing with an issue (AIDS) that would eventually become a concern for all.