From: "Clemente Padin" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Friends,
fortunately the things have not gone farther, in the one which concerns to the
exhibition " Axis of Evil: the secret history of sin" according to
an email of its curator, the artist Miguel Hernández de Luna, the exhibition "is no secret any more, as a headline had previously mentioned. No ones going to jail and none of the work has been confiscated.". The exhibition has the support of the authorities of the Columbia College and had received a massive diffusion in the mediums. In his words: "The show is doing what it is supposed to do: question our times."
However, we know that the first that the anti-democratic governments make is attack the liberty of _expression_ repressing the free course of the ideas in the mediums of communication and,
above all, in the art and the culture. For it, I think, we have to be attentive to
everything the one which occurs in this sense. Otherwise, we could lose our supreme law: liberty.
Fraternally,
-
Amigos,
al parecer las cosas no han pasado a mayores, en lo que concierne a la exhibición "El Eje del Mal:la Historia Confidencial del Pecado". De acuerdo a correo electrónico de su curador, el
artista Miguel Hernández de Luna, la muestra "ya ha dejado de confidencial como lo afirmara un titular de prensa previamente difundido. Ninguna persona fue encarcelado ni se ha confiscado ninguna obra". La muestra cuenta con el apoyo de las autoridades del Columbia College y ha
recibido una difusión masiva en los medios.En sus palabras: "La exposición está haciendo lo que se supuso que haría: cuestionar nuestro tiempo".
Sin embargo, todos sabemos que lo primero que hacen los gobiernos anti-democráticos es atacar la libertad de expresión reprimiendo el libre curso de las ideas en los medios de comunicación y,
sobre todo, en el arte y la cultura. Por ello, creo, tenemos que estar atentos a todo lo que ocurra en este sentido. De lo contrario, podríamos perder nuestro bien preciado: la libertad.
Fraternalmente,
--
Stamp art show not so secret now - April 13, 2005
BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
News that the Secret Service visited a Columbia College art exhibit caused a spike in gallery visitors Tuesday, drawing about 150 curious art seekers to the South Loop gallery. Exhibit curator Michael Hernandez de Luna called the public response
overwhelming to "Axis of Evil, the Secret History of Sin," a collection of sharply political artwork on fake sheets of stamps.
Two Secret Service agents visited the gallery Thursday just before its public opening, responding to a citizen complaint about some of the pieces.
They followed with a phone call asking specifically about the artist who created "Patriot Act," a fake sheet of stamps picturing President Bush with a gun pointing at him.
'We ... respect artistic freedoms'
The artist, Al Brandtner, was not returning phone calls. On Tuesday, the Glass Curtain Gallery at 1104 S. Wabash bustled with viewers all day, compared with the two dozen or so people who visited Monday before news of the government visit broke.
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Jonathan Cherry said he doesn't know if the inquiry is complete but no artwork has been confiscated.
"We certainly respect artistic freedoms, but the Secret Service also has the responsibility to look into exhibits or statements when
necessary. In this instance we've done just that," Cherry said. "The Secret Service hasn't confiscated any artwork or questioned anyone against their wishes; we just need to ensure as best we can that this is nothing more than artwork with a political statement."
Hernandez said the incident has generated a good discussion on the artwork and the political statements of the show. The exhibit
features work from 47 artists who are not affiliated with Columbia.
Artists' reaction? 'They love it'
Hernandez said Columbia received some e-mails calling the exhibit unpatriotic or un-American. But most of the responses were positive, he said. Hernandez didn't expect Brandtner to make any public statements. He said a few artists shunned the media and government attention but nearly all the artists embraced it.
"They love it. They knew what they were getting into," Hernandez said.
A mother and son browsing the exhibit Tuesday had different perspectives. Lynne Sward, a Virginia artist, called the
exhibit "provocative, clever and humorous."
Her son, Scottt Sward -- a Chicago resident who collects stamps -- said some pieces "make my stomach upset." The stamp sheets mocking the pope, Catholicism and its issues with abuse by priests were over the top, he said. "I feel funny about it. I find some of it disturbing," he said. "I'm Catholic; you don't want to think about that all the time with our
religion."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-axis13.html
