The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

and the kind of Socialist Realist
propaganda art Stalin would have
loved.
Whatever one thinks of the
painting, Raven’s lawsuit does raise
legitimate questions about institutional
bias (not to be confused with state
censorship) akin to Banned in Boston
morals censorship the Brahmin
authorities used to exercise there.
I could see the poster for our
exhibit before I’d even seen the
painting.
Truth be told, I was surprised when
Raven accepted the Center’s invitation
to show Unafraid and Unashamed.
And even more surprised when he told
me why. Showing his painting along with the others by Tim Atseff and
Jim Boden, which I sent him images of to be sure he knew what he was
getting into, might help start a dialogue between Trump supporters and
opponents, he said.
It was a dialogue, he added, which he thought was necessary and long
overdue.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Portraits of Our (Unindicted) Leader
is an unusual exhibit because, unlike most museum exhibitions in the
United States, it is being presented to encourage discussion and political
debate in real time, when it’s needed. If the discussion and political
debate leads to dialogue, so much better.
The artists have agreed to talk about their art and the politics that
motivated them to create it.
We’ll also invite others---political scientists, ethicists, Constitutional
experts—to talk about civic responsibility and the ethical, moral and legal
duties and responsibilities, not only of common citizens, but of civil
servants and military personnel when ordered to carry out the wishes or
policies of a leader who may be ill-informed, psychologically unbalanced
or who willfully orders government
employees to violate the laws and
Constitution he has sworn to uphold
and protect.
We’ll also discuss censorship in
the arts and Michael Cohen’s
warning that this President may
refuse to leave office when his term
is up. What do we do? What if he
orders the FBI to detain journalists
or the editors, publishers and
producers of the “fake news” media
he’s attempted to discredit and
blame for his missteps and failures.
What if he suspends the writ of
habeas corpus, which the
Constitution gives him the power to
do?
What if he signs an executive order making it a crime to question the
veracity or accuracy of Presidential statements, official government reports
and the statistics underlying them?
Oh, you say, that’s unthinkable. I would say look closely at the paintings
and collages in this exhibit because they give us clues to a number of
unthinkable things we should all be thinking about.
Tim Atseff was for years a political cartoonist, a managing editor and
magazine editor at the Syracuse (N.Y). Post-Standard. Jim Boden
recently retired from Coker College in Hartsville, S.C., where he was a
professor of fine arts. Julian Raven brings the perspective of an émigré
born in Great Britain and educated in Spain who’s become a U.S. citizen.
This exhibit, The Good, the Bad & The Ugly: Portraits of Our
(Unindicted) Leader, demonstrates what we mean when we say THE
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL ART aspires to be The
Art World’s Editorial Page.
We’ll be exhibiting fine and graphic art that addresses real issues in real
time, issues central to the survival of the country we once thought we lived
in…for all to see.