Three Reasons Why Power Brokers are Bad for Art

Having just fallen under a sudden avalanche of task-mastering, today’s post has been outsourced to the wider wisdom of the internet: yes, it’s a links post. Let’s just pretend this is an episode of Connections, and hope the whirl of to-do’s settles in time for something profound come Friday.

From CultureGrrl - “United We Serve”: Should the Arts be Politically Exploited?
I may complain at length about the Harper government’s treatment of artists, but at least I have little cause for concern that the Tories will ever be inclined to mobilize the arts as a “social service,” i.e. propaganda machine, much less at the hands of the disarmingly charming Kalpen Modi, a.k.a. the mysteriously-post-Obama-gig-suicidal Kutner from House M.D., a.k.a. Kumar of Harold & Kumar. Simply shameful, especially in the same year that Harold has proven his artistic awesomeness by rocking Sulu’s retractable space-katana in the new Star Trek film.

NB: The second gratuitous Sulu to appear on this blog

It should go without saying that placing the arts in the same hands that wield political power has historically never gone anywhere good. A frivolous case in point:

From The Art Newspaper - Dirty not-so-little secret uncovered by art restorer

Louvre conservator Regina Pinto Moreira has discovered a previously concealed fully erect penis in Nicolas Poussin’s Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus (1634-38), theorized to have been painted over by an unknown artist at the behest of 18th century Catholic critics.

These “adjustments for modesty” are certainly not unheard-of in the history of art - there’s a reason the fig leaf is such a ubiquitous icon in its own right - but it’s just as well that the work will now be displayed in its original condition at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo next week. A Priapus without a massive penis is just, well, weird.

From Modern Art Notes - the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Oncoming Storm
Unfortunately, not all museums these days deserve a pat of the back for revealing heretofore-unknown Neoclassical penises. Tyler Green of MAN initially linked to Steven Litt’s article explaining the Cleveland Museum of Art’s intention to tap the investment income of its art purchase endowments to pay off its steadily mounting renovation costs.

One of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s newly-renovated galleries, complete with even more erotic Neo-classical action

What makes this story such a compelling read compared to many other tales of American museum-strife is its sheer ambiguity. On the surface of it, the proposal is a pragmatic one that would leave the principal of the various endowments untouched and allow the museum to complete its renovations - already in progress - before the costs are driven far beyond control by further delays. And yet, the decision to divert (or, in the more colourful language of the article, “deviate”) funds intended for art towards building projects is not one to be taken lightly, and there certainly is a tone to the proposal that indicates a cringe-worthy degree of levity, as well as a refusal to believe that such a move could possibly be seen as controversial:

“It doesn’t do much good to buy art once you run out of space, because you’re going to stick it in the basement,” [Ohio Attorney General] Cordray said Tuesday.

Oh, yes, certainly. And no doubt a capitalist shouldn’t bother earning more money than he can spend in a month because hey, you’re just going to stick it in the bank. You jackass.

Thankfully, the creeping unease of the Cleveland situation has been contextualized by Colin Dabkowski of The Buffalo News, who neatly sums up the potential consequences of such allowances, particularly as they may affect upcoming expansion plans at the Albright-Knox.

And to somewhat-tidily circle back to the appetizer source for this post, CultureGrrl presents her own thoughts on the issue as well as Michael M. Thomas’ call for calm. The very fact that this narrative is defensible from both sides of the proverbial coin certainly makes a pleasant change from the usual righteous indignation than can so quickly obscure these situations.

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