Ongoing censorship struggle

Monday, I was going through a my website looking up some information to make sure what I was about to tell a client was correct as written on the site, when I discovered my site was not accessible.


It seemed the company with who I had designed and hosted te site through decided to shut me down. After three days of emails I found out that I was shut down due to "adult" content.

I was told, "Weebly doesn't allow adult sites on our network. So your sites were taken down and your account turned off. This isn't a "moral" issue for us, we simply have the same policy regarding adult content as a social network like Facebook."

Not a moral issue; what kind of an issue is it then?

They came back to me and apologized for taking it down so abruptly and even refunded fees I had paid but that still doesn't explain why artwork that deals with the nude is immediately considered "adult."

My frustrations on this subject keep growing as I am running out of options to post my artwork. The hosting companies that allow adult oriented content are where the more pornographic sites are hosted and becasue they are a niche the costs are totally out of my league.

There is a need on the internet for web hosting for the arts. One that will not censor the artist's work, one who will provide a decent site at a reasonable rate.

I even tried posting my images that are for sale on an art website who showed a few oil painted nudes, but when I approached them the reply was that we do not sell "that" kind of work.

I didn't even present them with the images from my most recent exhibition. These were images of a more suggestive and classic nature.

So the saga continues. If anyone out there knows of a reasonable hosting company who can see the art from the porn, let me know!

The Media & Censor This 2

So it has been just over two full weeks since my exhibition, Censor This 2 opened at the ArtHouse Lounge in Harrisburg, PA, and a few local media outlets have picked up the story.
The Patriot-News newspaper and the ABC affiliate channel 27 in Harrisburg.

Both did a story on the exhibition, in the case of the Patriot-News, they did multiple stories before it even opened, plus had a reporter at the opening reception.

In both cases the stories were about erotic art in general and the gallery owner used them as publicity to promote the gallery saying how open he is to all different sorts of artwork. The articles were straight forward, focused on the nudity aspect and the sexual content.

The ABC news story ran with the reporter walking around talking about how they can't show the art, how the gallery owner does not censor art, but actually nothing about the quality of the work. The reporter actually never showed his face in the piece. He mentioned that he looked at the images...twice. He went on to talk about how there was no protest, he seemed disappointed, and then talked about the provocative poses and my use of what he called props. At which time the camera zooms into a pair of leather hand cuffs. Then he made a tongue-in-cheek comment that it seemed, "no one was harmed during the making of the exhibit and that some enjoyed it very much."

So I am not sure whether to be happy that my name got on the news or upset that they honestly did not take it seriously. They never talked about my artist statement, or why I chose to do this exhibition. In fact they never spoke to me at all. They only interviewed the gallery curator.

The funny part about all of this is that the gallery curator never saw the work until I actually hung it. But he did give me cart-blanch to show whatever I wanted. So you have to give credit where credit is due.

My concern is that is was publicized in a very distasteful manner and that the news media tried to sensationalize it or worse yet, joke about it.

So is it possible, in the United States, to get accepted as a "real" artist and shoot erotic images?

The market for art photography is a small portion of the art market as a whole, then divide out the people who like nudes and then divide out further those who like erotica, you end up with an extremely small population of erotic nude art enthusiasts. So the handling of the media has to be very carefully crafted. In this case, the gallery just took the publicity and ran with it. With no regard to my artistic integrity.

I guess I should be grateful, the images have gotten out of my brain and onto a gallery walls.

But I keep asking myself, at what cost?

What do you think? Let me know.

"Censor This 2" Opens Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is the day. Six months of work is now all boxed up and ready to get hung on the gallery walls in Harrisburg.

The publicity has been out for just over a week and already the gallery is getting hate mail and I am getting disparaging emails and nasty blog posts and no one has seen any of the work yet. I really love how people criticize things before they even see them or give them a chance. Why is it that the narrow minded Americans seem to have the biggest mouths?

I have received phone calls by the  local Harrisburg newspaper  to interview me and the local CBS TV affiliate will be at the gallery Saturday as we hang the show for a story. Again, all this buzz for images that no one has even seen!

Normally, before an exhibition I am pumped up and a bit nervous. My photos are my babies and at the opening they are exposed to the world and on their own. With this show, and all the pre-game hype I really feel ambivalent.

Does the work warrant all this hype? I mean it's just my artwork, my way of expressing my feelings. Yes, this show is more raw and erotic than past shows but really, hate mail?

I am proud of these images and am looking forward to the opening but I really am not as excited as I think I should be. But I'm not nervous either, I kind of just want it to happen and be done.

Maybe my focus has changed since my wife's cancer. Let's face it none of this shit means anything without her. And the thought that I could have lost her to cancer if she wasn't on top of things and didn't have wonderful doctors has made me realize what really matters in this world.

Like Rick said to Ilsa in that famous scene in Casablanca:

I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

So let's see if the opening validates my months of work, at least I am proud of the work I am hanging.
I really hope that I get to meet some new people. So please come out and say hello.


If you are in the Harrisburg, PA area check out the exhibition at the ArtHouse Lounge, 217 N. 2nd St. It runs from August 14th through September 11th.
A percentage of any sales from this exhibit are being donated to the Susan G. Komen, 3-Day Walk for a Cure, to find a cure for breast cancer.

For more information visit ArtHouse Lounge website - http://arthouselounge.com

Proposition 8, unconstitutional

Normally, my blogs are about photography, art and censorship. I have sometimes touched on reality TV and other issues I just find ludicrous.  But after the events of this past Wednesday I feel I need to write about something a bit more substantial.
Now as a married, heterosexual male, you might not automatically think I have any interest in the subject of gay marriage. But for many years I have been a staunch supporter. Having many gay friends, who have been in relationships a lot longer than my three marriages combined, I see what true love in the face of a discriminating country can due..

On Wednesday, August 4th, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled  that the California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative denying marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional.  Judge Walker said, it is "unconstitutional under both the due process and equal protection clauses."


California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the ruling, saying it "affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves."

First off, what I find interesting is that the Governor is Republican, albeit a moderate Republican and that Judge Walker was a Republican appointee.

This 136 page ruling was crafted very very carefully. The judge knows that it will be appealed and the appeal will probably go all the way up to the Supreme Court. He made quite a few statements in his closing directed to Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Kennedy has been the swing vote on a number of cases brought before the court which is very divided. it will be very interesting to see how the court handles this case.

In speaking about the case brought before him, Judge Walker stated that the defense, in favor of the ban, brought only one expert witness in front of the Court and that this witness was no expert at all. He stated their case was weak and the reason that California voters narrowly voted for Prop 8 was out of fear and ignorance.

Previous court decisions have established that the ability to marry is a fundamental right that cannot be denied to people without a compelling rationale, Walker said. Proposition 8 violated that right and discriminated on the basis of both sex and sexual orientation in violation of the equal protection clause.

But of course, there are the ultra conservatives, the Rush Limbaughs of this country, who see this as nothing more as a pawn to destroy the American Constitution. Limbaugh said, " gay political activists... are being used by the overall leadership of the American left." he continued to say that," the left uses issues such as gay marriage as battering rams to wreck the US Constitution."

Did he NOT read the part about equal protections and due process?

The chairman of the National Organization of Marriage, (didn't know there was such a thing) stated:

Here we have an openly gay (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) federal judge substituting his views for those of the American people and of our Founding Fathers who I promise you would be shocked by courts that imagine they have the right to put gay marriage in our Constitution.

Personally I think the founding fathers would be shocked by the internet or women wearing pants!

Then of course we have Newt Gingrich who said:

Today's notorious decision also underscores the importance of the Senate vote tomorrow on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court because judges who oppose the American people are a growing threat to our society.

So now, becasue Judge Walker is trying to protect all American's right to due process and equality he and any other liberal judge is a threat to our society. Hey Newt, remember, all American's not just your favorites.

And then we have the general, scared,  America public who have made comments like, "I'm very upset. I feel like I don't live in America."
Well maybe that is a good thing. Most other countries feel we are backwards in our thinking about sexuality and marriage anyway.


Oh, and the Pope weighed in too. The Pope stated: Gay Marriage is one of ‘the Most Insidious and Dangerous Threats to the Common Good Today’

Hey Bennie, did you forget the hundreds or maybe thousands of children molested by Catholic priests over the years? Maybe THAT is a dangerous threat to the common good?

Another thing written by Judge Walker in his ruling was, "The evidence shows that the movement of marriage away from a gendered institution and toward an institution free from state-mandated gender roles reflects an evolution in the understanding of gender rather than a change in marriage." I have to agree, the days of the man being the hunter and the obedient wife staying home to raise the kids has been over for a long time. It is just now that the courts are catching up with what is already taking shape in this nation


Equal treatment and government benefits for gay and lesbian couples should not be based on whether couples is a "traditional" male/female couple. The Proposition 8 ruling is a victory for family diversity of all types of orientations, not just gay.

This battle is far from over and will make the news until it finally gets decided on my the Supreme Court.
I for one hope that this tide of unity and equality continues through the country and that it rolls into the Supreme Court and comes out victorious.

Bravo's Work of Art 2

In this latest episode of Bravo's new , art inspired reality show, Work of Art, the photographer Mark Velasquez was eliminated.  Being the only photographer of this show I was hoping his work would be better and he would last. Photography has always been the step child of the fine art world and unfortunately, Mark didn't help the cause.

With a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts focusing on drawing, sculpture and performance art, I expected his work to be more "artistic" and less commercial and obvious. He taught himself photography and by looking at his portfolio on Bravo's site his work is good but not inspired.
He is the perfect example of what I said about this show from the start, there is  no heart in the artwork.

Ross Bleckner fromInfo  the website The Daily Beast said the show "Brought back many memories.
Unfortunately, they were all memories of my junior and senior year in high school."
 I have to agree, it is so contrived and formulated that it really gives the art world a black eye. Most artists create to express some inner desire or demon they need to expose to the world. Well at least that is true in my case. But, art is passion, it is desire, it is showing the world something it has never seen or in a way that it has never seen. Not this, "here is your assignment for today, take $100 and do to it" approach.

Bleckner puts it like this, "The show doesn't make you want to be an artist because "making it," according to this formula, requires competitiveness and pandering to a small cabal of teacher-judges, the so-called experts, who bark "time's up!"

Just in case you are thinking that he is just some critic busting on the show, Ross Bleckner is a well-known artist whose works have been shown in several institutions throughout the world, including MoMA, MoCA, Astrup Fearnley, Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He is also recognized as the youngest artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.


I think this show will actually hurt museum patronage becasue of all the art bullshit.
Listen to how the artists explain their work, or how the judges talk about it. It's all bullshit to make normal people afraid to try and express themselves artistically or try and view art in museums. This is the reason so many people don't go to art galleries. They feel they are not "getting" the work so why bother. But if people would go and experience the works in our galleries and museums they will find that they will appreciate them on their own level, whatever that may be.

Don't let shows like this stop you from going to your local art museum or gallery. Here, in Philadelphia, we are lucky to have one of the countries foremost museums and a few areas loaded with smaller art galleries.

So where does the show go from here? The final challenge is coming up and I am curious to see what art speak will come out of Mile's mouth and if Jaclyn will take her clothes off again. But of course she is really shy about her body.  And what about Peregrine, I wonder what bizarre outfit she'll wear to show she is an artist.

I know I am slamming this show as I feel it really doesn't help bring art to the masses. It's one thing to do a competition about making a dress, it's another to create a real work of art. 

Only a few episodes left in season 1, I wonder if there will be a season 2?

Press Release

For Immediate Release: July 20, 2010

Encore Exhibition Just Announced

ArtHouse Lounge curator Jason Piper has just announced the encore exhibition of last year’s critically and publicly acclaimed exhibition Censor This!


Piper has invited back photographic artist, Michael Barone of Perkasie, Bucks County, for another solo exhibition to open on the anniversary of his previously successful exhibition. "Censor This II, fetish and fantasy" is scheduled to open on August 14, 2010 at the ArtHouse lounge in Harrisburg, PA.


According to Piper, “Michael received an overwhelming response right here in Harrisburg, that's why we're hosting Censor This II, Fetish & Fantasy! Most nude photographers and artists use filters and props to blur, hide, color or distort areas to make the works more appealing and less controversial, but Barone does not. He is a true artist which is what drew me to the idea of working with him.”According to Barone’s artist statement, “With these works, I have deliberately pushed the boundaries, forcing the viewer to the position of voyeur, glimpsing into the private, intimate fetishes and fantasies of others. By doing so, the viewer is forced to confront his or her own raw feelings about sex. Whether these feelings leave the viewer moved by the beauty of the images or revolted by their own prejudices against human sexuality does not matter to me. I am simply interested in evoking strong emotional responses.”


Piper said. “I am an artist myself and I strive to uphold the First Amendment. There is no reason for me to have a gallery if it is going to be censored.”


Barone holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Delaware and over the last 25 years has been shown in numerous galleries and websites both national and internationally.


The opening artist’s reception of Censor This II is August 14, 2010 from 6 to 10 pm featuring live models serving champagne and hors d'oeuvres. The exhibition runs through September 11, 2010.


For information about this exhibition visit  ArtHouse Lounge  or Barone PhotoArt
 
The gallery is located at 217 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, PA

Moscow Curators Fined.

Almost three years ago an exhibition opened in Moscow called “Forbidden Art” at the Sakharov Museum.  And this month the museum curators were convicted Monday of inciting religious hatred and fined. The 2007 exhibit was part of an effort to fight censorship of the arts, but the Russian Orthodox Church was horrified and brought the lawsuit against the curators. 

The exhibit featured several paintings with images of Jesus Christ. In one, Christ appeared to his disciples as Mickey Mouse. In another, of the crucifixion, the head of Christ was replaced by the Order of Lenin medal, the highest award of the Soviet Union.

The Russian Orthodox Church is very conservative and politically powerful in Russia and pushed prosecutors to bring charges in 2008 and then kept up their pressure on the two curators throughout the trial.

Artists and human rights activists have appealed to the Kremlin to put a stop to the prosecution of Yury Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, warning of censorship that was very prevalent during the days of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union. The prosecutors refused to back down under pressure from the church and last week the curators were ordered only to pay fines of up to 200,000 rubles, (about $6500) but they could have been sentenced to up to three years in prison. 

Yerofeyev said the aim of the “Forbidden Art” exhibit, which showed works that had been banned from shows at major museums and galleries in 2006, was to show the reality of censorship. Religion was not the intended theme, he said. The Mickey Mouse as Jesus painting was intended to show the mixing up of facts in a child’s mind. A child hears about the Bible from his parents while watching Mickey Mouse cartoons and gets confused. 

The Russian orthodox Church is a very powerful presence in Russia today. “The church has become an instrument of censorship like it was during czarist times,” said Gleb Yakunin, 76, a priest and Soviet-era dissident who has broken with the church. “It wants to control culture.”

Like the US court case in Cincinnati 20 years ago, when Dennis Barrie and the Contemporary Arts Center were indicted for pandering obscenity just hours after the opening of the photography exhibit, Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, this case can have a serious ripple effect on not only the art world in Russia but throughout the world.  

How many curators and artist with now take a risk and show work that could land them in jail and be forced to endure a trial and public scorn and ridicule? 
 Leonid Bazhanov, director of the National Contemporary Art Center, said a guilty verdict would make Russia less competitive in the world art market. Foreign artists would be wary of bringing their works to Russia, while more Russian artists would leave the country, he said. Maybe this is what the church wants.

This censorship battle maybe taking place in Russia, but as an artist I feel the heat right here in our country. What is happening in Russia is actually happening in the US today. The right-winged Christian conservatives are pushing their morality on the judicial system. They are using their voice and power to dictate their small minded agenda on the art world, persecuting artists who show work that in their eye is obscene.

In all the advertising hype over us being in a war they always talk about the soldiers are fighting for our freedoms,but this type of censorship slaps the face of those freedoms. We have soldiers dying every day to protect our way of life but the conservative cancer is eating it away from the inside.

Sometimes when I write this blog I feel like I am waging an unwinnable war with very few people supporting this cause. Show your support, visit an art gallery or chime in on a social networking site or my blog.

 
(Photo credit and comment - Yury Samodurov gestures as he and other human rights activists gather outside a Moscow courthouse during a court hearing of Samodurov's case. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, file)