Your Tax Dollars at Work: Art in Embassies

Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage:

Remember Benghazi only happened because the State Department had no money for security. And the military had no money for planes. And Obama had no money for his campaign and had to rush to Vegas to fundraise with Beyonce.

Things that the State Department did have money for?  Mosque renovations, promoting environmental awareness in Baghdad, and $4.5 million for Art in Embassies.

 

http://art.state.gov

 

Among the artworks selected for inclusion in the "Art in Embassies" exhibit in Stockholm, Greenfield notes Paul Rusconi's "Barack Obama, 2008."  Although the auction house put an estimate on this work of $5-7,000, taxpayers walked away with it for a mere $ 20,000.

 

Acquired directly from the artist. This work is unique. Digital screen inks on Plexiglas with c-print mounted to Sintra in the artist’s wooden frame. 48 1/2 x 62 in. (132.2 x 157.5 cm). Artist’s blindstamp on metallic label adhered to the reverse. 

 

 

I cannot help but be reminded of another exhibit in Stockholm... back in 2004: 

The exhibit consist[ed] of the photo of the female Palestinian suicide bomber who blew 21 Israelis to their deaths in a Haifa restaurant on October 4 ... planted on a boat floating serenely on a large pool of red water.

 

 

Labeled “Snow White”, it was shown in an exhibition that opened Friday night, January 16, at Stockholm’s Museum of National Antiquities, part of [a] ... conference on genocide hosted by the Swedish government. 

After wrecking the exhibit and calling it “a monstrosity and an affront to the grieving families,” the Israeli ambassador was hustled out of the museum and informed he would be summoned to the Swedish foreign ministry next Monday to explain his actions. 

 

Our hero, then-Ambassador Zvi Mazel, arguing with the "artist"

 

In Jerusalem, the Israeli foreign ministry official Ran Curiel called the Swedish ambassador to warn him that if the offensive exhibit is not removed, Israel will reconsider its attendance at the conference. Sweden, he said, would not be allowed to hide behind the principle of artistic freedom to justify terrorist murders of Israeli citizens.

A diplomatic storm had blown up in hours. 

The designers happened to be an ex-Israeli Swede called Dror Feiler and his Swedish wife Gunilla Skoeld Feiler. Dror is president of a group called “Jews for Palestinian Peace.” 

 

Far away and long ago... and yet, not so much.

 

And for all you Joe Lieberman  Zvi Mazel fans out there, while he is obviously no longer the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, he does write at the JPost -- and lately often about Egypt, where he served as Israel's ambassador from 1996 to 2001.

 

4 more years from a Middle Eastern angle Arab World: Morsi's dilemma Analysis: Egypt: battle lines are drawn

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

In the modern art world, largely populated by fourflushers and frauds, no one was more successful than Andy Warhol -- or more honest. "If you want to know," he said, "everything about me, just look at the surface of my paintings. It's all there. There's nothing more." To any BtB readers looking at the two "art" works in this post and wondering what their deeper meaning may be, I would say, "Forget about it. Just look at the surface. There's nothing more." Modern art is the ultimate scam. Just take a piece of junk (or anything devoid of deeper meaning), label it "art," and you, too, can be a modern "artist." Rusconi's portrait of Obama, which sold for twenty times what it's worth, is a good example. But Feiler's "Snow White" is an even better example. This "art" work is nothing more than a bumpersticker that won't fit on a bumper -- a visual statement by the self-righteous Mr. Feiler that he -- unlike the rubes who rushed to the Stockholm Museum to gawk at his "art" -- is a man of superior sensibilty and virtue. That's true of much of the detritus that passes for art these days: it's nothing more than an eye-catching way for some narcissistic "artist" to advertise that "I stand with the world's victims!" The only sensible response to any of this malarkey is: "Who cares?"

[scp]

Sweden, apparently, is dead already. The first step is the rejection of Jesus Christ (there, I said it!!). And the second step is: _Swedish Youth- Evil Indoctrination_ (2:16) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuZUY6v28bw And the third step is: _Open Your Eyes, SWEDEN_ (6:28) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ6VI_bc1j4 . . . And here's one epitath (of shame, and contempt): _Goodbye Sweden, Hello Islam_ (6:22): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBGdeE3VPus Do any of you seriously think that the same thing cannot somehow happen here?