Is Glenn Beck’s Obama in Pee Pee the Last Shot Fired of the ‘80s and ‘90s Culture Wars?

The sight of a grown man trying to stuff a bobbing plastic doll into a jar of what he claims to be his own urine is a sad thing, but when that man is right-wing commentator Glenn Beck making a strange comment about freedom of speech combined with a hateful symbolic act against the President, it’s not surprising. Beck tweely titles his artwork Obama in Pee Pee (shown above), but let’s call it what it is—Piss Obama, a 35-years-too-late reply to Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, one of the landmark works of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s “culture wars” pitting conservatives versus liberals in the battle for artistic expression. Beck hopes to piss off liberals with this act, but what he might have actually achieved is firing the last shot (squirt?) of the culture wars, proving perhaps once and for all that those cruel days are over. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Is Glenn Beck’s Obama in Pee Pee the Last Shot Fired of the ‘80s and ‘90s CultureWars?"

Why Cindy Sherman Doesn’t Want Your Pity

Like a superhero masking their “real” identity, Cindy Sherman may be the most photographed person in history whose “real” face (whatever that means) remains a mystery. Since the 1970s Sherman’s played dress up in front of the camera, adding to makeup and costumes her own protean secret ingredient to come up with some of the most enigmatic and unforgettable images commenting on our modern age of image saturation. In the major retrospective exhibition Cindy Sherman, which runs at Museum of Modern Art, New York, through June 11, 2012, we still don’t see the “real” face of Cindy Sherman, but we get to see all her different faces over the decades in one place. Although some would see many of these images as calls for empathy or perhaps even pity, after seeing the show and reading the catalog, you will come away knowing why Cindy Sherman doesn’t want and doesn’t need your pity, and never, ever did. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why Cindy Sherman Doesn’t Want Your Pity."

[Image: Cindy Sherman. Untitled #474 (detail). 2008. Chromogenic color print, 7′ 6 3/4″ x 60″ (230.5 x 152.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of an anonymous donor, Michael Lynne, Charles Heilbronn, and the Carol and David Appel Family Fund © 2012 Cindy Sherman.]

[Many thanks to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for providing me with the image above from, press materials related to, and a review copy of the catalog to the exhibition Cindy Sherman, which runs through June 11, 2012.]

Is Facebook too Conservative for Contemporary Art?

Just judging by the number of artists I’ve friended on my blog’s Facebook page, a lot of present-day artists use Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild to promote their work. The social network just offers too many opportunities to reach a wider audience that not taking advantage of that potential seems wrong. Unfortunately, Facebook’s rules against certain kinds of material, specifically nudes, threatens to censor artists who depict the human body. Two articles in the latest issue of The Art Newspaper discuss this threat to artistic expression looming on Facebook. The question that many artists and art collectors are now asking is this: Is Facebook too conservative for contemporary art? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Is Facebook too Conservative for Contemporary Art?"

[Image: Anders Zorn. Female Nude (detail).]