This is a rerun from last night. I'm leaving it because of the comments...
The National Arts Club [in New York] puts patriotism on explicit display with a new exhibit to feature the work of controversial artist Scott LoBaido. One of LoBaido’s paintings, "Have Faith," depicts President Bush as a cavalry soldier holding al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s severed head in one hand and a American flag in the other. LoBaido, 38, was arrested in 1999 after throwing horse manure at the exterior of the Brooklyn Museum of Art to protest its display of a painting of the Virgin Mary festooned with elephant dung. "I’m expressing myself creatively," he said as police led him away that day. Last year, LoBaido was arrested for hanging a large American flag on an awning outside the French Consulate as a sign of protest for what he considered France’s contempt for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. He is on one-year probation.
Now the artist has been given a more official platform for expressing his creativity. The Arts Club exhibit incorporates the American flag in almost every piece. A large canvas titled "The New York Giants" features former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a New York City firefighter and a police officer -- all clad in armor and on horseback -- in the midst of a battle scene. "Politics has always been bloody and we respect free speech and we think his activism through art is an exciting dimension," said National Arts Club President Aldon James. |