July 2008

than to see Jesse Helms finally die.  The ultra-conservative, hate-mongering, homophobic Senator from North Carolina, exited this world yesterday. Not a moment soon enough.  The former Senator was divisive, racist, homophobic and was viewed as none other than, Satan himself in the eyes of artists across the US.

It was Helms who launched a cultural war against artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, performance artists Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes (NEA-4) alongside hundreds of thousands of other artists across the country in the late 80s. 

It didn’t stop with high profile artists.The war Jesse Helms waged also found its way into the fabric of everyday lives.  It was during this period when I began at School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) where my school would find itself embroiled in both local and national controversies due to the climate he created.

First, student David Nelson’s  “Mirth & Girth” painting of Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington scandalously clad in women’s lingerie was removed from an exhibition by city aldermen.

The  following year, my school paid witness to the flag controversy,  an installation by “Dread” Scott Tyler requiring the visitor to walk across the American flag to share their opinions on the proper way to display the flag. This blew up into a “patriotic” battle of flag lovers, free speech groups and art fans.

If it were not for Jesse Helms, these culture wars would not have raged so wildly. If not for him, the  divisiveness which has overtaken the country in the past 20 years may not have been so severe.

The poster above is by Robbie Conal, a political artist out of LA.  I started following Conal’s work as it became ubiquitous on the streets of LA during the 80s when he was dealing withe Iran-Contra, Tammy Faye Baker, and a host of other fu subjects.