Canonizing A Killer: When Art Crosses The Line

By Audrey Russo / 30 December 2012 / 3 comments

6a00d8341c730253ef017d3f441465970c-300wi “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” ~ W. Clement Stone

The beauty of the world’s greatest experiment is the freedom based upon inalienable rights … given by the Creator, not the State, which makes them so. Among those being freedom of speech. But even in this great freedom, there are limitations. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater, for one.

But what is too often overlooked is the fact that with freedom comes responsibility. The responsibility to know when something is legal and when it’s ethical … and the wisdom to know the difference.

Sadly, many in the arts (and as a performing artist and as a former illustrator, I know) … there is a tendency to abuse this form of expression by avoiding responsibility for behavior.

Case in point … a controversial Italian artist’s new exhibit has a statue depicting Hitler kneeling in prayer placed at the center of what was the largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-controlled Europe. The artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is titled “Him“.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel director, Efraim Zuroff, called it “a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis’ Jewish victims”. He continued, “As far as the Jews were concerned, Hitler’s only ‘prayer’ was that they be wiped off the face of the earth.”

I concur with Mr. Zuroff. And I believe it’s beyond cruel and inhumane.

Portraying the leader of the barbaric, anti-Semitic Germanic movement … who exterminated 6 million Jews (and 5 million non-Jews) … kneeling in prayer, is disparaging enough. But to place this villain right in the middle of what was once a Jewish ghetto from which many Jews were transported to death camps, crosses the line between expression and intent to inflict injury. To depict this maniacal monster as a saintly, merciful and humble being is to spit upon the graves of those he exterminated … and to mock those who barely survived the Shoah.

This behavior is not freedom of expression but rather utilizing the rich communication of art as a weapon to diss the dead and eviscerate the hearts and minds of the wounded … victimizing them yet again.

We are not islands unto ourselves. What we do and say does indeed affect others. And where most things are legal … they are not necessarily ethical, compassionate, humane or responsible.

Mark Twain once said: “It is curious — curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”

It’s sad that Mr. Cattelan could utilize his God-given gifts to communicate … yet failed to have the courage to do what was morally right … and responsible.

An artist journeys deep within to touch the souls of his viewers/audience. One might reasonably assume Mr. Cattelan was actually sharing his own inner affection for a fiend and his “Final Solution”. Because to conclude otherwise … would be irresponsible.

Shalom through strength…

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Audrey Russo is the Host of the weekly REELTalk Radio Show and the co-host of WOMANTalk Radio Show. She handles Middle East Issues/National Security/Terrorism for their eZine and writes on foreign affairs for The Examiner.com. She guests on several radio shows including The Rick Amato Show, The Simon Conway Show, The Pat Campbell Show and The Mike Wiley Show. Audrey is the Managing Editor for the online opinion journal Ediblog.com. Her articles can also be read at The Center for Changing Worldviews and the Gold Coast Chronicle as well as other online journals. She is also an active member of the NYC performing arts community as a singer and actor.

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beefjar

Freedom of speech can hurt emotionally, but that’s the trade off of freedom. Saying ‘ fire’ in a theater can cause physical harm, which isn’t right. I agree with you on the ethical side. I also think his work is not a glorification of Hitler, but a contrast between innocents and evil. The innocent can become evil. It is also a controversy which is what the artist wants, to create publicity. You are giving him that. That’s what 20 century art is all about controversy, outrage the spectator, publicity to get noticed. Now you sound like we should restrict this in a round about way. That would be just as bad as being PC.
LeSellers

In art, one sees, neither artist nor subject, but himself.

I am far from an expert in Les Beaux Arts, but I can see many interpretations in this piece. The easy one leads to the offense of the author. But there are others. For instance, could this not be a remorseful Hitler, recognizing his horrific assault on human life and, especially, upon God’s chosen people, his lust for power, his murders, the war he launched on the world, and seeking, perhaps in vain, for forgiveness of some sort?

At one point, “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ.” Could this statue show a human demon, forced by his conscience (or some other power) to acknowledge his gross sins against, not only humanity, but the very God of heaven?

The price one pays for his own freedom is to tolerate (which does not mean “accept”) the freedoms of others. The best antidote for hurtful speech is not censorship, it is more speech. May there be speech, much of it, ringing from hills, rocks, vales, and trees. For this our fathers suffered; for this, our ancestors fought, bled, and died. May we honor their sacrifice by tolerance, rather than by violating their principles.

Mr. O’bama, will there ever be any Jobs?
truly_foolish

I wonder if the artist would recognize my right to piss on his statue?

and LeSellers, Jesus has no business being in any conversation about this situation. That would be the same as a discussion about Muhammad exhorting his followers to decapitate all the Christians who don’t recognize Muhammad’s more recent history.

There is only one interpretation and that has to do with keeping that image in front of the descendants of the people he killed. The statue isn’t of the oppressed, it is of the oppressor. It should be smashed into the same pile as all the Joseph Stalin statues and melted into the same beer cans.

As for toleration, you wouldn’t tolerate a statue of the person who shot all the six year olds in the kindergarden school, even if he were praying for forgiveness. Nobody needs to be reminded every day. That’s what this does where it is. Destroy it, NOW!

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