A reader, Ben F., condemned my position on funding for the arts. He claims that America, outside of San Francisco, L.A. and New York, is at heart “a deeply conservative country and uncomfortable with provocative art.” As a foreigner I’m far from an authoritative voice on the subject, but here is my initial round-up of other American cities which have embraced provocative art. Will the rest of my readers please jump in and either defend me by adding to this list – or throw yourself behind Ben F. and tell me why I am dead wrong?
From Glenn Ligon:America, courtesy modernblog.org (The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth)
An image from Geof Oppenheimer’s ‘On Black Flags’ exhibit at SITE Santa Fe.
Santa Fe: spiritual home of Georgia O’Keeffe, pioneer of American Modernist painting, and currently home to the world-class Santa Fe Opera, the innovative SITE Santa Fe, and the Santa Fe Film Festival.
Miami: home to the glorious and feisty Miami City Ballet.
The Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, CO.
Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
Dali Museum in St Petersburg, FL.
Ojai Jazz Festival in Ojai, CA.
Seattle: home to the exhilarating Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, and a growing alternative art scene.
Pacific Northwest Ballet in William Forsythe’s ‘One Flat Thing, reproduced’, a work for 14 dancers on and around 20 metal tables, that has caused a considerable stir among audiences. Set to a rumbling sound construction by Thom Willems, the dancers time their moves off each other rather than a musical score. Photo: Angela Sterling, courtesy Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Chicago: more than any other city in the country, known for its vast accumulation of often subversive public art and rich architectural history. And home to Hubbard Street Dance, the Joffrey Ballet, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Second City and many other pioneering performing arts troupes.
Mural at IC viaduct on 57th St in Chicago: ‘Viaduct Rat’. Courtesy: find myself a city to live in (Curtis Locke) on flickr.com
Portland: home of Mark Rothko, whose family emigrated to Portland from Russia when he was 10. Today Portland boasts possibly the highest concentration of artists, craftsmen and musicians working and exhibiting in dozens of alternative spaces, as chronicled in the leading regional art blog PORT.
Video still from Portland performance artist Miranda July’s film ‘Nest of Tens’ (mirandajuly.com)
The River Arts district in Asheville, NC, home to many cutting edge artists and sculptors.
Nashville, TN (should be self-explanatory).
Detroit: home of MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit) and a magnet for contemporary artists who are turning crumbling homes, shuttered factories and auto plants into large-scale canvasses for their work at sites like the Russell Industrial Center.
An evolving neon sign installation outside The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), which opened in 2006 in a formerly abandoned 22,000-sq-ft automobile dealership – a great model of adaptive reuse reflecting Detroit’s industrial past and its hoped-for rebirth. Artists: Martin Creed/ Sislej Xhafa.
Sedona, AZ, original home of the Cowboy Artists of America, the vibrant Sedona Arts Center, and Sedona Jazz on the Rocks.
The Cowboy Artists of America have generated their own brand of controversy over the years for refusing to admit women artists and Native American artists into their organization. ‘The Eagle Bone Whistle’ by artist John Moyers, 2009.
Oh, and let’s not forget Burning Man, out in the Nevada Black Rock Desert, which is not a permanent home for art, but an increasingly important venue for some mind-blowing art installations.
‘Crude Awakening’, a 2007 art installation at Burning Man, raised hell for its “ironic use of 900 gallons of jet fuel and 2,000 gallons of liquid propane to build the largest flame cannon in history, transforming modern oil dependency into a violently primitive religion.” (http://matadornetwork.com/nights/12-coolest-art-installations-in-the-history-of-burning -man)
I actually think that America is curious and accepting of provocative art in general. Is it possible that the people who are “uncomfortable with provocative art” are more vocal about their opinion than those who are comfortable with it?
Ballet Memphis produces many of its own ballet. It is a small company of less than 25 dancers running on a mediocre budget. In as much as the company produces a few of the common productions audiences expects of a ballet company, it also stages many productions that are representative of the city of Memphis and its people. The productions speak of the different diversity one may find if one were to visit this bustling city in the Delta. Many of its ballets are a celebration of people, life and culture and as a result are a mishmash of ballet, modern, hiphop, and a few other styles. The influences of Twila Tharp and the Alvin Ailey Company are not confined to New York alone. The resulting choreographies are not only artfully done but are also passionate and heartfelt interpretations of the choreopgrapher’s soul. One might say, it is provocative. However, such is ART. It is an expression of the artist’s inner emotions and more importantly, it sometimes teases what is comfortable.
I’m siding with Ben F. on this. Every city may have its whacked-out fringe but the fact that it is against the law to install a NATIVITY SCENE in a public place to celebrate some ancient tradition says more about the mindset of this country than all the provoking examples you dig up. It’s not that people are uncomfortable with provocative art, they are afraid of offending some group or another. And please……the COWBOY ARTISTS OF AMERICA??? That’s not provocative that’s just plain reactionary, celebrating some outdated romantic hogwash about the deep bonds of friendship between noble Indians and manly cowboys. Really provocative art would highlight the hatred and resentment between all these different groups who find themselves in an increasingly crowded melting pot.
OK OK so maybe the Cowboy Artists were a stretch (though I LOVE their art, sigh).
I did NOT know that about nativity scenes. Hmm.
And now I can’t wait to see Ballet Memphis….
You can add Atlanta to the list. I spent over 15 years there, and they definitely have a thriving art scene replete with galleries and young artists creating interesting works. You’ve got such galleries as Young Blood, Mason Murer, Eyedrum, MOCA-GA and many more. There are scads of theaters small and large, and multiple dance centers and companies. There is a huge and bustling university system which includes art programs like Kennesaw State University, Georgia State, Savannah College of Art and Design, etc etc. You can also check into a fascinating mini-city called “Little Five Points” that is a very vibrant with art, music, and theater. I’m sure I’m missing many awesome things in my list.
While it may not be as expansive an art scene as Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York, it is certainly growing because it’s nurtured by people who want to see it grow. With a little push from public funding, it could really explode! Finally, to put it to a point– Georgia and the metro area surrounding Atlanta are very conservative; the state is right in the heart of the Bible Belt, after all. You aren’t even allowed to buy alcohol on Sundays! Imagine THAT!
Aha! So Blondie claims conservatism and resistance to progressive art are NOT linked, and she offers up Atlanta as an irrefutable example to prove it.
So we COULD agree with half of Ben F.’s statement (that America is at heart a deeply conservative nation) and still disagree with the rest of it (that Americans are overwhelmingly against public funding for the arts).
I wonder how Atlanteans would answer if posed the question about public funding for arts. It’s a shame we can’t do research on it or survey people from different areas of the country inside and out of major cities. Hmm…
It is not against the law to set up a nativity scene: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/religioussymbols.htm.
Outsider art in Baltimore: http://www.avam.org/
Thank you for clarifying where the Supreme Court stands on nativity scenes and religious iconography. Gabriel Anderson may need to brush up his constitutional law but his frustration at what he perceives to be a growing national fear of giving offense still resonates.
And thank you for alerting us to the marvelous collection of ‘visionary art’ in Baltimore!
Art that is disruptive or provocative just for the sake of getting a reaction or bringing notice to the artist is not “better” and does not deserve public funding; conversely the lack of shock does not make it bad or compromised art.
Much as I hate the idea of adding to an already bloated federal budget I have to point out that if we leave funding for the arts to philanthropists we give free rein to megalomaniacs like the Koch brothers to further their unsavory agendas.
And straying off topic may I say, Ballet to the People, you are the thinking man’s ballerina.
I am speechless, Mr. Lee.
This is even better than being branded a Socialist.
Provocative art by definition is to provoke uncomfortable emotion and new thought. Isn’t that the point? Provocative art should challenge us, guide and sometimes even poke and prod us. If we were all comfortable with it, it wouldn’t be “provocative,” would it.