Art in Rhode Island in a Time of Contagion

A friend of mine, Michael Cerullo, recently sent out a group email regarding a piece of public artwork and calling attention to criticism of the piece. The image, Rhode Island Angel of hope, was created by Shepard Fairey. Our governor, Gina Raimondo, had arranged for it to be project it in a couple of locations as part of her kickoff of a state initiative to support the arts during the corona virus epidemic.

Rhode Island Angel of Hope

Mike sent along an article from the ProJo. In my opinion, it was absurd and full of right wing non-sense like this:

“This looks like a Chinese propaganda poster from Chairman Mao’s era! Great job Governor!”

“…denounce(d) in the strongest permissible terms the totalitarian nature of the piece of art that Governor Raimondo chose to put forth as ‘hope’ for the Ocean State’s struggles against the Covid-19 pandemic.”

““features a bastardization of the Statue of Liberty wearing a communist China-type cap and tunic, in a layout reminiscent of posters supporting fascist dictatorships of the past.”

In my opinion, this just proves that there is no action so benign or well intended that the right won’t try to smear it and here they are puling out the old chestnut of red baiting. This is ridiculous since the governor is very mainstream, kind of a center-right, highly competent technocrat, who has received national attention for her handling of the current health crises.

Micheal had invited me to comment in his email and, never being one to pass up the opportunity to talk about art, I responded like this:

I’m a fan of Shepard Fairey's. Back in 2009 he had a 20 year retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston that completely won me over. He had filled the museum with a rapturous, raucous explosion of far reaching pop and cultural references all lusciously rendered in brilliant color, intricate patterns, and complex designs. It was irresistible, even if you suspected it might be a bit facile and too pretty for its own good. 

Then there is the Obama poster. 

Even if you’ve never heard of Fairey, you’ve seen this, right? It is certainly one of the most ubiquitous, influential works of political art in history, as well as one of the most appropriated, which is ironic since Fairely borrowed/ripped off the original photo of Obama to make it.

The rap against Fairey is that he has been too successful.  He started out as a street artist doing iconic graffiti images - back in his student days at RISD - 

Andre The Giant/Obey

This work got him a lot of attention and street creed when he was very young. Since he has turned into one of the richest artists in the world. Some people see him as selling out, but his work continues to be politically informed, both in style and content, and he has been very generous about supporting community causes.   

In particular he has been generous to Providence. Last year he did a major fundraiser for AS220 and painted two murals downtown:

I think one thing Gina Raimondo's actions recognizes is that there is a credible case to be made for the arts being the main driving force for economic development in downtown Providence, with AS220 as the major player. By drawing attention to the arts, she is not just trying to make people feel better, she is reinforcing art as one of the building bocks of prosperity for the city. In these terms, I think Fairey, because of his history with Providence and his international reputation, is a good person to involve.

All that being said, I'm not impressed with the image under discussion:

If I understand this correctly, it is an image he has given the city to be projected at a couple of different sites, so it is not a permanent addition. If you compare it to the two mural he did for the city last year it looks kind of anemic to me, both in terms of the intensity of the colors and the complexity of design.

However, even if it isn't his best work, what could possibly be wrong with adding an image to the cityscape that makes people stop, think a bit, smile or frown, and have something to talk about?