[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:16312] Secret Service Visits My Campus to "Investigate" Art Exhibit

[Alfred Kagan]

FYI

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Gulyas, Carol" <cgulyas at colum.edu>
> Date: April 13, 2005 9:45:09 AM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:16312] Secret Service Visits My Campus to 
> "Investigate" Art Exhibit
> Reply-To: srrtac-l at ala.org
>
> http://www.ccchronicle.com/paper/arts.php?id=1233
>
>  
>
> Secret Service visits ‘Secret History of Sin’
> Stamp art exhibit asks, ‘What is evil?’ while feds ask for info
>
> By Jamie Murnane & K. Anderson
>  The Chronicle
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> For the first time in Columbia’s history, a campus gallery exhibit has 
> incited a Secret Service investigation.
>
>  Columbia officials were stunned when two Secret Service agents showed 
> up for the opening of the new Glass Curtain Gallery exhibit “Axis of 
> Evil: The Secret History of Sin.”
>
>  According to Columbia’s media relations director, Micki Leventhal, 
> the agents arrived before the opening, demanding to speak with Michael 
> Hernandez de Luna, the exhibit curator who was not yet present. 
> Hernandez de Luna is no stranger to controversy as he is the stamp 
> artist who was single-handedly responsible for shutting down Chicago’s 
> Loop post office for several hours in October 2001 when he sent a 
> skull and crossbones stamp through the mail with the word “anthrax” 
> written on it.
>
>  Though the stamp was found to be harmless, Hernandez de Luna has been 
> under a federal investigation for the incident. And while there is 
> politically controversial art in “Axis of Evil,” Leventhal said, “We 
> do not know, officially, the nature of their inquiries.”
>
>  It was made clear, however, that the inquiries had “nothing to do 
> with Columbia,” Leventhal said, and the only request that was made was 
> for Hernandez de Luna to contact them within 24 hours.
>
>  It is unclear whether Hernandez de Luna has contacted the agents, as 
> he said he is not allowed to talk about the incident. He did say that 
> he was “not too surprised by the turnout of the Secret Service,” as 
> all his exhibits are documented by postal authorities.
>
>  He was surprised, however, that agents decided to turn up for “Axis 
> of Evil,” having said, “This is one of my safest shows ever.”
>
> Leventhal said the gallery will be unaffected.
>
>  “We are an art school,” Leventhal said. “We’re a communication school 
> and we stand firmly for freedom of artistic expression and academic 
> freedom.”
>
>  
>
>  
>
> “Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin” is a collection of stamp art 
> featuring 47 artists from 11 different countries that opened at the 
> gallery on April 6.
>
>  “He coined the term ‘Axis of Evil’ like the Nazis hijacked the 
> swastika,” said Hernandez de Luna, referring to President George W. 
> Bush’s statement claiming that certain countries are responsible for 
> evil.
>
>  Out of this explosive statement has come an effort that ruminates on 
> the reality of evil as we know it.
>
>  Hernandez de Luna, former Columbia student who has several of his own 
> pieces in the show, credits the college for opening doors to such a 
> controversial exhibit.
>
>  “There’s many institutions that will not take on shows with such a 
> raw cacophonic edge,” he said.
>
>  Greg Weiss, gallery coordinator of the Glass Curtain space, said he 
> does not remember any other time that an exhibit has generated so much 
> interest before it even opened. Weiss said they chose the exhibit 
> because they thought it would resonate with the students and the 
> public.
>
>  “It’s very timely in the sense of our political and social climate,” 
> Weiss said.
>
>  Robert Billings, a Los Angeles-based political artist, is an eager 
> participant in the show. Billings said he likes controversial art 
> because it opens up a dialogue.
>
>   
>
> “It’s not necessarily condemning evil, but asking ‘What is evil?’” 
> Billings said of the exhibit.
>
>  New York-based artist Gerard Barbot is also participating in the 
> show. Asked what people should take away from the show, Barbot was 
> quick to comment.
>
>  “I would wish that people would be more aware of what’s going on in 
> the world as well as what’s going on in their own selves,” Barbot 
> said, adding that stamp art is functional.
>
>  “It’s meant to be licked and stuck on an envelope,” he said. “I’ve 
> used mine already.”
>
>  And Hernandez de Luna doesn’t consider his work complete unless it’s 
> actually been sent through the mail (either successfully or with a 
> cancellation stamped on it).
>
> The idea for the show originally came from the mind of Jim Swanson, 
> owner and operator of Qualiatica Gallery and Press. Swanson first 
> created a hardcover catalogue of the art and a companion DVD, which 
> included essays and discussions by artists and other interested 
> parties. Both were titled, “Axis of Evil, Perforated Praeter Naturam.” 
> Swanson explained that “perforated praeter naturam” means to punch 
> holes in the supernatural, and that’s just what he wanted to do.
>
>  “We’ve created a metaphor that puts fear into people and that has to 
> be addressed,” Swanson said.
>
>  A friend of Swanson’s suggested stamp art as the medium, and Swanson 
> hired Hernandez de Luna to curate and navigate the art.
>
>   
>
> According to both Swanson and Hernandez de Luna, 99.9 percent of the 
> art was solicited.
>
>  “It was a global call. I said, ‘Show me what you guys think of evil, 
> and don’t send me none of that pansy-ass stuff neither,’” Swanson 
> said.
>
>  Hernandez de Luna is known for controversy and justifies it by saying 
> it is exactly what being a successful artist is all about.
>
>  “Any publicity makes his art more valuable,” said Swanson of 
> Hernandez de Luna’s attitude toward trouble.
>
>  Trouble ended up being just another part of the birth of this already 
> controversial exhibit and collection. Swanson and Hernandez de Luna 
> embroiled themselves in a legal battle over the collection and 
> Hernandez de Luna’s payment for his work on the project. The creators 
> of this thought-provoking, artistic endeavor are not on speaking 
> terms.
>
>  The exhibit, which was supposed to go hand in hand with Swanson’s 
> catalog and be shown at Qualiatica, Swanson’s gallery, is now an 
> independent project of Hernandez de Luna’s.
>
>  Swanson has retained rights to the catalog book, the DVD, and the 
> title, “Axis of Evil: Perforated Praeter Naturam.” Hernandez de Luna 
> has the rights to the collection and to exhibit the show to the 
> public.
>
> “Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin,” which will be on display at 
> the Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., through May 11.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Carol Gulyas
>
> Reference and Instruction Librarian
>
> Columbia College Chicago
>
> 624 S. Michigan Ave.
>
> Chicago, IL  60605
>
> 312.344.7072
>
>  
>


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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