Friday, October 12, 2007

Political Art or A Bad Photoshop?


This a political art piece by Arthur Szyk, who did most of his work in the 1940's. You can read about him here.

This is called "The Four Horsemen" (l to r) Hitler, Mussolini, a Japanese Ultranationalist and a Bolshevik are potrayed as the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

This is political art. This is not. (scroll down just a bit)

The Guardian reports: "Mr Sokolov described the photo as political provocation and said he was pulling it, together with 16 other works, from a show at Paris's Maison Rouge exhibition hall. The exhibits were all displayed in Russia this year at Moscow's state-owned Tretyakov gallery. The minister also banned another work by the same irreverent group, Blue Noses, that shows Vladimir Putin, George Bush and Osama bin Laden cavorting on a double bed in their underpants."

I'm not posting the photos of the art mentioned above because they just disgust me (they are safe for work though), You can click on the link to see them. But when did political art that is displayed in exhibition become something that looks like a Democratic Underground photoshop???? I mean if you are going to make a statement against Pres. Bush, fine. But could some talent be involved here?