I was laying in bed and I wondered, "did that guy who painted the Virgin Mary in elephant dung die yet?"
Valid question, I just assumed he ended up like Jean-Michel Basquiat. But I was wrong.
Since I'm already way off track, let's start again, from the beginning. Back in 1999, a "young" Rudy Giuliani was the Mayor of New York City. Depending on your sourcing, he was either looking for a publicity grab, or was genuinely offended by a young artist's work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
That young artists' name? Chris Ofili. His painting was called the Holy Virgin Mary. Here is a miniature version of it:
Why the mini version? Because the image is littered with, besides dung, images of vaginas and buttocks.
Now the painting is considered a primary example of "Punk Art." I usually like Punk Art, but not this particular piece of Ofili's work. Why? Let's say that my parents were rich and sent me to a private school. If there was an 8 foot by 6 foot piece of canvas in the garage, I probably could have painted the the Holy Virgin Mary. But here's the ruse, let's pretend I was an angry brat and named the painting "My Mom." It wouldn't end up in an art gallery, it would land me on a therapist's couch and the painting would be in a landfill. Because Ofili claimed it was his interpretation of the Virgin Mary based on his experiences in Catholicism, he's a genius. He took a shit painting and sold people an anti-religion viewpoint.
We are a free-speech website, we defend the Holy Virgin Mary in concept. But Ofili isn't a starving artist, he's the rich angry brat that turned his vision into a multi-million dollar art career. Living on the beach in Trinidad and jetting back and forth from London to New York, Ofili turned the controversy into a stepping stone.
But it's funny how time works, Mayor Rudy is not so popular anymore. Actually he's pretty much a crook. What was framed as an Art vs. Free Speech battle a generation ago was really a glorified publicity stunt by both sides.
You know how I know Ofili was an opportunist instead of artist? If he named that painting Jane, he wouldn't be famous today, because the actual painting isn't that great. Blaspheme the Virgin Mary? Millionaire on a Caribbean Island.
Let's frame the argument a different way. Same painting, same ingredients, same everything, but Ofili named the painting "The Prophet Muhammad."
Blaspheme the Prophet Muhammad? Not living. Ofili's probably entering into death in a gruesome way. Like his head at the receiving end of a pike.
These are dated arguments? Anyone can do anything. I can shit the bed and rub feces on the wall. Then, a day later, buy a frame and stick it on the wall. My few Beacon of Speech followers can declare the work "Fred's Shit Phase."
But lately I am really struggling at how some people take publicity stunts and parlay them into careers.
Hopefully, when I pass on, I will be known as Beacon of Speech's Fred Hunt or, best case scenario, Pulitzer-Winner Fred Hunt. All of Ofili's money won't prevent him from being the Elephant Dung Guy.