What happens when funding for the arts, that is, income for artists, almost completely shifts from the private sector to the public sector? Why, you get “artists” whose primary raison d’etre (French artsy lingo) is to think up ways to be as offensive as possible to the people who put the bread on their table.
Enter fledgling “artist” William Gentry whose “The Fat is in the Fire” exhibit was recently asked to take the last train from Clarksville, Tennessee’s Customs House Museum. Gentry’s work included American flags desecrated in various creative ways, including deep-frying them. According to Gentry, his point was to show concern for obesity in America. The more obvious and likely point was to blame America for contributing to obesity in poor people.
Gentry is not alone. There have been dozens of “artists” in the past couple of decades who have garnered national attention by producing works that have no other value beyond shock value, including California lawyer Stephen Pearcy’s controversial American-flag-in-toilet scribblings displayed in the California Justice Department’s cafeteria. Sadly in fact, the era of the talented artist has long since passed.