The Chris Ofili Controversy

The controversy of Chris Ofili Most people may not know who Chris Ofili is, but there are many people who know "The Virgin Mary", one of his works at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999 is. I feel an exhibition at the exhibition. Maria's exposed breasts are composed of elephant feces around Maria and porn depressions, so the picture is very controversial. Rudolph Giuliani mayor and others said that these works are not suitable for public exhibitions and are not suitable for quickly attacking paintings and displaying the entire artistic exhibition of various artists It is.

After the 16 year show, the art of Ofili has come back to Scott Reyburn 's news cycle, "Chris Ofili' The Virgin Mary 'will be sold." This article remains relatively neutral. This is a fact and states the controversy of the previous works of art. But the important thing is that the author did not ignore the sale of the work because of its contents and medium. The writer calls it a painting. Do not misunderstand, depending on the art it may be something completely meaningless. It does not matter whether you like it or not. It is not the public responsibility to decide that art should exist. Imagine Leonardo da Vinci claiming that the people of Mona Lisa are so tired of them that they should destroy it! This is absurd not only for the art world but also for the general public. All art is like this. It may take a while to really understand the value of this work. Through its existence, works may gain political or social importance in the world.

The art controversy did not end with the Finlay case. In 1999, the Brooklyn Museum, funded by the municipal government, released a painting by Chris Otrie of the Virgin Mary, including sexual exposure to a dent covered with elephant shit. Catholic church and New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani are angry. Giuliani condemned this exhibition as morally aggressive and threatened to reduce the funds for the museum and terminate the lease unless it stopped the exhibition including the paintings of Ofili. The city later banned the museum's rent in October and filed a state lawsuit to cancel the lease.