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so what else is new...

Posted by parhad (Guest) - Sunday, May 30 2004, 19:14:34 (CEST) from 200.94.234.41 - 200.94.234.41 - Windows XP - Internet Explorer Website: Website title:

The assault outside the Capobianco gallery in the city's North Beach district Thursday night was the worst in a string of verbal and physical attacks directed at Lori Haigh since the artwork was installed at her gallery on May 16. San Francisco police are investigating and have stepped up patrols around the gallery. But Haigh decided to close the gallery indefinitely, citing concern for the safety of her two children, ages 14 and 4, who often accompanied her to work. Guy Colwell's painting, titled "Abuse," depicts three U.S. soldiers leering at a group of naked men in hoods with wires connected to their bodies. The one in the foreground has a blood-spattered American flag patch on his uniform. In the background, a soldier in sunglasses guards a blindfolded woman. The painting was part of a show of the Berkeley artist's work that mostly featured pastel-colored abstracts. Colwell stopped by the gallery Friday, but refused to discuss his work or the reaction to it, saying only, "I'm sorry if this is putting pressure on Lori." Two days after the painting went up in a front window, someone threw eggs and dumped trash on the doorstep. Haigh said she did not think to connect it to the events at Baghdad's notorious prison until people started leaving nasty messages and threats on her business answering machine. "I think you need to get your gallery out of this neighborhood before you get hurt," one caller said. She removed the painting from the window, but the gallery's troubles received news coverage and the criticism continued. The answering machine recorded new calls from people accusing her of being a coward for moving the artwork. Last weekend, Haigh said a man walked into the gallery, pretended to scrutinize the painting for a moment, then marched up to her desk and spat in her face. On Thursday, someone knocked on the door of the gallery, then punched Haigh in the face when she stepped outside. "This isn't art-politics central here at all," Haigh said. "I'm not here to make a stand. I never set out to be a crusader or a political activist." In closing the gallery, Haigh was forced to cancel an upcoming show featuring counterculture artist Winston Smith. For Haigh, who opened Capobianco a year and a half ago, having the chance to work with prominent artists fulfilled a lifelong dream. "I kept thinking someday I'll have enough of a reputation where I could bring in my heroes of the art world, people like Guy Colwell especially," she said. Haigh has received some expressions of support since closing the gallery. Her favorite: an e-mail whose writer said, "I'm sure that a few and dangerous minds don't understand that they have only mimicked the same perversity this painting had expressed." ......sigh. --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: so what else is new... parhad - Sunday, May 30 2004, 19:14:34 (CEST) Re: so what else is new... Tony - 05/30 19:42 Re: so what else is new... parhad - 05/30 23:10

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