LA museum whitewashes anti-war mural

[D-Mack]

Is the concept of fighting for dollar hegemony so frightening ?

LA museum whitewashes anti-war mural

MOCA erases commissioned work within 24hrs

by Rob Maguire on December 11, 2010 · 7 Comments

This past week, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles commissioned Blu, an international street art rock star, to paint a mural on a nearby wall in conjunction with their upcoming Art in the Street exhibition.
Less than 24 hours later, the same museum ordered the work destroyed.
For an uncomfortably long time, MOCA remained mum as to why they rushed to cover up the work, which featured rows of coffins draped in dollar bills. Then, they finally issued a response, stating that the work was “inappropriate” given that their neighbourhood included a war monument and a veterans’ hospital.



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http://artthreat.net/2010/12/la-moca-blu-mura/

[zoog]

Re: LA museum whitewashes anti-war mural

Is the concept of fighting for dollar hegemony so frightening ?

The Geffen Contemporary building is located on a special, historic site. Directly in front the north wall is the Go For Broke monument, which commemorates the heroic roles of Japanese American soldiers, who served in Europe and the Pacific during World War II, and opposite the wall is the LA Veterans’ Affairs Hospital. The museum’s director explained to Blu that in this context, where MOCA is a guest among this historic Japanese American community, the work was inappropriate. MOCA has invited Blu to return to Los Angeles to paint another mural.

So, maybe they just didn't want to upset the neighbors. Still, as many in the comments argue, censorship is censorship. Were the museum directors really naive enough to think he would not paint something controversial?

[BigBagel]

Re: LA museum whitewashes anti-war mural

I consider myself conservative politically. We killed 264,000 people in the invasion of Iraq as per released Wikileak US Government documents. We invaded a country preemptively. We're draining our financial resources in two endless conflicts. There are a number of corporations that made a good buck on these military actions.

The artwork is controversial but it's the truth.

[don]

Re: LA museum whitewashes anti-war mural

I'm just finishing reading Devil Dog, a pulp history treatment of Marine Corps twice Medal of Honor winner Smedley Butler, the author of War is a Racket. Butler would get it.