The Controversy Of Censoring Art

Graffiti has been used many times in history to preserve and show political and religious ideas of the past. Street artists are preserving the history that is deemed “illegal” at this time. Graffiti itself is history, and it tells stories as well as preserving cities and adding a creative aspect to everyday life. The “...first forms of scripture and storytelling … were through drawings on walls. Stories passed through generations… were preserved on rocks or walls.” (Lloyd, Alexis). Now street artists are simply doing the same, whether it’s murals, tags, or people just messing around; They are preserving the unique cultures that we have today, or trying to make a name for themselves through art, or portray a political message. 85% of graffiti is just tags. (Akbar, Airfa). People's names or words made to look interesting. People trying to preserve their name through art. And this is considered a crime. Splashing your political views on a building through a mural to some people is offensive and the fact that this is illegal is a violation of the 1st amendment. Making graffiti or street art illegal is limiting an expression of people's ideas and religion.

Right when the exhibition opened, it was not greeted well, especially by African - American artists. One of them, Parker Bright, stood in front of Open Casket, blocking it, but not that you could totally not see, with his back facing the viewer. On a back on his T-shirt was written “Black Death Spectacle”. Same afternoon, there was an open letter released on Facebook directed to exhibition curators Mia Locks and Christopher Y. Lew, by a british artist and a writer Hannah Black. In a letter Hannah Black demanded the picture taken down and even destroyed: “It is not acceptable for a white person to transmute Black suffering into profit and fun’. It was signed by 25 black artists. They felt that it is unfair for a white woman to exploit black history, because it is not her history and she never lived it. There was even a letter released by Dana Schutz, asking Whitney museum to take down the painting, which was later confirmed to be fake. In my opinion, these actions are too extreme and limiting the freedom of speech. I think, regardless of the color of the skin, this kind of act of violence towards a teenager brings out strong emotions in a lot of people. Expressing thoughts and feelings should not be

There are many reasons why art exist, and why people continue to make it. Art can bring joy and hope to a group of people, but it can also dehumanize the same group. This all depends on who creates the art and the motivation behind the creation. Throughout the history of the United States, in regard to race, we see how art has done and does both. According to Paul Von Blum (2012), historical “depictions of Black women, men, and children were highly stereotypical and demeaning.” These negative visual representations of black individuals were set to devalue their existence. They perpetuated “visions of African Americans as lazy, irresponsible,

Okay, first of all, ... huh? Black Lives Matter being graffiti 'd on a Columbus statue? I guess something something white supremacy

What the Los Angeles respond was not so bad but they still had the right to protect his mural. But I agree and disagree with there respond. I disagree with it because they still had the right to protect it because it took him hard work to do it and . I also agree with there respond because they paid him to do it and know thats theres not his. He was paid to do it so he shouldn't worry about how they tagged over the

The police had no right to get rid of this legally painted mural and the officer that shot michael brown had no right to even draw his weapon. This is similar to the mural of Biggie Smalls in New York, that mural is of a famous rapper that was a known criminal and drug dealer that was killed in gang violence, and if that were ever removed there would be huge riots throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. In this case the mural was of a student that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, the police felt uncomfortable with the mural of him being there because they felt it would lead to them being disrespected, but them removing it will probably lead to more issue than if they had kept it. The police had an irrational fear and the had oppressed the people that wanted the painting to

The Open Casket painting made by Dana Schutz was one out of many different art pieces that were included in the Whitney Museum exhibition, which led to protests and controversies. Many people have found this portrait of Emmett Till disrespectful to his memory, and think that she’s using Emmett’s death as a way to make money. However, Schutz declared from the beginning, that her work wasn’t for sale. Other individuals believe that because Dana Schutz’s nationality is white, she doesn’t have the right to make a drawing of an African American. Instead of dividing artists by the color of their skin, people should utilize this artistic work as a way to engage in moral discussion as opposed to censorship or destruction of an artwork. It’s wrong for a person to say that a subject should be off-limits to some creators because of their race. Parker Bright, an artist who assisted the exhibition, stood in front of Dana Schutz's painting, and wore a t-shirt with a phrase that said “Black Death Spectacle.” Bright felt as if Schutz’s painting isn’t doing any justice, and that she doesn’t have the privilege to speak for African Americans. Moreover, a writer named Hannah Black wrote a letter to the Whitney exhibition curators demanding that the painting must be destroyed entirely. Furthermore, many media outlets received an email supposedly written by Dana Schutz requesting her portrait to be removed from the Whitney Museum, but it turned out to be

As an artist, one should have the opportunity to freely express themselves in any way necessary. It is difficult however, to know what is offensive nowadays, and an artist isn’t going to know what someone thinks of their work until they put it out on display for people to view. In an interview, Cox describes herself as basically being fearless, she mentions that she “is not afraid of anything; doesn't second guess herself; not afraid to put things out there; and isn't trying to tip toe around” (Spellman College, “Interview with Renee Cox”). Her statement describes who she is and what she does perfectly because it shows that she really puts herself into her pieces, not only literally, but figuratively, and is able to really stand by what she creates because it symbolizes what she believes

The article written by Kristin Quade Valdez interviewed many students at school that relate their artwork to the current events around them along with protest and rallies. I believe Kristin wrote this article for those who are in the Latino Community and this is another way of art is similar to a protest poster. The two articles are different because one speaks about the situation that only happen during the time in CharlottesVille and the other speaks about Latin American and Latino Art. The word protest relates to these articles is because art is another way to protest because it allows someone to express their

Besides all the homophobia and discrimination that some people in the LGBTQ community receive, people of color receive even more just for the fact the they’re people of color. In communities where’s mostly Latinos, there’s more homophobia, specially because there’s this “Machismo” thing that still happens, even though we are in the 21st century. Some ways that people deiced to let their feelings out is by art, art is piece of life that you can’t really go against or ague with. Art was made to help people, express their feelings by drawing them out. People in the LGBTQ community use art as a way to express how they feel, and that they’re also have the right love like everyone

Art most definitely should question the status quo. Art is a form of someone's expression on a particular issue, and our expression and beliefs on a issue is what makes us all individuals. We are all not the same so art shouldn't be either.

Art has a powerful message in any way, shape, or form that it is presented in. I believe that it has the ability to unify its admirers despite their ethnicity, age, religion, or beliefs. This passion is adequate enough to band differences together. For example, a YouTuber that I am subscribed to, Casey Neistat, is a vlogger (someone who documents their everyday life through video), inspirational speaker, and somewhat of a comedian. However, on October 2nd of this year, his usual content adapted into something larger than life. He created a fundraiser in order to assist the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and expressed his sentiment on the tragedy. Neistat confers his range of emotions from anger, to grief, and ends with helplessness, but

Throughout history, the issue of appropriation in art has become a heated debate on whether it is good or whether it is bad. Appropriation is fundamentally the act of taking something from somewhere else and placing it into a new context. In art, appropriation is seen as using (or taking) someone else's artwork, manipulating it and ultimately changing the whole meaning behind the work. It is seen as a significant issue as many people (including art critics, art historians and art enthusiasts) see appropriation as whilst, others see it as being inappropriate and immoral, and see the growth in appropriation as being a destroyer of art. It is of the opinion that art indeed "feeds off itself" and every artwork, art movement, and art period is

Art is entirely subjective, there is no medium that should be censored because, artist should be able to create with no restrictions, America is not a dictatorship, and families should decide what’s appropriate for their homes.

Art is supposed for expressing feeling and the visualizing the feeling or thoughts of the artists. Censorship is the suppression of content, which is defined as harmful, politically incorrect or sensitive by the authority (cited in Merriam, n.d.). Art and censorship have been connected for a long period of time together. In the recent society, the censorship on artworks is one of the most severe issues when it comes to censorship and the problem happens internationally. Since every individual has the right to define what is acceptable for him/her or not, instead of the government or others, Art should not be censored. The censorship on Art may influence the freedom of Creativity‬ of the artist; the right of the general public to view different topics of artworks and censorship on political Art may affect the human rights and freedom of speech.