Case Study: How Political Can We Be? Victoria Reis, Transformer Gallery

Transformer’s Response to the Smithsonian Institute’s Censorship of
David Wojnarowicz’s Fire in My Belly

Transformer, a non-profit visual arts organization based in Washington, DC whose mission is to “provide a consistent, supportive, and professional platform for emerging artists to explore and present experimental artistic concepts, build audiences for their work, and advance their careers”, was the first organization to protest the Smithsonian Institution’s censorship of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly from the National Portrait Gallery’s Hide/Seek exhibition.

On December 1, 2010, in a direct and immediate response to the Smithsonian’s censorship, Transformer screened on a continual loop in our store-front window space, a 4-minute edited version of A Fire in My Belly similar to that pulled by the Smithsonian Institute’s Secretary Wayne Clough from the Hide/Seek exhibition due to pressure by conservative members of Congress and the fear of loss of funding.

“As a response to the censorship by the Smithsonian of this work, and in honor of World AIDS Day & Day With(out) Art, the many alternative art spaces, visual arts organizations, artists, and activists around the world that have paved the path for freedom of expression & the existence of experimental arts venues like Transformer, we feel it is our job to champion all artists’ creative expression without constraints, and to continue the important dialogue Wojnarowicz’s work generates about aggression, hunger, community, love, loss, as well as religion” stated Victoria Reis, co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director of Transformer in a press released dated December 1, 2010.

On December 3, upon receipt of David Wojnarowicz’s original 13-minute film in progress A Fire in My Belly (1987) sent by The Fales Library, Transformer presented this work and an accompanying 7-minute excerpt inside our gallery space through to February 4, 2011, with additional documentation about the work provided by The Fales Library, PPOW Gallery, Diamanda Galas, as well as an archive of Transformer’s response and related press.

Transformer is proud to have initiated early dialogue around the unnecessary and unwarranted censorship of this work, which nearly five months later is now a national and international dialogue.  In addition to the initial screening of A Fire in My Belly, Transformer continued its efforts to promote dialogue on this censorship issue through several events, as well as organizing a larger dialogue on how artists, arts organizations, and cultural leaders can better respond to public concerns about artwork to avoid censorship:

Dec. 2, 2010 Transformer organized an artistic action for Dec. 2, 2010, in which 100 people marched to the steps of the National Portrait Gallery in silent protest of the Smithsonian’s censorship of the work.

Transformer issued a letter to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Wayne Clough calling on him to reinstate the work.

Dec. 3, 2010 Transformer began showing the entire thirty-minute Wojnarowicz work in progress with unique permission from his Estate, and continued screening through February 4, 2011. Displayed on Transformer’s storefront was the Day With(out) Art symbol and the following text:

A Fire in My Belly
Video by David Wojnarowicz (1954 – 1992)
Created in 1987, Censored by the Smithsonian Institution 2010

Dec. 20, 2010 In collaboration with writer/activist Catherine V. Dawson and Transformer, the Washington DC JCC hosted hide/SPEAK a conversation with Hide/Seek co-curator David C, Ward and others, to discuss the events that led up to the Smithsonian’s removal of David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in My Belly video from the exhibition and the social and political implications of the situation. Click here for video of the event.

At this panel, it is announced that Transformer will be presenting a panel in its ongoing FRAMEWORK Panel in 2011 titled “Culture Wars:  Then & Now” that will explore aspects of the culture wars of the 80s and early 90s, how the issues that came up during that tumultuous time in the arts community are continuing now, and best strategies that can be used to avoid censorship as well as chilling affect on artists and arts organizations.

Jan. 28, 2011 Transformer co-signs a letter written by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) urging the Smithsonian Board of Regents to adopt policies upholding First Amendment principles.

Jan. 31, 2011 Art+, with support from Transformer and the Museum of Censored Art, organized a protest at the Smithsonian Castle during the Board of Regents meeting, calling on the Smithsonian to remove Secretary Clough from office.

March 26, 2011 – Culture Wars: Then and Now: Transformer presents a day-long symposium at the Corcoran in Washington, DC in collaboration with The National Coalition Against Censorship, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art + Design with panels on censorship, arts activism, and arts funding:

“In light of recent censorship by the Smithsonian Institution and threats by congressional leaders to pull arts funding from national arts institutions, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Culture Wars: Then and Now presents very timely conversation examining how freedom of expression and public support for the arts are currently being debated,” said Victoria Reis, executive and artistic director of Transformer.  Culture Wars: Then and Now will examine censorship in four unique discussions: Censorship Examined, Culture Wars Redux, Give Me a Revolution: Artists’ Responses to Censorship, and Free Speech & Arts Funding.

“We are convening this symposium because the fear of controversy and subsequent institutional self-censorship that come in the wake of a censorship incident are much more dangerous than the incident itself,” said Svetlana Mintcheva, director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship.

“The Corcoran is pleased to partner with Transformer and the Coalition to put this important discussion, and subsequent dialogue, on the center stage, where it belongs,” said Corcoran Director and President Fred Bollerer.

Marshall Reese of Ligorano/Reese Collaborations and a participating panelist in Culture Wars said: “During the first week of December, I had this strange sense of déjà vu. Once again, politicians were censoring a major art exhibition, and it was even the same artist, David Wojnarowicz. It was almost as if I had been asleep for the past 20 years. And yet, it’s become clear, this isn’t just some weird Twilight Zone like aberration; it’s the onslaught of an attack on not just our civil liberties, but with what’s happening in Wisconsin on the American way of life.”

To further punctuate aspects of the conversations taking place throughout the symposium, video works via Franklin Furnance’s The History of the Future! A Franklin Furnance View of Performance Art will be shown in the Corcoran Atrium during the lunch break and between panel sessions.

Censorship Examined
10–11 a.m.

In this presentation, Culture Wars: Then and Now keynote speaker, Robert Storr, Dean, Yale School of Art, will examine visual arts censorship within the context of American culture and history.
(Screening of Linda Lewett’s video Perfect Moment at WPA prior to panel)

Culture Wars Redux – What did we (what do we) consider offensive?
11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Panelists include Philip Brookman, chief curator and head of research, Corcoran Gallery of Art and former curator of Washington Project for the Arts; Dennis Barrie, director of cultural and interpretive planning, Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement and former director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center; Jane Livingston, independent curator, author, and former associate director and chief curator at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; and H. Louis Sirkin, attorney and founding member of Sirkin Kinsley & Nazzarine, who represented Dennis Barrie and CAC in the obscenity trial provoked by the 1989 Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective, The Perfect Moment. The discussion is moderated by Svetlana Mintcheva, director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Give me a Revolution: Artists’ Responses to Censorship
(Open with screening of Martha Wilson’s October 24, 2008 performance Barbara Bush: All Washed UP and Guerilla Girls’ HERSTORY and/or “animation” piece.)
2–3:30 p.m.

Panelists include Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone from the Museum of Censored Art; Orameh Bagheri from LA Raw; Bill Dobbs of Art+; and Marshall Reese of Ligorano/Reese Collaborations. The discussion is moderated by Victoria Reis, executive and artistic director of Transformer.

Free Speech & Arts Funding
4–5:30 p.m.

Panelists include Nora Halpern, vice president of leadership alliances, Americans for the Arts; Michael Keegan, president, People for the American Way; Robert Atkins, art historian, activist, author, and co-editor of Censoring Culture: Contemporary Threats to Freedom of Express; David A. Smith, senior lecturer in American History at Baylor University, Waco, TX and author of Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy. The discussion is moderated by Andy Grundberg, associate provost and dean of undergraduate studies, Corcoran College of Art + Design.

The full-day symposium can be viewed on-line at www.transformergallery.org, and at https://getinvolved.corcoran.org/culturewars

As an outcome of Culture Wars: Then & Now symposium, Transformer is planning to present a FRAMEWORK Panel on the intersection of Art & Labor summer 2011.  The panel will examine the affinity between art and labor movements within America, focusing on artist organizing, as well as the historical and contemporary contradictions and compatibilities that have arisen as a result of shared issues. Launched in December 2002, Transformer’s FRAMEWORK Panel Series engages artists, arts professionals, cultural leaders, and audiences in conversation to create an oral ‘field guide’ to encourage and support individual emerging artists in our community, and educate audiences through the sharing of best practices within the contemporary visual arts.

 

Related Press:

“The Video John Boehner Doesn’t Want You To See” – Mother Jones

“Big Bucks & Been There Fare” – Transformer’s decision is one of Holland Cotter’s art highs of 2010; The New York Times

“Reflections on DC Art in 2010″ – Washington City Paper Arts Desk

“Smithsonian Censored Crucifix Art?” – The Alyona Show, Russian TV

“Pulled from National Portrait Gallery, Video Emerges Elsewhere in Washington” — The New York Times Arts Beat

“Demonstrators gather to protest removal of Wojnarowicz art from National Portrait Gallery” – The Washington Post

“Portrait Gallery Censorship Scandal: Get your artist-designed Wojnarowicz protest masks here” — TBD.com

“Gallery Vows Ongoing Protest Against Smithsonian” (video) – Fox5 News

“Demonstrators gather to protest removal of Wojnarowicz art from National Portrait Gallery” – The Washington Post

“Tiny Transformer Gallery stands up to behemoth Smithsonian’s censorship” — Examiner.com

“Smithsonian Controversy Inspires Local Gallery” — NBC Washington

“Smithsonian Removes ‘Ant’ Video After Complaints from Catholic Group” – Fox5 News

“Transformer shows banned video, as debate over museum’s censorship rages” — The Washington Post

“National Portrait Gallery bows to censors, withdraws Wojnarowicz video on gay love” – The Washington Post

“DC Gallery Calls March on the National Portrait Gallery” — ArtInfo.com

“GOP-Led Smithsonian Controversy Will Likely Make Controversial Artists Better Known” — The Huffington Post

Victoria Reis, Transformer’s Executive and Artistic Director, 
was recently featured in Washington City Paper‘s
2011 ‘Best Of’ edition: 
”D.C.’s Best Punk-Rock Art Savior” 
- Washington City Paper

 

Victoria Reis
Executive Director
Transformer, Washington, DC