MOCA decided to whitewash the Blu mural it commissioned for the much anticipated street art retrospective the museum is planning for April. It went up for a couple of hours, and then it came right back down. Apparently the painting’s close proximity to a Japanese-American soldier monument as well as the LA Veteran’s home is rumored to have sparked a problematic situation. Right on the heels of the David Wojnarowicz controversy, this act of censorship becomes especially interesting. While no wounded party has come forth with objections at this point, I trust that there is more to this story than currently meets the eye. For a little more, check out the the New York Times Arts Beat or just visit any street art blog in the world.
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Interesting that Jeffrey Deitch has now coined the mural “inappropriate” while asserting his actions to whitewash weren’t “censorship.” This, of course, took him over four days to come up with, assuredly with MOCA’s PR firm. Would be interesting to hear from A&O their take on how, in situations where artistic license is endangered, how a PR firm can stand by their client at the expense of freedom of speech.
Great question, Chris. It’s tricky because the responsibility of a publicist is to present their client in a favorable light to the public, no matter what their personal take on their client’s actions may be. That being said, taking such a thing as free will into account, I believe anyone supporting censorship – directly or indirectly – needs to own up to the moral implications of their actions rather than turning a blind eye. In the case of Deitch deeming the mural “inappropriate” and taking so long to issue a response, I feel that casts him in a much more unfavorable light than if he had responded immediately and with humility.
Hey thanks for the response.
Also interesting to note, in one of Deitch’s early replies to the press (I think it was originally to Christopher Knight of the LA Times) he said that Blu would be doing a new work, and blamed most of the delay on his (Deitch) being away from Los Angeles (apparently somewhere without cell service, internet or the media. Would love to know where for my next vacation.) . Well, today Blu came out and said otherwise, and with disappointment.
So much for that PR play.
I think it’s also important to take the public vs. private sectors into account when contemplating the role of PR in a situation like this. After the transition was announced, a lot of speculation arose about Deitch moving from the private to the public sector and I believe a lot of those murmurs foreshadowed complex predicaments like this one. Ultimately, a successful PR strategy would involve assessing the implications of a public work of art before that work was executed, including the problematic placement of a work in relation to sensitive audiences. Is that thought-censorship? I don’t know. Could there have been a better wall for this mural? I don’t know. Maybe Deitch just didn’t like the mural, after all–we’ve all seen more visually compelling work from Blu in the past.
The work of art went up and the mighty hand of institutional power whitewashed it out of existence, highlighting the ever-transient nature of street art and the dance between creator and destroyer. This is partly what makes this kind of art so compelling. And now everyone’s talking about it, and wow!, just in time to create buzz for a retrospective about Street Art. Perhaps this is PR at it’s very best.
Danielle,
I don’t think it would have been thought-censorship, rather due-diligence. There’s nothing wrong with planning. The error before the whitewashing, in this case, was Deitch and Co. giving carte blanche to Blu, then ripping it back from his hands afterward, which in light of the Wojnarowicz debacle, everyone labeled it censorship.
One of my recent tweets touched the same point you just made: gaffe or not, MOCA LA is in the mediasphere, more people know about Blu, Deitch, his history and those he once represented. If there’s any egg on Deitch’s face, he’s certainly serving it up with a side of creme fraiche and caviar for someone.
In a world of red-tape and snail-speeds to get stuff done, that mural was whitewashed at light-speed, coupled with the delay in response… really makes me think we all had the wool pulled over our eyes just a touch.
[…] Deitch gives up the private sector and moves to the public realm as Director of MOCA in Los Angeles. As anticipated by detractors and fans alike, he causes quite a stir. […]