During discussions with the M.O. about the Red Fall exhibit at The Station, I speculated that if an equally blatant "right-wing" exhibit were mounted, detractors would be howling about it, and looky-here, turns out I was right.
First off (according the article, I'm in no position to fly to the Farnsworth to see for myself) the subject matter is military, but not overtly "for" or "against" the war. It sounds like it is more documentary work than propagandistic. Yet we have a little group of protestors who want "images of civilian deaths and mass destruction."
I think the silliest objection by one of the protestors is, "The fact that he would come not dressed as an artist, but as a Marine is an affront." What the heck constitutes "dressed as an artist"? The guy is a member of the Marine Corps, right? He's a "combat illustrator." So he's a Marine, and he makes art. He makes art while he's a Marine. How is it that wearing his uniform somehow eclipses or denies his artistry? (In fact, in the photos in the linked profile, he's wearing a uniform and he's drawing at the same time! Apparently donning camouflage doesn't immobilize the limbs or blinker the eyes after all.)
The same protestor goes on to say, "The day-to-day part of war, which we can't imagine, is what we need to see. We need to see images that tell us the truth." Isn't that exactly what this guy is doing? Earlier, the author of the article states, "Fay's paintings show soldiers carrying out their daily duties while serving on hostile ground." I guess the protestor was definitely right about one thing, which is that she can't imagine the day-to-day part of war.
[Original link to news article from James Taranto/WSJ Best of the Web]
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