Free Speech and Shock Art

The Brooklyn Museum of Art and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani are in a political and legal tussle over an exhibition that has reverberated across the country. On the clear principle of 1st Amendment freedom, we side with the museum. But it’s also true that this latest contretemps over the right to display a controversial work will surely invite unwanted attacks on publicly funded art.

Giuliani last week made headlines by freezing funds the city had allocated for the Brooklyn Museum. The mayor and some religious and civic organizations maintained that public funds should not be used to help sponsor a museum exhibition that might offend Catholics. The exhibition includes a painting that portrays the Virgin Mary with elephant excrement on her breast.

Who can deny that the painting is offensive to some? The importance of the 1st Amendment is that it protects offensive speech. There’s a simple solution for those who object to the exhibition: Don’t go to see it.

Giuliani and those who want to shut down the exhibition argue that public funds shouldn’t support something that offends them. That argument has been used before by politicians seeking to suppress dissent and unpopular viewpoints, to no good end. Add to that Giuliani’s obvious politicking of the issue as he prepares to run for the U.S. Senate and you have a dangerous recipe for demagoguery.

That said, the museum’s (excuse the pun) devil-may-care attitude in regard to tasteless promotions it used demonstrates a tin ear for the sensibilities of the broader public it claims to serve. We cherish the 1st Amendment. We just wish it was being trotted out with greater care.