GOP lead on Legacy Finance objects to image of Trump groping woman's pussy, blames painter

Last Thursday, Nisswa-area state representative Joshua Heintzeman, a Minnesota House Minority Leader and the Republican lead on the House Legacy Finance Division, shared his distaste on Facebook for images by Jim Denomie, a celebrated contemporary Minnesota artist who is a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The images are on display at the Bockley Gallery, a private art gallery in Minneapolis.

A lawmaker's outrage

After seeing the paintings via a Minnesota Public Radio report by Marianne Combs, Painter's exhibit pays tribute to Standing Rock protests, Heintzeman shared the article on Facebook, along with two sanitized images:

The "especially offencive" image of President Trump is inspired by Trump's famous taped remarks to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush:

Trump: ...You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

Bush: Whatever you want.

Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.

Note that the Nisswa Republican isn't objecting to the image coming out of Trump's mouth, nor the implied behavior. Instead, it's the artist's vision of the same. Combs reports:

To Denomie the situation at Standing Rock looked in many ways like a military battle, and it called to mind the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. "It was a similar event," he recalled. "The same elements were there for a tragedy to happen."

A new exhibition of Denomie's paintings, done in response to the protests at Standing Rock, opens Friday at Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis.

The show's signature piece stands almost 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide. The Missouri River glows Technicolor orange and pink. The attack dogs have been given two heads — an allusion to Cerberus, the dog in Greek mythology that guards the gates of Hades. President Trump is seen groping Lady Justice, while former President Barack Obama is portrayed as a sitting duck. Men in suits clink martini glasses and smoke cigars. Brightly colored frogs emerge from the river, and what appear to be spirit creatures float in the sky above. It's as though both the natural and spiritual worlds are joining the protestors in the fight to protect the land. ...

Paintings curator Robert Cozzolino from the Minneapolis Institute of Art said Denomie "is doing some of the most amazing narrative paintings that anybody's doing in the United States right now."

"Jim is a storyteller and he is interested in looking at the politics and social developments in cultural movements of today and always thinking about how they aren't just springing out of nowhere but have the weight of history behind them," he said.

Cozzolino said Denomie uses his biting wit to make keen observations on the persistence of historical trauma in contemporary culture. He finds Denomie's "Standing Rock 2016" painting reminiscent of Pieter Breugel the Elder's classic work, "The Triumph of Death." In Breugel's 16th century painting, skeletons lay waste to a town indiscriminately. . ...

An artist's career

Over the years, other authorities in the art and historical spheres have joined Cozzolino in praising Denomie's work. In Straddling personal and political, contemporary Native painter Jim Denomie identifies as both the rabbit and the ‘Renegade,' Daily Planet's Alison Herrara reported:

“Jim Denomie is probably one of Minnesota’s great treasures, As an artist, he approaches subject matter that is very personal to him with a sense of humor and a sense of anger,” said Brian Szott, a curator at the Minnesota Historical Society. He along with Dyani White Hawk Polk curated an exhibit called “De Unkiyepi/We Are Here” in 2012 to remember the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.

...When I last visited Denomie at his home he was putting the final touches on a painting called “Oz, The Emergence.” It’s a surreal painting playing off a scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy and the trio are walking through the apple tree forest. The trees come to life and are mean to the group. but of course Jim added his personal touch to this image with scenes of police brutality and Standing Rock. The painting was shown at Bockley Gallery, which represents Denomie and was purchased by the Minnesota Museum of American Art in Saint Paul.

At the Joan Mitchell Center, where Denomie was an artist-in-residence in 2018, the artist's page notes:

In 1995, Denomie received a BFA degree from the University of Minnesota. Since then, he has shown extensively in the U.S. and in Europe in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His work has been placed in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Walker Art Center, The Denver Art Museum, as well as many other public and private collections. Also, Denomie’s work has been included in local and national publications and is the recipient of several prestigious grants and awards. In 2005, Denomie completed a task of painting at least one painting a day, for one year. Much of the work was showcased in the exhibition “New Skins” at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2007, and he was named one of City Pages Artist of the Year for 2007. In 2008, he was awarded a Bush Artist Fellowship and in 2009, an Eiteljorg Native American Fine Art Fellowship, in 2012 a McKnight Artist Fellowship and most recently, A Joan Mitchell 2015 Painters and Sculptors Fellowship.

The Crow's Shadow Institute of Arts in Pendleton, Oregon, notes on its page for the artist:

Perhaps best known for his surrealistic painting style and cartoonish, “revisionist” depictions of Native American history and themes, Denomie has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including a 2009 Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art and a 2008 Bush Artist Fellowship. Denomie received a BFA degree from the University of Minnesota in 1995 and has since shown extensively in both Europe and the United States.

Gail Tremblay, artist and instructor at Evergreen State University, described Denomie’s work as that which both “sings and stings.”

“To penetrate Jim Denomie’s work and to engage with its imagery, one has to let go of all stereotypes one has about American Indians and their art,” Tremblay writes in the Eiteljorg-published book “Art Quantum.” “Indeed, few artists poke fun at stereotypes or at the romanticized images of ‘Noble Savages’ or primitive Indians with Denomie’s vigor.”

In 2013, TPT's Minnesota Original broadcast this show about the artist:

His Wikipedia entry, which includes a list of his major exhibitions going back to 1999, describes his paintings as "colorful, at times comical, looks at United States history and Native Americans." In Hyperallergic, Twin Cities art critic Sheila Regan supplies more details in An Indigenous Artist Captures the Racial Violence at Standing Rock.

The style and content of the pieces reflects earlier works in Denomie's career.

The paintings now on display at the Bockley Gallery were underwritten by a Fiscal Year 2018 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative project grants. Denomie's project--awarded $10,000--is thus described:

Denomie will create a series of large paintings in response to Standing Rock and other contemporary events from a Native American perspective.

With roots that go back to 1903, the Minnesota State Arts Board receives funding from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund established following the 2008 approval of the Legacy Amendment by Minnesota voters. As it was long-established, the arts board has been routinely funded by the legislature to administer the MACHF.

Of the fantods on Heintzeman's Facebook page

It's not surprising that those who are Facebook friends with Representative Heintzeman share his opinions about the artwork and the need to depict the President heroically.

What we found interesting was what the discussion on his post revealed about that constituency's perceptions about the role of art, public funding for it, and just what artists can depict. Playing a cameo role as the defender of artistic freedom and the Legacy Amendment in the comments? State Senator Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point, who chairs the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance. Heintzeman shares half the senate district Ruud represents.

Go read the entire discussion at the page. We'll focus on a couple of themes in the comments. One is that of what some view to be obscene images that they thought where on display at the state capitol--a place where they take their children.

Ruud points out that naked images have long graced the state capitol:

Tris Cluever Jeremy Doyle its in the capital where are children take field trips. its disgusting. if an artist from playboy magazine put his photos of naked women on the walls, would you find that appropriate for young children. Photography is a art. yes

Jeremy Doyle Tris Cluever this is not displayed at the capital. It's at the Bockley Gallery. I don't like this piece either, but I can appreciate the time and effort that went into making it. And I can also appreciate the grant process that requires public display and a lot of paperwork and reporting to demonstrate use of the funds. . . .

Todd Stevens Very offensive - waste of $$ - disgusting - and not representative of ANY of the facts of the "protest" in other words -TRASH . . .

Carrie Ruud So we should only record in art events we agree with or like -The Holocaust or WWII or war or Native American Conflicts anything we disagree with or Don’t “like” should never be represented or recorded in art at all -Like all the beautiful art at the Capital The Legacy Dollars were voted on by the citizens in Mn by a huge margin and are constitutionally dedicated This project met all specifications set forth by the constitution and the Arts Board 

Tris Cluever well right now many monuments and beautiful art is being destroyed for this garbage. I do not in any way disagree with the picture. Its what it represents and I find it to be inappropriate for young viewers. In no way does it represent indigenous people or their heritage. put a rated x on there for when my second graders go to the capital this year.

 

 Carrie Ruud Tris Cluever You will have to put rated x in art all over the Capital -lots of naked bodies on the walls and ceilings It’s an opportunity to teach

Angie Gadacz Carrie Ruud there is a huge difference in the context of naked bodies in truly beautiful art, and this trash. I have no problem exposing my children to truly beautiful art, but this trash used to be considered pornography. Where is the line?

“Art, like morals, consists in drawing the line somewhere.”
- GK Chesterton

There's more on the post, but you get the drift. We find it interesting to read folks noting that an indigenous artist's vision in no way represents "indigenous people or their heritage," (despite what indigenous artists and critics say elsewhere about his work), while in the "truly beautiful art" at the capitol, nakedness isn't obscene.

 

Bluestem was reminded of the discussion several years ago when indigenous Minnesotans took exception to the naked native images painted by white artists at the capitol, as well as other misrepresentations of Native Americans. At News Day, Mary Turck reviewed the controversy in Minnesota’s awful art problem. Sheila Dickinson reported more in the City Pages' Battle rages over racist paintings in the Minnesota State Capitol. One of the issues was the depiction of topless native women, an objectification that is also inaccurate historically.

 

Many of the commenters declare Denomie's work "worthless" as well as "disgusting," with several observing that "real" artists don't need grants since their paintings sell. His career suggests otherwise.

 

Finally, there's a issue of defining censorship. Carrie Ruud defends the works and the Legacy programs, though she's not a fan of the specific pieces:

Carrie Ruud We just celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Legacy and I for one am immensely proud of the accomplishments and am tired of this attitude and the raiding of funds that were constitutionally dedicated by the people!!!!

Joshua Heintzeman Carrie Ruud with all due respect, this isn't about censorship. This is about Minnesota taxpayer money, $10,000, being used for a repulsive depiction of our President.

 

 

Actually, demanding that an artist draw a leader in a particular way would be the very definition of censorship by the government. Ruud points this out:

Carrie Ruud Rick Quill but it is about censorship and if you believe in the constitution like this art or not it is free speech

As Ruud points out other places, Minnesotans voted to fund the arts along with environmental and outdoor recreational projects. We'll leave readers explore the richness of the threads (we took 40 screenshots of the discussion).  We're guessing that Heintzeman will try to make a stink about Demonie's paintings in the Legacy committee, bt we suspect with DFL control in the House and Ruud's leadership in the Senate, this latest outrage about a fund House Republicans can't raid probably won't get much farther than feeding an anger addiction.

 

Banner: We headed this post with some historic heroic Russian pro-pipeline art for balance, More oil for the Motherland. We're not sure why we think some of Heintzeman's political allies in the construction and energy industries might like art patterned after this sort of thing instead of Denomie's Standing Rock protest paintings, but there you go. It's nicer that the red strips of niceness on Heintzeman's versions of the Standing Rock paintings.

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Comments

[David O. Born]

If Mr. Heintzeman is concerned about the depicted behavior, perhaps he should be advocating for less realism, for a President who behaves in a manner more suited to his tastes. As for me, I am as resentful as Mr. Heintzeman is, but in my case, I dislike that "my dime" is going to support his President, a man of highly suspect behavior, questionable moral standards, divisive rhetoric, and insipid, racist policy initiatives.