Page 46 - The MoMA/ Guggenheim issue of World of Art magazine (2003)
P. 46
ThE TERROR
PROjECT
ARTIST PORTFOLIO ARTIST PORTFOLIO
“GEORGE DUBYA” ART CENSORED FROM SAN FRANCISCO EXhIBIT
California artist nancy worthington’s ABOUT ThE ARTIST
anti-war sculpture, “the Crossing”,
(from the george dubya series) Nancy Worthington
was censored and removed from
a february 2003 exhibit at the Nancy Worthington is an artist of unsurpassed vision and personal
alliance française in san francisco. integrity. For almost 30 years, she has felt compelled to create social-
the artwork was censored because political commentary artworks. She has always been supersensitive
it contained an image of george to injustices in the society. She tends to become concerned about
Bush and the alliance française various issues before they become so acute as to pierce the national
told the artist they were afraid to consciousness. her work is in the permanent collection of the
show art containing an image of National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. in the
President Bush. Arts and Embassies Program of the U.S. Department of State, and
among other national and international exhibitions, represented
the United States in the 18th International Biennial in Sao Palo,
“the Crossing” sculpture is a satirical Brazil.
parody, based on the famous war Worthington
painting of george washington “George Dubya” Series of Artworks
crossing the delaware, replaced A Political Satire
by a cast of characters from the By Nancy Worthington, M.F.A.
Bush administration. it is a comment It has been said that in general, civilizations are recorded and
on the artist’s opinion of lack of remembered by their wars and their art. Against the more destructive
leadership by george dubya who is side of civilization, the arts act as checks and balances. It is important
depicted as saying, “what crossing- for me to create these art pieces to express my social/political
where?” feelings about these events that took place, to interpret what it
meant to me personally, in a way in which others can also relate. I
worthington states: “it is dissent is have always felt a duty to incorporate social commentary content
an obligation the responsibility of within the framework of my art. Communication is critical to the
a self-ruling democratic people to ancy success of my work. Yet, it is extremely important that the content
be balanced with a disciplined formal order of aesthetics.
be aware of and openly debate the
issues. of a free people particularly
when the very notion of dissent is
unpopular. we must not allow a n
conspiracy of silence and censorship
to take hold.”
to view the george dubya series,
please check nancy worthington’s All artworks are mixed-media constructions. New media is
website: www.domjoy.com. incorporated into the work by utilizing toys, games, gadgets,
kinetics, motion detectors, sound and light. The artist
juxtaposes playful gadgets against serious content.
44 WORLD of ART
