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Mike Kepka/SF Chronicle |
| Dozens
of art lovers and First Amendment defenders turned out Saturday outside
a San Francisco gallery to bolster the flagging spirits of owner Lori
Haigh, who has been under siege for the last two weeks for displaying
a controversial painting depicting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American
soldiers. The supporters had hoped to persuade Haigh, 39, to reconsider her decision to close the Capobianco Gallery, which came after she was threatened, spat upon and, most recently, punched in the face for showing Guy Colwell's painting of torture. Gathered on the sidewalk outside the small studio, her supporters talked of vigils, petitions and even providing volunteer security to help keep the gallery going. The furor began on May 16 when Colwell, an East Bay artist, made an addition to his monthlong showing at Haigh's gallery on Powell Street. Angered by the pictures he saw of Iraqi prisoners being abused, he created a black and white painting depicting three hooded and naked men undergoing electric shock torture by American soldiers. Colwell, who took down his paintings Saturday, declined to comment. Two days after the painting went up, Haigh arrived at her gallery to find broken glass, eggs and trash strewn outside her storefront. Haigh also began receiving the first of about 200 angry voicemails, e-mails and death threats. |
A
week ago, a man walked into the gallery and spit in Haigh's face. On
Tuesday, Haigh decided to temporarily close the gallery and began to
consider giving up on her dream of owning an art gallery. Just two days
later, another man knocked on the door of the gallery and then punched
Haigh in the face, knocking her out, breaking her nose and causing a
concussion. It's more than Haigh ever imagined. She opened the studio 1 1/2 years ago, hoping to display the works of important and possibly controversial modern artists. "I enjoyed listening to people's different opinions on what they saw," said Haigh, a mother of two. "That was part of the joy of having a gallery." |
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| On Saturday,
Haigh's supporters tried to remind her of the joy in owning a gallery
in North Beach, long a haunt for counterculture poets and artists. "When
this can happen in the middle of North Beach in San Francisco, where
people always expressed themselves, it means Iraq is not the only place
being occupied," said Daniel Macchiarini, a North Beach gallery
owner himself. "But this is an act of desperation. The people who
attack like this, their ideas have failed." |
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Selected Comments: |
| Art
is free expression. This is tasteful and wrongful. As much as this painting has a right to be up, Americans hold the right to want it down. It harbors beyond the line of slander. The gallery owner was treated the most wrongful, or was she? She should of (sic) harbored a sense of thought as to what putting a painting like this on display would do. Issues in Iraq are highly emotional right now. People don't act sanely under the influence of that high of emotion. But maybe all of this going on is in actuality a free press display at advertising. I bet that painting will sell for a lot of pretty pennies now. People are sick. this painting shows that. This story and the controversy shows it. - Sickened keep it open!!! - just me Republicans are so stupid. - Josh Hampton Free speech? Not in MY country, dammit! - King George W. (the lesser) To those who call this porn: - FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING RAPISTS! Democrats OWN!! - Lou Crativ That bitch deserves it. How dare she question the men and women that oppress others in the name of freedom. If it wasn't for Americans like those brave heroic soldiers, no one would be free. God Bless Them! - Bush Puppet Disgraceful Filth - Disgusted! where would america be without controversy? we'd all be amish. - violence I can't believe someone would drive all the way from Texas to California just to punch a woman in the face. - King Chicken |
| ART! |
| (219
Votes- 67% Art, 33% Porn) |
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Art or Pornography? Your Homepage! |
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