Spring Break
Painting a political statement
Artist to lead panel on controversial artwork "Fundamentalists"
Trevor Kupfer
Issue date: 10/18/04 Section: Campus News
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Students will have an opportunity to discuss with Pelletier when he opens a panel discussion on his work from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in Davies Theater, Davies Center. The painting will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Skylight Lounge of Davies Center.
The panel also will include art history Professor Eugene Hood, anthropology Lecturer Jill Smith, and August Berkshire, president of the Minnesota Atheists.
The painting is based on James Ensor's work titled "Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889." Ensor's work was never shown publicly because he directly ridiculed the officials in Brussels, Belgium and France. He depicted many recognizable people in a grotesque style, making fools of themselves in a celebration.
"Expressionism is intentionally crude and gestural with emphasis on quickness," Hood said. "Expressionists tried to get the images in their soul and head out before it left them ... kind of a form of catharsis."
Ensor's message in his painting is that even if Jesus came back, people would be more interested in how greatly the event impacted them, rather than the fact that Christ had returned.
"I've received a lot of flack about mine too," Pelletier said. "Many don't want to be associated with it because of its religious connotation."
The panel is sponsored by the Progressive Student Association and College Freethought Society. Junior Andrew Werthmann, president of PSA, said they decided to sponsor the event because they are focused on activism and social change.
"We thought it would be good to show someone who does activism through art," he said.
Fundamentalism's basic message, Pelletier said, is that there's one way to do something, an idea he called both anti-American and anti-democratic.
Pelletier's painting contains 121 recognizable figures, such as President Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Mel Gibson, in a similar celebration to Ensor's depiction. The cast of characters can be seen at www.americanfundamentalists.com.