Art Censorship And Obscenity

Art censorship and obscenity
People in the United States of America are allowed to express themselves in many ways. One of these ways of expressing yourself is through art. Although we have this freedom, it is not completely accepted or viewed as right. What makes the many different forms or art acceptable or unacceptable with censorship? Why should creativity and artistic abilities be censored from other people or artists?

“According to Plato, ‘because art has the power to intensify and not just purge emotions, a “dramatic censor” must control the content and form of all artistic expression’” (Hoffman). There are some people who just cannot accept or understand certain pieces of art, which leads them to find
them inappropriate and misleading. Just because these people cannot handle certain works of art does not mean that the work should be hidden. Imagine painting a watercolor picture, which is very hard to work with, and working on it for months upon months.
You strive to get it finished and once you do you feel very proud of what has been accomplished. Naturally, you would want to put your hard work on display to show it off to whoever you please. But right when you get the chance to do that, the watercolor that you painted for weeks and weeks is taken away from you by Nazi’s and banned from ever being seen. In 1940, this is exactly what happened to German painter, print maker, and watercolorist Emil Nolde. People come to the United States to be free and to do what they want to do. America is known as a free country because everyone race, age, and gender are equal. Censorship is something that has been debated over for years. There is always something that has been "exposed" that should not have been, or something that was not revealed that should have been.
There is a constant argument over what should be censored and what shouldn 't. People in the United States of America are allowed to express themselves in many ways. One way of expressing yourself is through art. Although we have this freedom, it is not completely accepted or viewed as right. What makes the many different forms or art acceptable or unacceptable with censorship? Why should creativity and artistic abilities be censored from other people or artists? NCAC is the National Coalition against Censorship which is a group made up of 50 national non-profit organizations who all agree human rights consist of freedom of thought and expression.
They believe that artists work should not be censored whether it is literature, drawing, sculpture or anything along those lines. There are people who view works of art as obscene and inappropriate to be viewed by the public. The NCAC tries to let the public know how dangerous and wrong censorship is and how to try and stop it. Art is a talent and hobby that people use to express themselves. The artists work should not be censored from the public because it is a unique and harmless way of showing what the artist thinks of a specific topic and shows what they see from the world. There are many cases that went to court that dealt with the government and artwork that was made by artists. The government did not approve of the work, so they often took it away or banned it from being showed. In one case involving the NCAC, an artist named Jeff Hebron painted a semi nude painting of a woman that was displayed in an art exhibit in Temecula, California. The City Manager of Temecula, Shawn Nelson, was viewing the art exhibit when he came across Jeff’s painting. Off of the obvious conclusion that the painting was semi nude he decided that Jeff’s piece of art was not appropriate for families and children, so it was removed from the art exhibit upon request of the City Management. Once the NCAC became
aware that this had occurred to Jeff’s painting Svetlana Mintcheva, the Director of Programs, emailed the City Manager.
It is our understanding that Mr. Hebron’s work, which had been selected for inclusion in Visual Expressions 2010 based on its artistic merit, was removed from the exhibition upon a request by the City Management. Apparently, according to the City Management, a painting of a nude figure does not belong in a gallery where families with children may come. It is not the role of a public official to shield the eyes of the public from work because he subjectively decides it is not “family-friendly……. Simple nudity is not sufficient ground for excluding artwork from public exhibition……. We urge you to reconsider your decision in this matter. (Mintcheva)
Svetlana made a very valid point that it is not a public official’s job to protect the eyes and minds of a young child from seeing in opinion inappropriate art work. I do not know the response that City Manager Shawn Nelson had to this letter, but I would think that he put Jeff Hebron’s painting back up at the exhibit. Emil Nolde was a very professional and skilled German artist who was accomplished in print making, watercolor, and painter. Throughout his life, he was faced with many situations that dealt with censorship about his art work. When his work was taken away from him because it was thought to be banned, he was forced to focus on other topics to paint such as flowers and gardens. The Nazi 's did nit approve of his artwork, so they decided they had the right to take it away.
Nolde continued to be a victim of the Nazis’ most brutal censorship throughout the war years. In 1940 more paintings were confiscated from his studio and he was forbidden ‘any professional activity …in the field of the creative arts’…… His so-called ‘unpainted paintings’, made in secret defiance of the ban imposed by the Nazis in 1941, comprise over 1000 small watercolours depicting visionary and imaginative subjects. (Lloyd)
It is not fair that a person’s artistic creativity had to be limited to such options while being concerned whether their work will be frowned upon and banned from society. Any person should be allowed to express themselves with which ever preferences they have, whether they are approved by the community or viewed as wrong and inappropriate; it should not matter. Art is not the only form of self expression that has and still is being banned today. Censorship is such a major issue in the world today and people seem to only relate it to The First Amendment. I agree that The First Amendment does and should cancel out censorship, but my main issue is the restrictions that censorship can put on artists. Like Nolde, there are most likely other artists in the world as we speak who feel like their artwork is not accepted for their own personal reasons. I believe there is nothing worse than not being accepted for who you are and what you are trying to say or do through your art. Not only is art a hobby, it is also a career which makes it even more real knowing that people are putting out their best work for advertisement companies and etc. just to possibly get it shut down by the public on the account that there are people who find their work insulting and inappropriate. The NCAC is a great organization that fights for artists who cannot stand up for themselves when they are rejected and banned. Take a moment to think about how we started our country on freedom of speech and expression etc. and then realize that today all of this censorship nonsense is completely over riding our supposed ‘freedom’ that our fathers worked so hard to receive. In my opinion, the world is a better and more positive place because of art. It is an interesting and entertaining way to escape your everyday troubles and helps you relax and express who what you feel and see, and also who you are inside.
Works Cited
Hoffman, Barbara. "Censorship." Public Access Catalog, Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. .
Lloyd, Jill. Oxford Art Online. Grove Art Online. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .
Mintcheva, Svetlana. Letter to Shawn Nelson. 16 Feb. 2010. Http://www.ncac.org. NCAC, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2010.