Disappointing Patriotic Sex Paintings
Artist: Renny Molenaar
Year: 2018
Date of Action: April 2018
Region: North America
Location: Northern New Jersey
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Painting
Confronting Bodies: The Belskie Museum of Art & Science
Description of Artwork: Disappointing Patriotic Sex Paintings is a series of five paintings by Philadelphia-based artist Renny Molenaar. He was invited by guest curator Dora Espinoza at The Belskie Museum of Art & Science to partake in the exhibition, AMERICAN DREAM: The Latino Experience in America. Here, works by immigrants and first-generation American citizens part of the Latin American diaspora were displaced.
The museum approved the five paintings from Molenaar’s series, which feature paint over US flags. These were created in reponse to the current political climate and to shed light on the urgent plight of immigrants and deportees.
The Incident: Two days prior to the exhibit’s opening, the board removed Molenaar’s paintings from the exhibition as they incorporate actual US flags, which they stated is "contrary to The United States Flag Code".
NCAC wrote a letter to the members of the board, urging them to restore the paintings and issue a public apology to the artist. They highlighted that the US Flag Code was ruled unconstitutional in United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990), rendering their decision a "violation of free speech under the First Amendment". Therefore, incorporating US flags in an artwork is a form of speech that is fully protected under the US Constitution, including the desecration of the American flag.
Results of Incident: The Belskie Museum of Art & Science restored the five artworks by Renny Molenaar in the exhibition. NCAC thanked the museum’s Board of Directors for reversing their decision and offered its resource, Museum Best Practices for Managing Controversy. This includes strategies for preventing or defusing potentially volatile situations, and encourages museums to address sensitive issues of civic engagement.
Source:
NJ Museum Cites Unconstitutional Legal Principle in Ejecting Artist from Show/ UPDATE: Decision Reversed, NCAC, April 18, 2018.
Renny Molenaar, Dora Espinoza Fine Arts.
