ABU-GHRAIB: NEVER FORGOTTEN

Fernando Botero Immortalizes What Is Not Discussed

I had the wonderful opportunity to see one of Latin America’s most gifted painters at UC Berkeley. The Center for Latin American Studies organized for the poet Robert Haas to interview Mr. Botero in front of an audience. An eager and excited audience, I must add. I had some girlfriends that drove up from Fresno early for the event. Since they were holding onto two tickets for a friend and I, we ran across several hundred people waiting outside. After the chat, Botero opened the exposition of his new collection of Abu-Ghraib paintings at Doe Library in UC Berkeley.

Young And Wild And Inspired…
Fernando Botero was born in Medellin, Colombia in 1932. Like many young men and women who discover a passion, they follow where their inspiration leads them. Through his journey in doing what he loved to then acquiring world recognition, he has never forgotten he is human, but with a particular talent. He expressed how honored he feels that replicas of his paintings are found in the homes of working people in Colombia and is proud that he is a symbol of pride for his people.

As a teenager, he was inspired by the Mexican Muralist Movement like Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orosco, that led him to travel to Mexico. Botero said what moved him is that traditionally painters catered to wealthy and the church. The Mexican Movement rebelled against the traditional and used the working man as their subject. They also represented a sense of national pride for their culture and their history.

Why This?
“Why choose this as a subject”, asked Robert Hass. Botero answered, “Yes, many people have asked me this.” Botero went on to explain that he has received a lot of criticism from the press and others for choosing the tortures at Abu Ghraib as his subject. He said that when the pictures were released, they consumed him and immediately began sketching, and then painting non-stop for 14 months. What moved him was that the pictures depicted brutal acts by a military occupying a country that claimed to be fighting for “freedom and democracy”. It is not the first time that he has chosen a political issue as a subject. What makes it political is that it is controversial, because from an artists' point of view it is just being conscious of their surroundings.

In the 1960s he did a series depicting the brutal dictatorships that began to sweep Latin America. In the 1980s he did a collection about the civil war in homeland, Colombia. He donated his paintings that are of an estimated value of $2.2 million dollars to the National Colombian Museum. Botero explained why he donated these paintings by saying, “I hope when the youth of Colombia walk through and see these paintings, they realize how ridiculous is the brutality taking place. Or better yet, that they are amazed that this took place in our country.”

Is This A Free Country Or Censored One?
When Botero finalized his collection close to two years ago, he began looking for public and private galleries to display them. While he had no problem in many countries, he was rejected by multiple institutions across the United States. A small private gallery in New York City had them there for a month. UC Berkeley is the first institution that will have the Abu-Ghraib paintings up that coincided with a talk with the artist and university program connected with it.

It is interesting that no major gallery in New York City grabbed the opportunity to display the latest work of one of the greatest living artists. Whether controversial or not--is it not his artistic freedom and the viewers freedom to make that choice. A few years ago, a debate took place in New York City when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attempted to censor the work of an artist at the Brooklyn Museum. The Museum put up a fight and New York City went up in a roar defending the First Amendment.

So guess criticizing various Gods and religious ideas is okay, but you cannot criticize the acts of the great U.S. of A.

I salute Botero and every artist, whether a singer, painter or street performer who uses their work to give a message.