The article I read discusses artist Karen Finley, a member of the N.E.A. Four, named after she and three other artists sued the National Endowment for the Arts (N.E.A) in 1990 for rescinding their fellowships. The majority of her involvement came from a performance piece criticizing the way society treats women where Finley covers herself in chocolate frosting, red candies, and alfalfa sprouts. Throughout the eight-year-long legal battle, her work was called "pornographic" and "obscene" by Republican representatives and said to be nothing more than "a nude, chocolate-smeared woman."
Well, she went on to win the lawsuit in an 8-1 Supreme Court decision, changing her career and U.S. public arts funding forever. This woman is such a badass that, now on the 25th anniversary of the decision she has once again displayed her "obscene" and "pornographic" artworks and was sketching alongside others to teach them the importance of the body as a teaching tool.
Finley has throughout her career advocated for the autonomy of her own body, something many of us in the U.S. can relate to. As artists, we are able to use imagery to express what words often cannot, but then are meant to defend our art with words. I believe that art shouldn't be something to censor, and it shouldn't be something that must be defended. Finley had to defend her work her entire life and continued to do so until she saw the changes she knew were necessary. It definitely makes me grateful to be living where we do in a place where we can express ourselves freely—for the most part.
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