The MUSEUM OF MODERN ARF has openly bashed Bush and ENRON since it opened in 2002. Some of you may remember that last fall, Kos mentioned a tour de force piece of sculpture the team saw when they were visiting Arlington, VA. Called "Bush League: The Past 4 Years," it is a relief sculpture in fine porcelain of Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and a visual narrative of the events leading up to and through the time of the election. Created by John Aaron, the Director of the Museum of Modern ARF, it also contains two "WMD" pieces by Roger Cutler. Measuring more than 13 feet wide, the piece is on permanent display in the window at 3107 Clarendon Blvd. four doors from the Clarendon Metro entrance in Arlington.
The museum sponsored two major political exhibitions called "Breaking the Silence: Questioning Power I and II" in the fall of 2003 and 2004 and has been dedicated to a visual forum that questions power since it opened. A work by Cutler called "Iraq War Memorial: ...and counting..." tries to keep pace with the US Fallen as a large blackboard with tic marks and the current number we have lost.
It is on the Hudson St. wall of the Museum near the entrance. The place has been a veritable lightning rod for controversy before and since the election.
Some not so open minded folks did the following last fall:
-A lady with Bush Cheney stickers all over her called the police on the "Breaking II" show, stating that it was "immoral, sadistic, demonic and highly unpatriotic." The cops found nothing wrong.
-A month later, the director was assaulted by a couple of young Republican hooligans when he insisted that they stop urinating on the building.
-Possibly the same belligerents then destroyed an outdoor art installation by Frank Fishburne of his notorious "Snakes," stealing one and breaking three others.
-The rooftop mysteriously caught fire on Christmas Day. No art was damaged; but the gallery was trashed; and this condition persisted when the landlord decided to re-roof the place and hired idiots to do it. Their poor work resulted in two major floods into the gallery, which closed it to the public for another five weeks. The landlord would do absolutely nothing about it. Thousands of dollars in sales were lost. Nothing of any of these events was mentioned in mainstream press.
The Museum has struggled through this, and remains vital with its classes, tours and award-winning Young Artist Chalk Painting; but is on the ropes since the landlord doubled the rent in early June. June has been Fundraising Month; and Modern ARF just passed 35% of its goal.
The museum wants Kos followers to know that next Friday, June 17, from 7-11pm, a special viewing and political dialog will take place at
1116 N. Hudson St. Arlington, VA 703-528-4800 Aaron@ModernARF.com
(corner of Wilson and Hudson next to the Clarendon Metro.) Modern ARF is located 3.5 miles from the White House and a mile from the Bush Cheney National HQ. If you folks around DC have wondered if there is a place that advocates change through art, music, and the word, the Museum of Modern ARF is a veritable "pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity" to appropriate "our leader's" phrase. Art is the true final frontier. Modern ARF is a voice.
The museum wants to do a third political exhibition this fall, but it needs your support. The past year's happenings and this month's schedule at
http://www.ModernARF.smugmug.com
a site that, incidentally, was set up for the Museum by Jerome to showcase the Bush League piece. Thanks, Jerome. It's been an awesome tool.
Help Modern ARF keep its place in the art world. Help keep the voices strong.
"You got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice..."
Bono, U2