Art & Politics Don't Mix (Very Well)

The Smithsonian on the National Mall
in Washington, D.C.

I decided when I started art blogging that the content of the blog would be all about art (and painting and drawing, etc.) and not at all about any agenda. I have kept to that premise and will keep that ideal as the mission, so to speak, of the art blog.


That said, I will state that art and politics don’t mix very well, or at all, in my opinion.

I bring this up because of a recent news item in the American state of Maine, where the governor of that state ordered a mural removed from public state property because he didn’t think the subject of the mural provided a balanced view between business and labor. Is public art subject to different criteria?

On the other hand, when should an artist’s free expression include a political or social point of view? If it does, does it stop being art and take on a veil of something else?

Art, as we all know, is in the eye of the beholder. Unlike the distinction in literature between fiction and non-fiction, there is no distinction of which I'm aware between 'expressive art' and art ‘with a viewpoint,’ for lack of better terms.

Alas, I suppose I’m living in a fantasy world or at least a fantasy art world, but I maintain that art and politics don’t mix (very well). On that note, I'll stick to my art blogging.

Happy Painting!