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Read more about: Fianna Fail, Satire 
So the blogosphere is a blaze with the whole picturegate thing. But lets look at this beyond the hysterical Stalin reference and the governments reaction. Was this picture Satire and if it was what was point the artist was making?
Or was it just a cheap shot at Cowen’s not so Adonis looks.
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The trouble with art, as in a painting, or any sort of art in the broader sense, is that once it is finished and released into the public, it is no longer the artists work; by ‘putting’ it in a gallery he is submitting the paintings to the public and their views.
So the artist can be asked as to what his initial intentions were, the reality is that they don’t matter, these paintings have taken on a life of their own.
I can offer my opinion that the paintings are simply a vulgar portrayal of a public figure and another person can see references to his term as leader in him holding a toilet roll. I dont think there can be a conclusive answer.
good question about the cheap shot.
To my mind art is as much determined by the context as it the artists’s vision.
Whether intially a cheap shot or not there may be a collective reading of it as satire given the level of popularity with the govt. and also the general impression that brian Clowen really is a BIFFO.
Sometimes something tawdry has greatness imposed on it.
that being said i dont find it tawdry I think its wonderfully creative and is riding the back of the zeitgeist
The pictures are not satire in the true sense of the word. They are a nasty, vulgar cheap shot against Cowen’s lardy physique.
They are no more satire than Ian Paisley slagging off Brian Cowen’s big lips a few years back.
The Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes, and we’ve just seen again that the media is too cowardly or put upon to admit it. It’s not only clearly satire, it’s a reference with a pedigree.
Having a half-arsed knowledge of art, the paintings strike me as Francis Bacon-inspired. Perhaps the Garda are pursuing that line of inquiry.
Katherine
Maybe I’m misinterpreting you but you seem to be suggesting that the media is “too cowardly or put upon” to admit that the emperor aint wearing any cloths i.e. the media are giving Cowen an easy ride the past few months?
If I’m not misinterpreting you then you clearly haven’t picked up a newspaper of note for the past 6 months because Cowen and his governments performance have (correctly) been lambasted on a near daily basis by the “put upon” media almost without exception.
To suggest otherwise is lunacy.
Tuathal,
I’m specifically referring to RTE’s apology and removal of the clip from their website. Either RTE bowed to pressure (put upon), or they tried to cover themselves after receiving a few complaints (cowardly). As I’m not an employee there, I can’t say which.
Looking back at my comment, it was unclear. Thanks for calling me on it.
I think it’s a personal attack, and that’s what cheapens it.
Maybe it does ride the back of the zeitgeist – just as the ‘artist’ lacks a sense of responsibility to a higher and more noble ideal, the public accept little or no responsibility for us being in the state we’re currently in. It’s all BIFFO’s fault.
We must be the most contrary nation on this planet.
Contrary to be sure and impossible to analyse!
The whole picturegate thing seems to have moved beyond ‘Biffo’, and the story has become the blogosphere response itself – something that would’nt have been possible in the past.
Hard to know what the powers that be in FF are making of it, out of their control so you can imagine the mumblings that must be going on.
It’ll probably end up contributing towards job creation, can you see the job ad…
BLOG CONSULTANT REQUIRED FOR IRISH POLITICAL PARTY, A FLESH AND BONES KNOWLEDGE OF THE BLOGOSPHERE REQUIRED. FAT BONUS!
I assumed that the paintings were supposed to be riffing off the TENC. It’s not high-art, but I really don’t care. It’s RTE and the government’s bully boy tactics that need to be addressed.
Thanks for the clarification Katherine