• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Hugh Fitzgerald: Art Under — And Out From Under — Islam (Part I)

Apr 25, 2017 6:29 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

This past February, Art News published an article about an exhibit at MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) that it described as an “Elegant Riposte to Trump’s Travel Order.” Here’s that “Elegant Riposte”:

Less than a week after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States, the Museum of Modern Art in New York has responded by installing works by artists from those countries, including the late Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid, the Sudanese master Ibrahim El-Salahi, and the young Iranian painter Tala Madani, in the galleries devoted to its permanent collection.

Alongside each work is a placard that reads:

This work is by an artist from a nation whose citizens are being denied entry into the United States, according to a presidential executive order issued on January 27, 2017. This is one of several such artworks from the Museum’s collection installed throughout the fifth-floor galleries to affirm the ideals of welcome and freedom as vital to this Museum, as they are to the United States.

The additions so far are almost uniformly impressive and well-considered, broadening the geographical and cultural scope, as well as the political implications, of MoMA’s collection galleries.

In the gallery devoted to Matisse, the curators have installed a remarkable work from 1962 by the Iranian Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, who is 80 this year. It is a deliriously patterned geometric drawing of Zenderoudi and his father, more than seven feet tall and made with felt-tip pen and ink on paper, and it plays beautifully with the Matisse’s glorious color, emphasizing the vital role that art and textiles from the Middle East and surrounding areas played in the Frenchman’s work. (Just a few steps away is Matisse’s 1915–16 masterpiece The Moroccans, which shows a man in a turban looking out at a white-domed mosque.)

Like Tate Modern and a handful of other major Western institutions, MoMA has been making efforts in recent years to broaden its reach beyond the European and American canon, expanding its holdings of art from the Middle East and elsewhere, but it is notable that many of the works installed here have long been in the museum’s collection. They just have not regularly been on view. The Zenderoudi was acquired the year it was made, and a potent little abstraction by the great El-Salahi, The Mosque (1964) was purchased the year after it was made, and has now found a home in the museum’s Picasso gallery, across the way from his Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), a work heavily influenced by African art. Let us hope that some of these new inclusions stick, even after the order and the president who signed it are long gone.

The African art that influenced Picasso in his Demoiselles d’Avignon were sub-Saharan masks having nothing to do with Islam; placing El-Salahi’s The Mosque in the Picasso gallery implies a connection between Picasso and Islamic art that does not exist.

The story of modernism in the West is, of course, a story of global travel, of intercontinental influence, and of colonialism with artists in the United States and Europe looking to other countries and cultures for inspiration.

Why does “colonialism” come up here? Because we must be reminded of the West’s wickedness on every possible occasion, and what is an article in Art News on MoMA’s “riposte” to Trump if not such an occasion? Yet just how important for Western artists was this contact with the “colonized” lands and peoples? Matisse is always adduced, for those bright North African colors and fabrics and artifacts that he painted, and Picasso for his African-mask period (1907-1910), but how many other important Western artists of the 20th century were similarly influenced in their art, and especially, how much did the art of the “colonized” Muslims influence Western art? Out of the many thousands of Western artists, how many, or how few, found such inspiration in those “colonized” lands?

It is also a story of forced displacement, wars forcing artists to become refugees and seek safety abroad. Tala Madani’s 2007 video Chit Chat—a work finely attuned to current developments, showing a variety of old men conspiring and then spewing bile—sits in a room with a Marc Chagall, who fled Occupied France in 1941 and came to the United States along with so many other vanguard artists of the time.

The implication is that Muslim artists wanting to come to America from Muslim countries are “fleeing for their lives” from persecution. They are not. Those who want to come to America want to leave their unpleasant countries, mainly to further their careers. They are economic refugees, or the children of such refugees. They should not be likened to Jewish artists who had to flee for their lives from the Nazis. But MoMA wants you to think of Tala Madani in connection with Chagall, a Jewish refugee who had to flee the Nazis, and to think of other Muslim immigrants, too, supposedly so cruelly denied entry by Trump, we are asked to believe, simply for being Muslims. But Tala Madani, born in Iran, and raised from childhood in the U.S., is not one of those whom “wars forced…to become refugees” – her parents simply sought better lives in the U.S. Finally, Madani has not herself been affected by the latest ban. She continues to live in L.A., doing quite handsomely. She’s exactly the kind of “artist” now in great favor; the description of her latest solo show at an L.A. gallery conveys something of her inimitable style, for it offers “a new body of paintings by Tala Madani and her fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. Inside Shitty Disco a penis projects a cave-painting. Other figures project mise-en-scenes from their assholes.” Clearly an artist not to be missed.

One room over, where a major Picabia has long been displayed, a large photograph of what appear to be billiard balls by the Iranian-born German photographer Shirana Shahbazi hangs not far from Marcel Duchamp’s To Be Looked at (from the Other Side of the Glass) with One Eye, Close to, for Almost an Hour, which Duchamp made in 1918 in Buenos Aires, where he lived after first heading to the United States to get away from the Great War.

The photograph by the Iranian is lent a borrowed sheen by being in the same room as this work by Duchamp.

There will be those who will say that a move like this is just a gesture, that it offers no concrete help to the more than 100,000 people whose visas have been revoked as a result of this racist executive order. In a sense, they are right. Only a fundamental political reversal can begin to repair the damage that has been done. But until that shift happens—and it will—every institution with a belief in the free sharing of ideas, in combating Islamophobia, and in ensuring the safety of victims of war has an obligation to support those causes in the ways that they can. That is what the museum is doing right now.

What ARTNEWS calls a “racist executive order” had nothing to do with “race.” (It is maddening that this idiotic charge has to be continuously rebutted, but so be it. Once again, for the nth irrefutable time: Islam is not a race.) The order had to do with security, and what many – though not, of course, writers for Art News – believe is a perfectly reasonable precaution to take: that is, to temporarily ban people from a handful of countries where terrorist groups — Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Al-Shebab, Hezbollah — are known to be operating right now, until such time as the American government has a better sense of how to conduct that ballyhooed “extreme vetting.”

And why does MoMA think its mission ought to be “to support those causes [as preventing the American government from adopting those security measures it deems prudent, and that some might even deem insufficient] in the way they can,” by turning its galleries into AgitProp centers? And why should MoMA be in the business of “combating Islamophobia” – a tendentious term used to bully and silence sober critics of Islam, by depicting them as know-nothings, suffering from an irrational “hatred” of Islam, when their real sin is that they know too much about Islam not to be alarmed?

Acting quickly and wisely, MoMA has managed a feat that is far too rare in the museum world: it has made its collection a living, breathing thing, responsive to current events, and ready to educate and challenge visitors. Artworks have unique powers—the ability to transmit complex ideas instantaneously, to highlight unseen histories, and to question the status quo. MoMA is letting those powers get to work.

The air at MoMA and Art News is thick with self-righteousness and self-congratulation. Apparently for a museum’s collection to be “a living, breathing thing,” it must reflect the latest headlines (“responsive to current events”), a strange insistence, given that so much of the greatest Western art treated subjects and themes that were beyond, had little to do with, the political, the quotidian, the passing parade. From Giotto to Leonardo, Michelangelo, Piero della Francesca, Rembrandt, Titian, Vermeer, Chardin, Velazquez, Vermeer, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Derain, Picasso, Munch, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Balthus, Morandi, and so many others, one would have a hard time – save in a handful of cases, such as Goya’s “Los Desastres de la Guerra” and “Picasso’s “Guernica” — finding painters “responsive to current events,” that is, reflecting in their art the immediate political concerns of the day.

MoMA has decided its task is no longer that of displaying art for art’s sake – apparently that’s not enough any more for any self-respecting art museum — but to take political sides, and to deplore what Art News calls the “racist executive order” of President Trump. That “racist order” affects Muslims and non-Muslims alike, but only from seven countries, six of which are known to harbor fighters from the Islamic State, or Al-Qaeda, or Al-Shebab, that is Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia, and one, Iran, known to support Hezbollah terrorists and repeatedly demonstrate that it regards the U.S. as its longstanding and permanent enemy. Far from trying to ban all Muslims, Trump’s executive order affects only 12% of the world’s Muslims, and the ban itself lasts only for 90 days. This is nothing like the complete ban on Muslim migrants that Trump the candidate suggested until “we can figure what the hell is going on.” And given the potential threats to national security, does this watered-down version seem outrageous?

This is not to deny that the subject of “Art Under Islam” deserves attention. It does, but not the kind of attention MoMA and ArtNews are giving it by tying it into a protest over Trump’s ban. What deserves to be covered – what Islam has meant for the world’s art, and what Islam has meant for the individual Muslim artist — will be dealt with in the second and third installments of this piece.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Featured, Hugh Fitzgerald, immigration, Useful idiots Tagged With: Museum of Modern Art


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. old white guy says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 6:52 am

    no more muslims.

    • mortimer says

      Apr 25, 2017 at 9:15 am

      In fact, no non-Muslim ethnic group is interest in having more Muslim immigration. Many people with roots in or near the Muslim world understand the deadly life-and-death struggles their countries have endured because of jihad and discriminatory Sharia law.

      Dhimmitude is a tragedy that the art gallery is trying to introduce to the US. They are preposterously and obtusely PRESUMPTUOUS, not having studied the Islamic source texts or jihad manuals that teach the normative DHIMMITUDE DOCTRINE, the KAFIR DOCTRINE, the MISOGYNY DOCTRINE, the TAQIYYA DOCTRINE, the SUPREMACIST DOCTRINE and other basic doctrines that make Islam a threat to ALL CULTURES and ART FORMS!

      Do the art gallery directors not realize that Islam is an EXTINGUISHER OF ALL NON-ISLAMIC CULTURES.

      ISLAM IS NOT A BEACON OF LIGHT FOR ARTISTS!

      • Gordon Miller says

        Apr 26, 2017 at 10:13 am

        Looks like the MOMA has caught the “Islam Virus,” which has become a major epidemic in the western world.

  2. Kilfincelt says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 7:14 am

    While colonialism wasn’t always a good thing, it did end some pretty barbaric practices in the various occupied territories such as slavery.

    • mortimer says

      Apr 25, 2017 at 9:17 am

      The Islamic slave trade was suppressed by the European powers, not by Muslim countries acting voluntarily.

      • Kilfincelt says

        Apr 25, 2017 at 1:09 pm

        Agreed! Sorry that I was clear.

        • gravenimage says

          Apr 27, 2017 at 11:34 pm

          I got your point, Kilfincelt.

  3. Benedict says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 7:22 am

    Why doesn’t MoMA arrange for the exhibition to take place in the countries where the artists come from? That might help change the atmosphere and the conditions the artists wanted to flee from in the first place?

    • mortimer says

      Apr 25, 2017 at 9:18 am

      Yes, they should try to arrange art exhibits in the COUNTRIES ON THE BAN LIST!!!

      That would indeed show the restrictions of Sharia law and perhaps open their eyes.

      • tom parry says

        Apr 25, 2017 at 4:21 pm

        The whole board and all directors should attend = It would be sad if they were blown up- but maybe that would be a nice art video.

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 27, 2017 at 11:36 pm

      Good point, Benedict.

  4. JawsV says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 8:30 am

    The art world is filled with arrogant and pompous leftists. They can’t even admit that Victorian British artist Walter Sickert is Jack the Ripper though the evidence is immense.

    Excellent expose on MOMA. They are so dumb. Picasso’s African masks have nothing to do with Islam. Matisse has nothing to do with Islam. Idiots!

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 27, 2017 at 11:44 pm

      Jaws, you believe Walter Sickert must have been Jack the Ripper because he did a painting of a room he thought the Ripper may have stayed in nineteen years after the final killing? I have to say, that is *not* a lot of evidence.

      During the period the Ripper was active Sickert spent most of his time in France.

      This wasn’t even brought up until it appeared in a potboiler in the 1990s.

  5. mortimer says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 9:20 am

    DON’T THEY REALIZE ALL THE ART THAT MUSLIMS HAVE DESTROYED.

    Upon conquering Mecca, Mohammed’s next act was to destroy and smash WORKS OF ART.

    • mousey says

      Apr 25, 2017 at 10:55 am

      yes, if they want to be up on the times they should include recent photos of muslims attacking archaeological sites with bulldozers and explosives, and art in museums with pickaxes and sledgehammers. And don’t forget their destroying all art that is representative of any human or animal…Let the muslims loose in moma and see what the curators think then.

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 27, 2017 at 11:47 pm

      So true.

  6. jewdog says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 10:28 am

    My favorite Muslim (actually ex-Muslim) artist is Bosch Fawstin. Now there’s an artist who is responsive to current events.
    I just hope MOMA does not receive any public subsidies.

    • gravenimage says

      Apr 27, 2017 at 11:53 pm

      Yes–he is great, Jewdog. He is a brave Anti-Jihadist. Here’s his site:

      https://fawstin.blogspot.com/

      • mousey says

        Apr 28, 2017 at 12:23 am

        brave.

        If i were to do as he does i’d use a false name and etc… I like listening to Jordan peterson and he says you should own up to what you believe and use your real name and, as fawstin says “speak out no matter what.” I’m not sure i agree.

        thanks for the link

  7. underbed cat says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 11:01 am

    hey artists I have an idea….a piece of artwork titled “racist executive order” then underneath post sharia law…in all it’s brutal unpeaceful laws in beautiful caligraphy.etc t then have the signature of the orginal artist who demanded the law…who ever that is hint….hint, where they might expect Trumps’ name it would certainly make a point……and get across,ie understand, why there is a “Racist executive order” that might save their life that is not racist at all.

    Think I will go hide now.

  8. Gray says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 5:34 pm

    To my no doubt Philistine mind, the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition proceeds on a faulty premise. It appears to be implicit in the gallery curator’s thinking, that these works of art were in some way inspired by Islam. It is uncritically assumed that Islamic ‘culture’ is a nurturing environment for the Arts. Seems to me that nothing could be further from the Truth. There is no room for the individual in Islam. Group-think rules, and only that which facilitates the spread of the Ummah can be tolerated. Works of Art are routinely seen as idolatry, something to be destroyed. ‘If it endorses what Islam says, it is superfluous, and should be destroyed: if it contradicts Islam, it is heretical, and should be destroyed’ – that sort of Neanderthal thinking. If all these (alleged) works of art were indeed produced in a Muslim country, they were produced in spite of Islam, not because of it. The Museum of Modern Art should acknowledge this.

  9. Adrian says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    The really sick part is that MoMA is using our tax dollars to use this “artist” Tala Madani and her perverted scrapings on the canvas to stir up political propaganda against our President!

    Just google her name under IMAGES to see her “elegant” art…

  10. Arthur says

    Apr 25, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    MoMA should sponsor “Sharia-compliant Art Month,” perhaps even touting it as an opportunity for Muslims to tour the museum without risk of being offended by non-permitted images. Of course, they should go through the museum and cover up all art of portraits or animals or objects (as these could be perceived as idolatry). It would be interesting to get youtube videos of public reaction on paying for tickets to see half the collection.

    What might be just as interesting would be the video of the selected imam’s walking through the museum adjudicating what is or is not Sharia-compliant. I can imagine the discussion would go something like,
    MoMA: “This is a sculpture of a goat by the great Pablo Picasso.”
    Imams: “The last time I was with a goat was…. Not compliant!”
    MoMA: “This is a portrait of a man on a motorbike.”
    Imams: “No. No images of people or animals.”
    MoMA: “This is a pile of twisted scrap metal.”
    Imams: “Looks like an idol to me–no!”
    MoMA: “This is a photo of concrete culverts.”
    Imams: “No, we don’t want to promote worship of concrete culverts either.”
    MoMA: “This is a mixture of colors, but if you look carefully you can see a face.”
    Imams: “No, no faces.”
    MoMA: “This is colored squares arranged in different directions.”
    Imams: “Yes, this is wonderful. Can I get a print?”
    MoMA: “This is a painting by Jackson Pollock. We have many of these famous paintings.”
    Imams: “Yes, this is acceptable. I think my son made one of these when he was 3.”
    MoMA: “This is an open frame with a blank center where the picture would normally be. I think it is brilliant.”
    Imams: “How much did you pay for this? I can sell you more of them. How many do you want? Yes, acceptable. Please, buy some from me to add to your exhibit.”
    MoMA: “Finally, we want to honor Islam by posting this great painting of the final Prophet Mohammed.”
    Imams: “Blasphemy! Ali, you hold the hands. Ahmed, you grab the ankles. I will free this infidel from his miserable existence.”

    • Hugh Fitzgerald says

      Apr 25, 2017 at 8:05 pm

      I was — will be — getting to that.

  11. s says

    Apr 26, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    Democrats have left in ruins so many other museums that used to be wonderful and put upon them their stamp of hate and envy and evil and anti white anti american anti all that is good… I will never again support any museum or other venue that does not treat all people equally including the ones who disagree with their anti Christ worldview!

  12. PAT says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    IS THIS ARTICLE MEANT TO SUGGEST THAT BECAUSE ARTISTS FROM THE 7 TERRORISTS COUNTRIES ARE THE REASON WE SHOULD ALL BOW DOWN TO ISLAM AND ACCEPT SHARIAH? IT’S AN EVIL CULT AND ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS ISLAM IS EVIL AND AS AN AMERICAN I’M GLAD THEIR HOLY BOOKS TELLS MUSLIMS NOT TO BEFRIEND INFIDELS BECAUSE I DON’T NEED FRIENDS LIKE THEM.

  13. PAT says

    Apr 28, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    SHOULD WE ALL BOW DOWN TO ISLAM AND ACCEPT SHARIAH NOW THAT WE KNOW THERE ARE ARTISTS IN THE 7 TERRORISTS COUNTRIES? IT’S AN EVIL CULT AND ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS ISLAM IS EVIL AND AS AN AMERICAN I’M GLAD THEIR HOLY BOOKS TELLS MUSLIMS NOT TO BEFRIEND INFIDELS BECAUSE I DON’T NEED FRIENDS LIKE THEM.

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Crusades Were Right on Canadian Mental Health Association studies Muslim women’s mental health due to ‘discrimination’ and ‘hate crimes’
  • Crusades Were Right on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • curious george on Israel At A Crossroads?
  • Crusades Were Right on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • William Garrison on The Fantasy Islam of Rice University’s Craig Considine (Part 3)

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.