Chris Savido (born Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

whose acrylic portrait of George W. Bush composed of

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

s created controversy when the managers of Chelsea Market closed down the "ANIMAL'S PARADISE"

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exh ...

there because of it. It was later

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

ed on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

. There was debate over whether the closing of the show constituted

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

. Supporters of the managers claimed that Chelsea Market was private, and thus management had a right to exclude the painting, while supporters of Savido " ookedinto the degree to which the Chelsea Market walkways are legally definable as '

public space A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads (including the pavement), public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open t ...

,' and, as such, fully protected by the First Amendment." Anonymous donors later paid for a digital billboard over the Holland Tunnel to show a detail of the painting.

References

Notes Sources
"Show highlights 'constant flow'" (on "Flux" group show, in which Savido participated)

External links

The Green Man: Art - Ethics - Culture - Science

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savido, Chris Living people 20th-century American painters Year of birth missing (living people) American male painters People from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania 20th-century American male artists

See also

References

External links