The exhibition, originally scheduled to open Sept. 8 at the city-owned Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, featured Fairey’s traveling showcase “Facing the Giant: Three Decades of Dissent” along with works by various street and activist artists. Arizona’s Douglas Miles and Thomas “Breeze” Marcus, as well as Brooklyn-based installationist and street artist Swoon, were also set to feature their work, including pieces a year in the making.
The exhibition was one of the Valley’s most-anticipated art events of the fall season. The museum touted it in promotional materials and on social media. Local art lovers were excited to attend.
But in late July, the city postponed the show after taking issue with "My Florist is a Dick." The 2015 serigraph by Fairey is one of 30 prints featured in “Facing the Giant" and depicts a sinister riot cop wielding a flower-tipped baton accompanied by the text, “When his day starts, your days end.”
"My Florist is a Dick" is inspired by police brutality Fairey experienced after being arrested for graffiti. On his website, the piece is described as “an ironic statement referring to the surprise we’d feel if the local florist was a ‘sadistic asshole,’ but that we should not be surprised that ‘cops are often dicks who abuse power.’”
The irony must’ve been lost on Mesa officials, who yanked the exhibition from the museum’s schedule.
‘Disparaging’ artwork
A statement released on Thursday, the city cited concerns over a piece in the exhibition as the reason behind the postponement.“There were also questions about the potential impact of text in one of the works that could be disparaging toward some City of Mesa employees,” the statement read. “Postponing the exhibit would allow Mesa to review its processes and evaluate the impact of the message associated with the display.”
Neither Fairey nor “My Florist is a Dick” were specifically mentioned, but unnamed city officials told ABC15 the piece was the source of the issue and caused the exhibition's postponement in order to avoid offending Mesa police officers.
The city’s statement also didn't specify which official made the decision to postpone the exhibit. Mesa Assistant Police Chief Ed Wessing told ABC15 the decision was made by City Manager Chris Brady.
Brady did not respond to an email from Phoenix New Times requesting comment.
The city's statement said that contracts for the show with participating artists were never finalized and the decision to postpone the show was justified.
“Postponing the exhibit would allow Mesa to review its processes and evaluate the impact of the message associated with the display. Our practice is to review the displays in all our public buildings, and as a tax-payer-funded facility, MCAM shouldn’t be the exception," according to the statement.
Participating artists such as Miles and Marcus were contacted after the decision was made to postpone the exhibition, the city said.
“We recognize the impact of the postponement. The City immediately emailed artists and followed up with telephone calls — when phone numbers were available — to personally inform them of the decision and minimize this inconvenience in any way possible,” the statement read.
The city stressed it still supported the arts.
“Art has a purpose in Mesa. As a government organization directly invested in art facilities and public programming, our priority and responsibility are to provide all patrons with enriching experiences in our art spaces – just as we do for all public facilities,” the statement read.
National pushback to Mesa exhibit postponement
Local artists and art patrons, as well as civil rights advocates, called the decision to postpone the show censorship.On Thursday, the ACLU of Arizona and the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Arts and Culture Advocacy Program sent a joint letter to the city of Mesa condemning the postponement of the exhibition and demanding it be rescheduled immediately.
Elizabeth Larison, director of the Arts and Culture Advocacy Program, said in a statement the city's decision set a dangerous precedent.
“By prohibiting the display of artwork that may critique government policies, actions, or agencies, the City of Mesa risks turning its Arts Center into a propaganda center rather than a forum for artist-driven expression and ideas,” Larison said. “We strongly encourage the City of Mesa to embrace free expression and allow the community to have an opportunity to view the exhibit.”
Mesa officials said the exhibition will be rescheduled, but did not announce a new opening date.
Marcus and other participating artists might not be interested in being involved, though. In a post to his Facebook account on Thursday, Marcus said the decision was about silencing voices.
"It’s not about [one] piece of art, [one] artist or a handful of artists ... it’s about combating and dismantling poor attempts to silence voices that are rooted in systemic racism, a false sense of absolute authority and white supremacy. When poor and disenfranchised youth of all backgrounds were writing their names on the subways in the 1970s, it was out of rebellion and the human spirit to be heard.”
