“Speaking as a politician, I can promise you this: Political
leaders will not take risks if the people do not demand that they do. You must
create the change that you want to see.”
Barack Obama
Speech in Israel
March 2013
Como artista me cuestiono
¿Por qué los artistas izquierdosos
se identifican, se posicionan, montan su tinglado y después le salen al paso a
los artistas conservadores y los atacan, ridiculizan y cuestionan sus
habilidades e inteligencia?
Estoy segura que no soy la única que se hace la misma
pregunta. Lo peor de todo es que son muy pocos los artistas que se identifican
como estadistas, conservadores, penepés o republicanos porque sus carreras se
afectan.
¿Es esto justo? NO
Yo personalmente lucho contra esto y esa es una de las
razones de este blog. Me estrellé en esa pared, pero esto no me va a callar y
voy a seguir hablando de política porque jamás aceptaré que la izquierda
socialista se apodere de la defensa del arte y la cultura.
Ni René Pérez, Andy Montañéz, El Topo, Andrés Jiménez, Dany
Rivera, Lucesita, Chucho, Roy Brown, Tito Auger, Martorell, Pablo Marcano
García, Denis Mario u otro es más patriota que yo o más defensor de mi cultura
que yo. Ni el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña me va a dictar pautas de que
decir, que hacer o que obra construir.
Puerto Rico es un reflejo de la metrópoli, el arte es un
medio de comunicación social y la izquierda lo ha utilizado para hacer su
propaganda pero, que cosa, censura a los conservadores, estadistas o
republicanos que quieran plasmar en su obra sus mensajes y ¿por qué no?
propaganda con la excusa de que el arte y la política no mezclan. Son muy pocos
los que han triunfado bajo este asecho.
Y con esta excusa han marginado a los artistas de derecha y les han
coartado su derecho a la libre expresión, que es nada más y nada menos lo más
sagrado en una democracia y que está plasmado en la primera enmienda de la
Constitución de los Estados Unidos de América, que nos cobija por ser
ciudadanos americanos.
El Congreso no hará ley alguna con respecto a la adopción de una religión o prohibiendo el libre ejercicio de dichas actividades; o que coarte la libertad de expresión o de la prensa, o el derecho del pueblo para reunirse pacíficamente, y para solicitar al gobierno la reparación de agravios.
En estos días mi héroe es Olga Tañón, aunque se manifestó
a favor de la estadidad para Puerto Rico, lo hizo porque vive allá, vota allá y
de cierta manera no le afecta pero aún así, ¡bravo por ella!, tuvo la valentía que no han
tenido muchos que con su silencio otorgan.
Ese no es el espíritu americano, pero quien lea esto no se
sienta mal, en Estados Unidos pasa lo mismo, y existe un movimiento conservador
de artistas que quieren romper esta atrocidad en una nación que se dice ser
libre y recién lo acabo de descubrir.
Artist Frances Byrd, who made this poster, is looking for others join her in adding
a conservative voice to our culture.
For more, please read her article in Breitbart: http://bit.ly/12F1eBy
Reproduzco este escrito de una artista conservadora que ha
tenido la valentía de convocar a sus pares para que defiendan su derecho a
expresarse políticamente a través de su obra. Su opinión es mi opinión y no voy
a perder la oportunidad de compartir mis inquietudes como artista y defensora
del arte y la cultura en Puerto Rico.
HOW CONSERVATIVE ARTISTS CAN USE NEW MEDIA, WORK AROUND
LIBERAL CRITICS
by FRANCES BYRD
28 Apr 2013
I still get confused looks and criticism for labeling myself
as a conservative political artist a decade after making the decision to
combine my passion for politics with my art.
Most people can't conceive of such a thing because they have
always believed conservatives aren't particularly creative. Others think having
a message ruins the work. I am here to explain why we should be both seeking
out and supporting conservative artists.
Like many creative conservatives I know, I spent several
years struggling alone to make my way in the liberal-dominated art community. I
tried to figure out what people wanted to buy from an artist. I spent hours
walking through galleries to see what was selling. However, I am not the least
bit interested in painting still-lifes or landscapes. Photo realism and
portraiture don't interest me much beyond their technical aspects. I can't
stand most abstract or modern art.
I realized, one day, that the two things I was most
passionate about were art and politics. It seemed logical to combine the two.
After all, liberals have been producing propaganda for years, to great success.
It was the best decision I ever made. I went from struggling to find something
to paint, to having more ideas than I could express through my art. I started
to find myself as an artist and my work improved dramatically.
John Voight, actor de Hollywood también tuvo la valentía de
presentarse en televisión para decir su opinión sobre el Obama Healthcare. Esto
no lo hacen muchos artistas puertorriqueños por miedo a que su carrera se afecte.
It takes a while, however, to break away from the way things
have always been done. Once I had a body of work, I started approaching
galleries. For those of you who are not artists, this is a very tedious and
frustrating undertaking. Needless to say, most galleries get so many
submissions, they often don't respond at all. When they do respond, it is
understandably with a form letter for rejections. However, I started to get
more personal responses that revealed an underlying theme.
"Your work is good and we appreciate the technical
ability it displays....” “While we strive to represent artists of many styles
and social perspectives, we feel that we are unable to represent your point of
view." I am not embellishing, and I think you get the point.
I find it absurd that a curator would feel justified in
telling someone that their point of view invalidates the quality of their work;
particularly when the art community shouts for all to hear, that they support
free speech and diversity. Apparently that is not the case when it comes to
ideas they oppose or claim to find offensive.
I quickly gave up on the galleries and focused on less
traditional methods. I set up a web page and started blogging. I started
reaching out to individuals and approaching underground venues. I had no great
success with this either, but a couple of shows came my way. Each little step
seems to lead to another and build exposure exponentially.
Even when I have been in shows where I was invited as the
token conservative, and my peers were hostile to my message, I have found the
opportunity to engage the viewers in a discussion of how we can begin to
understand one another's points of view. One of the driving forces behind my
work is to foster discussion and to educate the viewer.
Surprising, though maybe it shouldn't be, has been the way I
have been treated by intellectuals in response to my work. This experience
requires a separate article to fully explain, but the basic idea is quite
simple. I have been told that there is no place for my work because I am
ignorant. The point has been expressed to me on more than one occasion that I
would believe differently if I were more educated. Given the amount of research
I put into my work, this claim is absurd at best. More importantly, it
illustrates to me the importance for what I am doing. No one's voice should be
shut out and no one should be made to feel inferior because they take a stand
for what they believe. No one.
It is well past time for a conservative voice in the arts.
If you are an artist, I hope you will join me in creating work that expresses
your beliefs and your patriotism. If you are not an artist, I hope you will
find ways to support a growing conservative art community. Let us inspire the
people of America to take pride in our nation and defend the ideas that make it
great. Let us illustrate, through our work, a positive message that will
encourage others to understand who we are. Let us take back the culture.
En venezuela los artistas tuvieron que salir a la calle,
organizarse y manifestarse porque no tienen trabajo bajo el gobierno
chavista...
Los artistas de la izquierda se manifiestan bajo un estado de derecho que les otorga la Constitución para defender su derecho a la libre expresión y defender su ideología y se lo permitimos porque respetamos sus derechos.
¿Qué pasa que ellos no respetan los nuestros?
Si queremos que Puerto Rico sea el
Estado 51 de los Estados
Unidos de América
tenemos que tener la valentía de defender nuestras posturas
con acciones concretas. Desde el anonimato no se puede, desde la zona de
comfort no se puede. Si Ricky Martin se salió de todos los closets yo creo que
ya es hora de que todos se identifiquen sin vergüenza porque los ideales se
defienden de frente y sin miedo, sólo así luchamos por nuestros derechos.
¿Vamos a dejarle el camino libre a Calle 13 y a su
revolución junto con el morón de AGaPito?
El que tenga miedo, que se compre un perro.
Such is Life!