EDITOR’S LETTER
“The more controversial it is, the more necessary it is, and the more it means for people to see it.”
-Jess Dugan
I’d say this issue is about “seeing it.”
When considering the topics to cover in our “Controversy” issue, a colleague posed the question, “What
can be controversial in the world today?” Imagine, he suggested Charles Manson.
When Caitlyn Jenner is on the cover of Vanity Fair, one could say “we’ve come a long way baby,” even so, the
question made me think. So what is controversial today? Income inequality, drone warfare, police brutality, racism, gender discrimination, child abuse, sex trafficking, the Israel-Palestine question, these are among the most
important polemics of our day, the subjects that inspire debate, that people try to avoid. There is a need to think,
to talk, and to act. Art is powerful. Art can change the world. It brings awareness, opens discourse, moves people
to action. Musee no. 12 gives us a chance to address these difficult issues, and not turn a blind eye.
“Controversy has different meanings in different contexts. One person’s controversy is another person’s
melatonin,” says Barbara Kruger in her interview. This begs us to ask the question: what is the responsibility of the artist in the world today? Each artist in this issue has a commitment to a standard of excellence
other than public applause and improves the viewer’s awareness of the times he or she is living through.
Erik Ravelo’s series, “Los Intocables” or “The Untouchables,” addresses child abuse, poignantly illustrated as
a form of crucifixion. Meanwhile, on the lighter side, “Mormon Missionary Positions” by Neil DaCosta takes
a satirical look at the Church of Latter-day Saints’ “position” on gay marriage. Jess Duga n captures beautiful
and dignified portraits of the transgender community while addressing the need for representation, which,
she tells me in her interview, can be a matter of life and death for young LGBT people. Tomas Van Houtryve’s
“Blue Sky Days,” winner of this year’s ICP Infinity Award for Photojournalism, looks at America from a
drone’s eye view. The images are striking, and raise important questions about the effectiveness of America’s
drone program overseas. “The Restraints: Open and Hidden,”Gordon Parks’ influential 1956 photo essay,
puts a human face on the experience of segregation and forced a nation to confront it’s racism.
Innovative and extreme: Robert Mapplethorpe is this issue’s Master Photographer. His photographs of
the BDSM subculture of 1970s New York are as dangerous and mysterious today as they were when they
scandalized the art community during his lifetime. Our deep gratitude to the Mapplethorpe Foundation
for their generous contribution of the artist’s work.
The fierce and controversial Marilyn Minter returns to Musée as our guest editor, and shares her selection
of works by artists Sandy Kim and Hank Willis Thomas. While Industry Insiders Catherine Morris, curator of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, describes the influence of
feminism on contemporary art, and Fred Ritchin, Dean of the International Center of Photography, talks
about the future of photography in the digital age.
Musee introduces a new feature about filmmakers. In the first part, we talk to cinematographer Edward
Lachman (Far From Heaven, Erin Brockovich, Carol) about his photographic work. We also get up close and
personal with journalist Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, War, and director of Restrepo, who
discusses his wartime experiences in Afghanistan.
There’s much left to address. The controversies that face the world are many and our space is limited.
While not able to cover everything we would have liked to, it’s a start.
Good night and good luck.*
Andrea Blanch
*Edward R. Murrow
Jess Dugan, Laurel, 2014.
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