28th January 2024

 

sunday morning

the dog outside; barking, barking

sore knees

© Rachel Green January 2024

They tell me to avoid productions

with problematic actors or staff

and they're right, of course,

a boycott of such things starts very small

but can topple a studio in time.

This morning I considered art.

How many artists were problematic

and yet their art is still admired?

The Right loathe Egon Schiele,

Francis Bacon, David Hockney--

unless they own one, obviously--

and Hitler's paintings are reviled

(but privately hoarded.)

Damien Hirst hounded a teenager for a year

for daring to make a collage of his face;

Bob Kane stole Batman, and let his creator,

Bill Fingers, die in poverty;

Picasso was a raging misogynist,

Caravaggio a murderer,

Degas an anti-semitist

and Gaugin took three child brides

and gave them all syphilis.

© Rachel Green January 2024