New "NFTS are not ART" #NFT by Beau Tardy Exclusively Available on Teia.art |
"HIGH" original painting by Beau Tardy, Artist. Acrylic, spraypaint and gold paint on canvas 30x24". Currently valued at $300 >click here< |
New "NFTS are not ART" #NFT by Beau Tardy Exclusively Available on Teia.art |
"HIGH" original painting by Beau Tardy, Artist. Acrylic, spraypaint and gold paint on canvas 30x24". Currently valued at $300 >click here< |
Acrylic & Gold Metal on Wood Panel 10"x10" by Beau Tardy Artist, 2019. |
Acrylic & Gold Metal on Wood Panel 10"x10" by Beau Tardy Artist, 2019. They were featured in the 10x10" Art Show 2019 at Hardy & Nance in January. |
These are spraypaint and acrylic on 12"x 12" canvas. Set of 7 canvasses can be arranged in any pattern or bought separately. |
"Smurf 5 *" Work on paper, Rustoleum spray paint. Framed 24" x 24" ***sold! |
Hardy & Nance Studios. My kind of gallery! |
Papa Smurf Dope McDonalds - ©2018 Beau Tardy Artist Mixed media & acrylic paint on board. |
At Comicpalooza this year, artists were picked to auction off their work to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities which provide shelter, support and resources to families who travel far from home for the medical care their child needs. The art was made live on site during a two hour period and then auctioned off. Here is my entry that was snapped up by a lucky collector.
Wimpy by Beau Tardy ©2018 |
HIGH 30"X 24"/ SPRAY PAINT & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS/ GLOSS FINISH |
'Dope' by Beau Tardy. Spraypaint, acrylic, stencil on canvas. |
#painting #postpop #popart #art #grafitti #gallery #canvas #dope #hype #dizzytv #tagged
A photo posted by @dizzytv on
I lived in France and read Charlie Hebdo throughout my teens. So I am using the hashtags #JeSuisCharlie #IAmCharlieHebdo to show my support for fellow cartoonists and express my utter sadness at their brutal murders.
However this hashtag, while well intentioned, is misleading. For if everyone is ‘Charlie Hebdo’ then everyone is a victim, which is exactly what the terrorists want. But if ‘being Charlie’ means having the guts to stand up to censorship in ALL its forms, including having the right to poke islamic fanaticism in the eye, then I’m all for it. Unfortunately, I feel the opposite is beginning to happen.
London imam Anjem Choudary correctly said in defense of the Paris shootings: “If freedom of expression can be sacrificed for criminalising incitement & hatred, Why not for insulting the Prophet of Allah? #ParisShooting — Anjem Choudary (@anjemchoudary)”
His ironclad logic is unassailable in this world of political correctness and ‘tolerance’. When you outlaw ONE WORD, you potentially outlaw them all. When freedom of expression, WHATEVER IT MAY BE gets threatened, freedom of thought gets censored too.
People are already being jailed for saying something stupid on Facebook or posting videos. Professionals are being fired for their political or religious views. ‘Hate speech’ is a criminal offense. But who gets to determine what qualifies as hate speech? Does Anjem Choudary get to make that call? And if not, why not?
If it is NOT OK to use certain words, whichever they may be, whatever the context, then censorship has already begun. Cartoonists, writers, artists, thinkers will begin to self-censure in the name of tolerance to disguise their fear. This is already happening.
Certain thoughts and opinions become taboo and mental repression sets in, whether it be coerced or self-inflicted. History is littered with entire civilizations being brainwashed this way, ie: Nazism or Communism. This is not something new.
What is new is that our generation, from the mid 20th century until now, has never had to face a true war on the Western homeland. We have enjoyed over 65 years of peace, with no major disruption to our modern way of life.
It felt natural for me as a kid and a teenager to dream of becoming a professional cartoonist. In fact, I have based my whole life on believing that being an artist was a valid, useful and worthwhile profession. I went to art school, got jobs doing illustrations, TV graphics, magazine layouts, paintings, video installations, music concerts and my childhood dream: cartoons. Even though I have had to navigate economic ups and downs, I always believed being an artist was a good thing.
Now art has been weaponized. Artists are at the forefront of a cultural war.
Every artist is going to ask themselves if their art will offend. Some will seek out controversy as a shortcut to publicity but most others cower away and end up erasing their ‘provocative’ drawings. The net effect, I fear in the long run will be that fewer and fewer people will stand up for those who are genuine champions of free speech, like Charlie Hebdo.
So while it’s great to say #IAmCharlieHebdo, especially when everyone else is doing it, who will in the end be bold enough to risk everything to say something that is politically incorrect, or offensive to some, or ‘hate speech’?
I am an artist and I can’t answer that question.
Beau Tardy
Got Cha by Beau Tardy. |