Anarchy & Vandalism Legitimized

In which we discuss the performance artist Istvan Kantor and his use of vandalism in creating art and commenting on art and society

I am always fascinated with art vandalism and in statements from artists commenting on the contemporary art world. Istvan Kantor is a Hungarian-born artist who has been active around the world for over 25 years.

He is perhaps best known for going into art museums world wide and leaving X's on the walls made from his own blood. These acts have gotten him banned from some of the best art museums in the world. Kantor was arrested earlier this month in the Art Gallery of Toronto when he showed up at the current Andy Warhol exhibition, poured blood on the floor, and he and a few friends rolled around in the fluid. Istvan then took off his clothes, held up a vial of blood attached to his penis, and began reading from a manifesto.

So what is the purpose of Kantor's art and is it legitimate or just a weird desperate artsy cry for attention? I think one of the facts that legitimizes Kantor is that he doesn't cause permanent harm to the artworks in question. He was once sued for a couple of million dollars in damages by a museum when he threw blood on a Picasso. He was able to prove in court that the blood washed off the painting and caused little or no damage. He ended up paying $1,000 for this incident. But clearly, Kantor is not favored by art museums.

One act of Kantor's that delegitimizes him as an artist is a particular performance art piece where he slit the throats of cats and then wore them on his head like a hat. It is the opinion of this critic that killing animals in the name of art is just not right.

An act of Kantor's that I find particularly poignant is the throwing of blood onto a Jeff Koons sculpture of Michael Jackson. The statement here seems appropriate given the popular-culture-steeped mediocre creations of Jeff Koons, a well-connected artist whose legitimacy ia also controversial.

Perhaps the ultimate act of legitimacy was when Kantor was honored by the Canadian Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts. To quote the Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, "[Kantor's] work challenges our conventional versions of reality and helps us redefine it. They probe and experiment, reaching beyond the boundaries of comfortable perception for new points of view."

While some might question the legitimacy of the entire body of Kantor's work, I think there is enough content and commentary in his work that legitimizes it beyond sensational and narcissistic. And it should be noted that the United States National Endowment for the Arts no longer awards individual artist grants. Canada is to be commended for being open-minded enough to fund artists who are questioning the status quo.