by PAUL MITCHELL
Eugenio Marino, “Punching Franco,” 2012 – Collection of Santiago Sierra
Spanish artist Eugenio Merino is being sued by the foundation dedicated to “disseminating the memory and work” of the dictator General Francisco Franco who ruled the country, and murdered hundreds of thousands of political opponents, from 1938 until his death in 1975.
The National Francisco Franco Foundation (FNFF), headed by Franco’s 87-year-old daughter Maria del Carmen Franco Polo, is suing Merino for €12,000 [US$16,000] in damages, plus legal costs, for offending the honour of the dictator and the foundation by his “grotesque and offensive” sculpture, “Punching Franco.”
…
Merino’s life-like sculptures have been the subject of controversy in the past. At ARCO in 2009 he exhibited a sculpture, “For the Love of Gold,” parodying the British artist Damien Hirst—who had just produced a diamond-encrusted human skull entitled, “For the Love of God.” A kneeling Hirst is displayed in a glass case holding a gun to his head. Merino explained, “I thought that, given that he thinks so much about money, his next work could be that he shot himself. Like that the value of his work would increase dramatically.”
…
In 2010, another sculpture, “Stairway to Heaven,” provoked criticism from the Israeli Embassy in Madrid. It shows a rabbi holding the Koran, standing on a priest clasping the Torah, who is kneeling on a prostrate mullah with the Bible.
…
PM: Can you tell me about “Stairway to Heaven”?*
EM: My work is about humour and irony. It was a comment about three religions trying to reach one God. You have one religious leader on top of the other and accepting each other.
I really like to talk about religion, which is very important here in Spain. The Catholic Church is very present and many government ministers are from Opus Dei. I am not against people practicing religion, but against religion being mixed with politics. Why should we accept morality based on religion? It should not be compulsory in schools.
An artist should really address these issues. Some found the work offensive, and I received many death threats after I made it.
Eugenio Merino in his studio PHOTO/Juan Barte
World Socialist Web Site for more
*(The sculpture, “Stairway to Heaven”, a brilliant idea, would have become more interesting if a Hindu and Buddhist were part of the sculpture too. Ed. Globeistan)