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Monika Steinhoff

College intimidated
"Opinion" The New Mexican December 25, 1999

As the author of some books on contemporary art and as a veteran of other censorship wars, I want to put in my two cents worth about the Santa Fe Community College's attempted suppression of Monika Steinhoff's painting "And God Gave Dominion".

The college has cravenly allowed itself to be intimidated into removing a lyrical artwork from public view at the behest of a few ignorant souls who would have been better served by some educational information about the history of religion, art and environmentalism.

Steinhoff's painting is about the sacrifice of endangered species, It includes, among several other images, a crucified gorilla. This is hardly "anti-Christian" in any sense. Both the cross as a symbol and crucifixion as punishment predated Christ. The title (from the Bible's pre-Christian Old Testament) legitimately questions the wisdom of humankind's "dominion" over all other living things...

Visual art is made to be seen, and those who don't want to see it are perfectly welcome to avoid it. They do not have the right to deprive the majority of a chance to make up their own minds.

Lucy R. Lippard
Santa Fe