Students say they don’t mind cheeky creations of ‘butt-printing artist’
RICHMOND, Virginia - To hear the students tell it, Stephen Murmer is a fun, popular art teacher who is always quick to crack a joke.(more)
Virginia Teacher Suspended for Painting With ButtRICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia school system has suspended an art teacher who they say may be setting a bad example for students with his own extracurricular activity — butt painting.
Chesterfield , Virginia , USA .
Art teacher suspended for unorthodox painting technique High School art teacher, Stephen Murmer, was placed on administrative
leave last Friday for painting with his butt and genitals.
When school officials learned of a video that was circulating on the
Internet in which the teacher demonstrates his painting technique,
albeit both disguised and under the pseudonym Stan Murmur, they
asked him to take a paid leave. School officials believe that Murmer
is not setting a good example for the high school's students and thus
poses a threat. He has made an appeal to the American civil Liberties
Union of Virginia.
The teacher whose subject matter primarily consists of flowers, joins
a corporeal tradition that begins with Yves Klein, and includes Shigeko
Kubota (the 1965 vagina-painting performance), and most recently, a
group of paintings made by art superstar Takeshi Murakami currently
on display at Perrotin in Paris.
The installation of paintings is accompanied by a video in which the
artist uses the same technique as the high school teacher.
4 comments:
Why anyone would sign a $25k a year teaching contract is beyond me. I am not a fan of your "anthropometric monotypes" and don't particularly care for Takeshi Murakami's work. I do appreciate the inventive way you've been able to supplement your pathetic salary and think the school system's reaction -ridiculous and uncalled for. Good luck to you and your students in the upcoming year.
Art is a free form expression of ones inner self. It's unfortunate that the public school system can't see beyond their own fears to recognize a separation between ones free time and a person's role as a teacher. I don't believe in censorship nor do I believe in hypochrisy. Many if not all famous artists have expressed the beauty of the human body. They are hailed. A teacher tries to capture that same beauty and is fired. I hope the students can see that our natures whether naked or clothed or covered in paint are not bad. Good luck with your work.
I THINK IT IS ABSOLUTELY SAD THAT THE SCHOOL FEELS AS THOUGH THEY CAN CONTROL YOUR LIFE... TEACHERS GO OUT AND DRINK AND OTHER VARIOUS THINGS, AND THEY STILL KEEP THEIR JOBS... YOU KEEP DOING WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, WHY DO IT SOMEONE ELSES WAY... BEST OF LUCK TO YOU IN ALL YOU DO.
I think he should be able to supplement his income any way he can, and if the school doesn't like it they don't have to buy it.
Personally, I think it is an inventive way to make a buck and make a statement.
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