Global Chaos, Healing Art:
The Works of Sam
Sebren
by Jay Blotcher
...“I am not here to do something easy;
that’s not my job.” He points out that the
widespread influence of corporate funding in today’s
art world is responsible for the taming and censoring of work
that dares to criticize the Bush administration, the war and
multinational companies.
Given today’s increasingly conservative
climate, Sebren said, “To be an artist is to be a political
act in itself.” While Sebren acknowledges that his choice
of subject matter is not typical fare for a spot above the
living room couch, he does so without apology.
“Of course I’d like to sell some
things,” but he stresses the importance of art to enlighten
and change minds, that “the main point is to get people
uplifted or to be rethinking what we are doing here.”
Sebren was honored last autumn at his Norfolk,
Virginia high school with a 39-piece show of his selected
photography from the past two decades. Returning to his home
turf, Sebren made sure his soapbox traveled with him. After
inaugurating the new gallery space, Sebren spoke to parents,
teachers and school administrators at a reception. There,
he took a potshot at his alma mater’s obsession with
machismo and sports, addressing the importance of emphasizing
arts as an equal facet of education.
The message—delivered diplomatically
but clearly, Sebren said—was “instead of another
football field, underwrite a ballet class.”
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