A lot of liberals think Glenn Beck is full of, well, manure, but one artist Michael Murphy has taken it further than most. He did a picture of Beck using manure instead of paint. And now, anti-Beck demonstrators have hired Murphy to create a sculpture … honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
The Washington Post reported [1] Aug. 17 that Murphy will unveil “The People's Memorial to King” in
Conservative television and radio host Glenn Beck is scheduled to host a rally that day at the Lincoln Memorial, where King delivered his speech in 1963. The sculpture unveiling is part of a counter-demonstration called “Celebrate the Dream,” which the Post described as “a grass-roots network of artists, community organizers and social activists.”
But the Post's report ignored an intriguing link between the conservative activist and liberal artist: Murphy's 2009 portrait of Beck, which used “bull manure” as paint.
Politico reported [2] on Murphy's painting in September 2009. On his website [3], Murphy described the painting as “bull manure and pigment on canvas.”
“Murphy, who specializes in large-scale public art installations, said his vision was to create a sculpture that would convey the ideal of 'unification and bringing people together,'” the Post said of the King sculpture. “Murphy describes the piece as a 'directional' sculpture 'that has four specific vantage points. … If you were to stray from the ideal point of view, the message gets lost,' Murphy said.”
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