Ants in your pants

Banned in D.C., welcome in Houston: CAMH tackles censorship through Christ

An image with Jesus covered in ants from the video “A Fire in My Belly” by DavidWojnarowicz
CAMH director Bill Arning
Photo by Jenny Antill
National Portrait Gallery
Artist David Wojnarowicz
Photo by Peter Hujar

Ants crawling on a crucifix isn't necessarily the most offensive image to come out of the realm of contemporary art, but its appearance in the video work "Fire in My Belly" by David Wojnarowicz at a current exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery sparked outrage last week among such conservative leaders as Speaker of the House-elect John Boehner, incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Catholic League president William Donohue, leading to its swift removal from the Washington, D.C. museum by Smithsonian secretary G. Wayne Clough.

Since then, art activists have erupted in critique of the spontaneous censorship. From Houston St. to Houston, arts organizations have risen to the occasion, broadcasting "Fire in My Belly" both in protest of the National Portrait Gallery's actions and to confirm the museum's primary role: the dissemination of ideas. On Wednesday night, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will screen Wojnarowicz's critical work in the Freed Auditorium of The Glassell School of Art.

"I was getting a flurry of e-mails before bed the other night, from SF Camerawork and the New Museum, which had decided to screen the video to let people decide for themselves," CAMH director Bill Arning tells CultureMap. "I was laying there and thought, 'Too bad it's not in Houston.' And then I realized I could make it happen."

Wojnarowicz's piece utilizes the Christ image as a symbol of universal suffering in relation to the AIDS epidemic and appeared in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, which poses as an examination of the role sexual identity has played in the creation of modern American portraiture. The work was taken down without even consulting the show's co-curator, art historian Jonathan David Katz.

"I always think of ruptures such as this as a really good time to set the terms of the censorship debate," Arning says. "As contemporary arts folks, you want artists to push the boundaries. When it comes to museums, if everyone likes everything you do, you are clearly not doing your job properly.

"In the case of this censorship, there wasn't even a struggle," laments Arning. "And in terms of the ethics of museum management, it's just wrong. 'Fire in My Belly' is important; it's complex; and it's by a major artist who's deceased and no longer here to defend himself."

A DVD of the 13-minute footage has already arrived via PPOW contemporary art gallery in New York. Wednesday's screening at the Glassell School will be followed by a group discussion, after which Arning hopes to move the video to another Houston venue for constant access to visitors.

This won't be the first time Houston has exhibited the crucial work of Wojnarowicz: In August, as part of the Because We Are exhibition, the Station Museum of Contemporary Art presented a screening of Wojnarowicz's "Itsofomo: In the Shadow of Forward Motion," a collaborative reading performance with musician Ben Neill, dealing with fear and the sense of loss over the impact of AIDS.

As for potential antagonists in Houston, Arning surmises, "I don't think there's a history of censorship in the same way here. I don't anticipate any dissent at all."

He concludes, "It was up to us that we fundamentally have to support artists in what they do and their rights to free expression. Hopefully we'll engender some good discussion."

View a clip of "Fire in My Belly" below:

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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