UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ART PROFESSOR PAINTS A DISPICABLE PAINTING OF PRESIDENT TRUMP
A dramatic painting of “Captain America” actor Chris Evans holding the severed head of President Donald Trump by a University of Alaska Anchorage professor has exposed the academician to serious threats and hate mails. The artist, an assistant professor of painting, Thomas Chung, has had to request a police escort for fear of his life.
In his exact words, “The school was receiving calls from people trying to find out what classrooms I taught in. That’s when it seemed like we needed some kind of security. I have a police escort taking me to and from class and standing outside the classroom so my students and myself are safe. That’s my biggest concern.” The Police Department of the University of Alaska is armed and offers escorts to anyone that seeks extra protection or additional police presence.
The painting by Thomas Chung was part of an art show in the Kimura Gallery of the University of Alaska and has been on display for more than four weeks.
“The exhibit just showed what the faculty members are working on in their own practices. I would never force my political beliefs on my students. I urge my students to make pieces that address cultural or political issues and I’ve had students with views that couldn’t be further from my beliefs,” Thomas Chung added.
Paul Berger, the former UAA adjunct instructor posted an image of the painting on Facebook and asked if it was proper for a public university to display such image.
In a statement issued by the President of the University of Alaska, Jim Johnsen, concerns about the artwork were addressed. Johnsen wrote, “A vital and vibrant university, regardless of the campus, must be a place of ideas and debate. A place where the most controversial ideas abound, and where assumptions and positions are openly tested.”
Thomas Chung’s life has come under serious threats since images of the artwork were made public.
You have got to be kidding. This professor should be fired! If the school wants to consider this art as an expression of free speech it should also be consider as hate speech. Forcing this painting on all to see is blankly disrespectful. Imagine if this was President Obama in this painting with a severed head, all hell would have broken loose. Maybe it time for the FBI to look into this further. This look like the painter may be communicating a threat through art.
By Diamond and Silk ~Published