White House Permanent Collection Acquisition Proposal: NEA Four

Considering Barack and Michelle Obama’s inclusion of modern and contemporary work by artists such as Mark Rothko, Robert Rauschenberg, and Glenn Ligon in the White House, I would like to propose that the White House acquire and permanently install video work by all four performance artists who came to be known as the NEA Four: Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck and Holly Hughes. Additionally, I would like to encourage the White House to acquire Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ and several works from Robert Mapplethorpe's controversial 1988 exhibition The Perfect Moment. . The exhibition of this work at the White House would act as a direct reminder of Ronald Reagan’s and Congress’ dismantling and defunding of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA).
- Malisa Humphrey

Karen Finley, We Keep Our Victims Ready, 1989. On view in the Oval Office.

Andres Serrano, Piss Christ, Cibachrome print, 60" x 40", 1987. On view in the East Garden Room.

Robert Mapplethrope, Self Portrait, gelatine silver print on paper, 24"x 24", 1983. On view in the Cabinet Room.