The Naked PM

Art is comment. Satire is a tool of the artist. “Emperor Haute Couture” is the title of a nude painting of Prime Minister Harper, by the artist Maggie Sutherland. It presently hangs in the Kingston Public library. It depicts a nude Harper stretched out over a chaise lounge, surrounded by suited attendants, depicted without heads, offering the PM a Tim Horton’s coffee. Oh and a little dog too. The PM did not sit for painting. It is a work of political satire. I would know this even if the artist had not said it herself. Harper, depicted nude surrounded by headless advisors or conservative MPs being served a Timmies couldn’t be anything else. Opposition piped in with “It's probably the only double-double in the picture,” said Liberal MP Scott Brison. “Nudes have been part of art for hundreds of years, so I don't find the painting morally offensive. Perhaps aesthetically offensive. This is a case where we need a Conservative cover-up.” The PM’s office made a little joke about Harper being a cat person. Added a pundit, “This is a shot at everyday Canadians who do begin their mornings by going to (sic)Tim Hortons. It's the artist's way of showing disdain for those people the way she is showing disdain for the prime minister,” said Brian Lilley. Thank you Sun News for telling us what the artist was thinking. From the Kingston Whig-Standard we get this from the Artists Agent. “This piece is an anomaly,” said Sutherland's agent Mary Sue Rankin, owner of the Edward Day Gallery in Toronto. “Maggie is not a sensationalist. She's actually very shy.” “But when she told me about this piece, she said to me 'this is my only form of protest,'" Rankin said. “She was just fed up with all the cuts to arts programs by the Harper government." You need to do a little digging to find the “Disdain for Everyday Canadians” that Lilley was inferring, a lot more digging than I was prepared to do. If you look to the comments section that follows on articles about the Nude PM we see the response from “Everyday Canadians”. As you might suspect the opinions and level of upset were split ideologically. The media outlet you read the story from plays a large part in that too. The conservatives, outraged at the depiction of our PM. The usual complaints about “Lefty Artists”, 5 dollar lattes and “if this happened to your leader you would not be laughing”. The other 61 percent were in fact, laughing. The painting sums up nicely this Prime Minister and his government. Headless suits, depicting the role conservatives MPs are allowed to play, that of vote caster. This portion could well apply to advisors, research councils or the public. Harper does the thinking so you don’t need a head. The coffee is for some pundits, the authenticity test of whether you are an “everyday Canadian”. Take no mind of the ubiquity of Tim Horton’s. Every corner has one. This is how it is used by political parties. Tim Horton’s has become short hand “I’m like you are can’t you see me holding a coffee”. I see the artist’s use of the coffee as a way to explode that touchstone. Showing me you understand takes more than a coffee, a donut and a hockey jersey. The nudity is interesting. Harper shows no shame or discomfort at his nakedness. We know that nakedness is often a tool of humiliation and subjugation. But here is a depiction of a man with nothing to hide no secrets, comfortable and completely at ease. We have been told of Harper’s hidden agenda, this pose puts paid to that. His agenda and ambition are there to see. Harper has nothing to hide and absolutely need to try. There are quite a few countries where this painting would have earned the artist exile, many years in prison or death. Luckily Canada is not on that list. One of the benefits of living in a democracy is the right to laugh at your leaders. We have the right to hold those deserving of derision up to public ridicule, and to argue whether such ridicule is deserved.