Reply #67: It is extreme in your opinion, but this is a great work by one of

[Bluenorthwest]

the leaders in his entire field. The NEA did not pay for Piss Christ, you know. It was included in exhibits by curators choice, the museums or shows were funded by NEA, not the making of the work itself. I assume you understand that. This artist brings huge dollar at auction, he is heavily collected and was during his lifetime. He died of AIDS, which is a clue as to why the bodily fluids are used in some of his work, and coupled with images of the divine, and of death. You claimed this was government funded work. It was not.
What you and Guilliani call extreme I call good work. I'm in the arts, I take no grant money because I need none. I do wind up in theaters which are funded by grants. I can tell you that a thing that can sell for hundreds of thousands is good product, even is those who are not in the market call it extreme or unsettling. As art, it is successful, and as product, even more so.
Extreme today is tomorrow's TV sitcom, and that is the way of the world. Elvis was extreme. So the job of the artist is to be ahead of the bend. As extremely ahead of it as possible. That Picasso, so extreme! And so it goes....