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Mike Parr\u2019s work Sunset Claws is currently on display at Anna Schwartz Gallery.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Zan Wimberley via X<\/cite><\/p>\n Schwartz has represented Parr for 36 years, but dropped him after he painted the words \u201cNazi\u201d and \u201cIsrael\u201d during the performance. Parr acknowledges both words may appear in the work but in an interview on ABC\u2019s Radio National on Tuesday morning stated, \u201cI never brought together the words Israel and Nazi\u201d.<\/p>\n Parr says the artwork drew on statements from the London Review of Books<\/i>, related to the latest conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem that my performance tried to address is the complexity of this whole situation,\u201d Parr told this masthead on Tuesday. \u201cIt was a kind of continuation of openness, discussion and democratic debate about the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cAnna\u2019s response is overwhelmed by her subjectivity. And perhaps her subjectivity in the face of what is happening now in this conflict between Israel and Palestine also obliterates not just my performance, but the debate that we\u2019re all entitled to have about the disproportionate impact of what\u2019s now happening in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to ABC\u2019s Radio National, Parr said he felt his performance had been censored and that \u201cno one else has been asked what they thought\u201d of his performance.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to provoke Anna. What I was trying to do was provoke debate around the whole issue of this crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Parr received an email the morning after his December 2 performance, saying his relationship with the gallery had been terminated.<\/p>\n Parr called Anna\u2019s response \u201crather hysterical\u201d and said it had drawn attention away from the complexity of his performance. He said supporters of Palestine need to be heard in the current conflict.<\/p>\n Anna Schwartz dropped artist Mike Parr from her gallery following a political performance work.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Joe Armao<\/cite><\/p>\n In his radio interview, Parr said that ahead of the performance Schwartz asked him, \u201cMike, why aren\u2019t you protesting about the plight of the Hutus and the Uyghurs?\u201d to which he says he responded: \u201cBecause Anna, right at this moment you are a national treasure, but you\u2019re displaying absolutely no empathy for the plight of the Palestinians,\u201d and criticised her attempt at \u201cmoral relativism\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real issue here is that without a resolution to this problem of co-existence, the position of Israel becomes increasingly more fragile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI support the right of the Israeli state to exist. My real issue is, if this problem of co-existence isn\u2019t resolved, then increasingly the Jewish state is threatened by unmanageable responses.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on ABC\u2019s Radio National on Monday morning, Schwartz denied censoring Parr\u2019s work, leaving it on display at the gallery, but said she felt Parr\u2019s performance piece on December 2 was his intentional ending of their relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t work with an artist who has chosen to hurt me and insult my culture and the generations who come before me who have been annihilated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Schwartz\u2019s husband Morry, who owns Schwartz Media and is the publisher of the Quarterly Essay<\/em>, The Saturday Paper<\/em>, The Monthly<\/em> magazine and Black Inc books, yesterday stepped down as the company\u2019s chair, saying it was the right moment to take a break and that that coverage of Gaza was not a factor.<\/p>\n Parr said he has no plans to return to the gallery Schwartz owns in Flinders Lane, and now wants to \u201ccool off, calm down and go on with my work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a performance artist for over 50 years, and it\u2019s always been controversy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m nearly 79 years of age, and I\u2019m at the point where cancellation doesn\u2019t mean very much, but cancellation is very destructive for younger artists. It\u2019s very hard for them to take positions they want to take because they run the risk of terminating their careers in some instances.\u201d<\/p>\n Anna Schwartz was approached for comment but had not responded by deadline.<\/p>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. <\/i><\/b>Sign up here<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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