President George W. Bush has often by compared to a primate by certain critics, but a recent and popular juxtaposition of Bush's image with monkeys has been closed down in a New York art exhibition. From a distance the image looks like Bush; up close, you can see that it's made up of monkeys swimming in a marsh.

Reuters reports:

"Bush Monkeys," a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market's managers to close down the 60-piece show that was scheduled to stay up for the next month. ... "We had tons of people, like more than 2,000 people show up for the opening on Thursday night," said show organizer Bucky Turco. "Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. 'The show is over. Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you,' he said. It's been kind of wild."

"It seems like people got a kick out of it," Savido said. "When they really see it, they almost do a double-take. I like to get a reaction from people." The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-bred artist said he was happy for all the attention paid to his work but said the decision to shutter the exhibit was "a blatant act of censorship." ... "This is much deeper than art. This is fundamental American rights, freedom of speech," Savido said. "To see that something like this can happen, especially in a place like New York City is mind boggling and scary."

Savido's piece is more clever and interesting than most attempts to compare Bush to a chimp and I wonder if the manager realizes that his actions only validate such art. When exhibits are closed down because people are offended at criticism of political leaders, that's precisely when we need more criticism and ridicule of politicians and leaders. We shouldn't allow it to become "wrong" to criticize or ridicule our leaders.

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