A painting hanging in The Cup depicting a pigeon with the word “n---a” printed beneath it has drawn criticism and led the artist to defend his piece Sept. 23.
Nathan Friday, 22, defended what he called his right of free expression Sept. 23 after a man said his artwork was offensive to the black community. Friday’s artwork has been hanging in the Village coffee shop since early September without formal complaint but Monday a man walking down University Avenue saw Friday’s piece from the street and threatened to tear it down if it wasn’t removed, Friday said.
The Cup owner Martin George told the unnamed man that he could contact Friday with his complaints because it wasn’t his place to censor artwork, he only provides a place for local artists to show their work to the public.
George offered Friday the chance to defend his work Sept. 23 and welcomed members of the community to hear Friday’s perspective.
“I feel it would be inappropriate to just yank down his work,” George said. “I always encourage artists to have their chance [to explain their work] and it’s time for [Friday].”
WCRD | Garrett Lamkin
The man who complained had been in the store in the morning, George said, but he left before Friday was expected to appear. He did not return while Friday was in the store.
Friday said he welcomed conversation about race because, after all, that is what he tries to do with his art, but threatening to tear down the work wasn’t the way to go about it.
“If you feel negatively about that, be an adult, just don’t look at it,” he said.
Friday said the painting was meant to draw comparisons between what people think about pigeons and what the n-word means in a contemporary urban setting. Pigeons are seen as less than a whole, Friday said, much like what some people may see when they think “n---a.”
“My message with this was to start a dialogue, that’s why we are here,” he said. “You see this word and you may be immediately offended by it.”
Jennifer Erickson, an assistant professor, teaches a class on race and ethnicity and also has office hours each Tuesday at The Cup.
The painting has made her reconsider having office hours at the shop because she doesn’t want students to needlessly feel uncomfortable.
However, she said, there is a lot to learn from the painting and the reaction, or general lack thereof for nearly a month, from those that have seen the painting.
She said the painting is a good example that the n-word has several different meanings within certain contexts. The word can be used within a group of friends without any racist undertone, but when it is used in other contexts, like in Friday’s painting, it can cause uneasiness.
“I am guessing people noticed [the word] and just moved on with their day, because I do think the word is in a lot of different places and it doesn’t really raise awareness until it is used out of context,” she said.
Erickson said she plans to invite Friday to her class in a couple weeks when she discusses racial language to discuss the painting and contemporary ideas of racism.
For Friday the controversy just goes to strengthen Friday's reason for creating the work of art in the first place.
“It’s really marvelous, obviously, because any artist wants their art to be seen and talked about,” he said. ”I want to take the negative feeling and push it to a positive discussion.”
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