National Portrait Gallery Bows to Pressure Over Exhibition, Pulls Piece, Leaves No One Happy in the Process

Fresh off news of their potential troubles with the government thinking over if they should make them start charging, the Smithsonian has again found itself at odds with the powers that be. The National Portrait Gallery folded to pressure this week from both Republican members of the House of Representatives and the Catholic League and removed a video by artist David Wojnarowicz from their exhibition, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.” The parties were upset by the imagery in the video, chiefly a scene wherein ants crawl across a crucifix.