The elite uses art as a status display. Beyond the few that can afford to own the works of art themselves, it is the knowledge of art that shows status. To appreciate it, you must have the requisite background. That some of the art is offensive to many only enhances the function of separating the elite from the masses. I used to think it was probably poor taste for an artist to accept public money if he were going to do something controversial.
Art implies a personal, unanalyzable creative power.
Drawing swastikas on synagogues is desecration, not art. Likewise, covering a representation of the Virgin Mary with anuses, vaginas and dung is sacrilege, not art. If Lehman next presents a similar portrait of, say, Golda Meir, covered with anuses, vaginas and dung, we will know that he is not merely anti-Catholic. All rights reserved.