The Smithsonian's controversial ant-covered-Jesus video

The controversial 1980s video by artist David Wojnarowicz

(Image credit: YouTube)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: Glenn Beck and leading House Republicans are condemning a controversial exhibit at the Smithsonian National Gallery, inciting another debate about censorship and public funding of the arts. The central point of dispute — "A Fire in My Belly," a 4-minute piece of video art by the late artist David Wojnarowicz — features images of, among other things, ants crawling over a crucifix, male genitalia, and a human mouth sewn shut. (Watch it below.) After incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner said that museum officials "should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January," the Smithsonian removed the video, but now the entire exhibit has come under fire. Titled Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, the show bills itself as "the first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture," and has drawn both critical raves and conservative outrage over gay themes and the inclusion of images of men in chains and Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts.

The reaction: Doesn't Boehner have bigger things to worry about — like, say, WikiLeaks, the Korean crisis, or the economy, asks Mike Vilensky at New York. This just shows, says Tanya Somanader at Think Progress, "that a celebration of anything LGBT-related cannot exist without inciting right-wing backlash." Oh, c'mon, says Rick Moran at American Thinker. The video, at least, isn't art. It's "some schlock merchant looking to shock" and "The National Gallery failed utterly on all levels" in accepting it in the first place. Watch "A Fire in My Belly" below: