On Tuesday, March 29, my friend that I like to call an outstanding non-artist, Diego Cortez,  has managed to gather together the works of 40 visual artists in a historic benefit art exhibition against the Drug War. Among them Francesco Clemente, Maurizio Cattelan, Nan Goldin, Philippe Taaffe, Louise Bourgeois e Nobuyoshi Araki. The benefit's host committee includes such stars as Lauren Hutton, Arianna Huffington and Montel Williams, with additional support from George Soros and Jason Flom of Atlantic Records. "We are amazed and grateful that so many leading artists are willing to support our work," says Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the DPA. Their donations of time and effort will empower our efforts to reform draconian drug laws that cause so much more harm than good."Art as a social weapon has been around for a long time. In the early 1920s, Diego Rivera and the other Mexican muralists used their work as a tool for the oppressed against their oppressors. They expressed their opinions and got their message across to the literate and the illiterate alike and earned worldwide recognition. In April 1937, the world learned the shocking truth about the Nazi Luftwaffe's bombing of Guernica, Spain – a civilian target. Pablo Picasso responded with his great anti-war painting, Guernica.In the '60s Leon Golub, the "painter of darkness," put together the group Artists and Writers against the War as a response to the Vietnam war. On the other side of the coin, in 2003 the Drug Enforcement Agency opened an art exhibit in NYC titled "Terrorists, Traffickers, and You," that attempted to link terrorism to drug use. And in 2005 the group I call Artists against the Drug War has emerged in response to the destructive consequences of the war on drugs.Today almost two million people are locked up behind bars because of this "war." In 1988 while serving a 15-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller drug laws I painted a piece titled, Corporate Asset. It had the look of a giant pinball game. It portrayed how the war on drugs had fueled the prison industrial complex, with money raised from local, state and federal levels through the business of imprisonment. I am proud to have this piece displayed in the DPA benefit show at the Cheim & Read Gallery, which has graciously donated its space for the event.This exhibit is historic in the context of the art world and follows the lead of past artists who have used art as a vehicle for social change. I have and will continue to use my art as a vehicle to fight the drug war. I hope this show will enlighten others to join us in our attempt to stop the madness of the war on drugs.

Visit the Drug Policy Alliance for more information about A Benefit for the Drug Policy Alliance, March 29, 6-8pm, at the Cheim & Read Gallery in New York.

Click here to see some pictures of the event.

Here we go again: recently I been waking up at the entire range of  the alarm clock possibilities and this morning I woke up around 6,30 am.  Morning hour has gold in the mouth. Ciccone was on radio. Toni Ciccone is a lame comedian from Abruzzo that from 6,30 am and to 7 am wakes up random people on the phone and tries to have a conversation with them asking dull questions like:  Hello, wax museum?  Has Prince Ranieri of Monaco arrived yet?  I walked to the kitchen and I realized I was hungry and thirsty.  I ate about a quarter of an hour * of Neapolitan Pastiera cake brought by Paola, then it seemed pretty unfair not to eat also a few minutes of the forest fruits cake that my mother prepared.  I padded my thirst drinking ACE juice in a mug (it's another universe of taste), then adding to it some non-fluoridated filtered water.  The hunger had a second comeback, this time I wanted something salty: I ate a cheek of crusty bread together with a small round portion of caciocavallo.  In the fridge there was a lonely vegetable soup that when is cold gains totally another appeal: just a couple spoonful to refresh the the palate along with some bites of a sad boiled potato left on the kitchen table. 

 
* a quarter of an hour of a cake

I am the least that could express judgments regarding opera singers.  About a year ago I was walking on the "calli" of Venice with Lucio, William and Amedeo when we were suddenly capturated by the sound of an angelic voice.  Just around the corner there was this girl, under the rain, standing and singing beautifully.  Around her the croud was bewitched.  Time has been stopped.  During an interval of her singing we smiled at her and went quickly inside a restaurant near by.  Lucio kep thinking about that girl's voice so he sent me and William to ask her if she liked the idea of joinig us for dinner.  This girl was far more confident than what I expected, she said she couldn't come because she had to keep singing in order to raise some money then she had something to do later in the evening. She studied in Venice inorder to becme an opera singer. I got her e-mail address and after a few messages she sent me the link for her website. You'll be the judge:  http://www.margittarosales.com/

Risorgete! / Rise Again!

Buona Pasqua a tutti / Happy Easter to all

Travestitevi! / Dress Up!

Buon Purim* / Happy Purim*

* Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from the destruction plotted by Haman, minister of the King Achashverosh (Ahasuerus).

The story is told in the book of Ester, which relates how lots (purim) were cast to select a day for the annihilation of the Jewish community and how the king decreed that this should be done on the 13th day of the month of Adar.  With the help and guidance of Mordechai, her uncle, the kings beautiful Jewish wife Ester intervened and the intended day of destruction was turned into a day of salvation.

Haman was hung on the gallows he had set up for Mordechai and the Jews were given free rein to wreak vengeance on their enemies.  This they did on the 13th, celebrating their deliverance on the next day.  In some places such as the capital of Shushan, fighting continued on the 14th, so that the redemption could only be celebrated on the 15th.  The tradition arose that cities which were walled at the time of Yehoshua, for instance Yerushalayim, should celebrate the festival on the 15th of Adar, as was done in Shushan.

Purim is the most joyous day in the Jewish calendar.  In the synagogue, the major part of the service consists of reading the book of Ester from a specially prepared, handwritten parchment scroll known as Megillat Ester.  The reading is preceded by a special benediction, and both men and women must listen to the Megillah recited both in the evening and the morning.  It is the custom during the reading to greet every mention of the name of Haman with much noise and shouts of disapproval.  This represents the name of Haman being blotted out forever.  The Al Hanisim prayer which contains an account of the Purim story is inserted in the Amidah and in the Birkat HaMatzon (Grace After Meals).  This prayer offers gratitude to G-d for the miraculous deliverance of our ancestors in days of old as well as in modern times.

In the morning service, there is special reading from the Scriptures of the defeat of the Amalekim by the Bnei Yisrael.  The reading is based on the tradition that Haman was a descendant of the Amaleki king, Agag.  Another part of the Purim celebration is the banquet which has become a traditional occasion for merrymaking.  Also Purim is the occasion for the sending of gifts (Mishloach Manot) to friends and the giving of tzedakah (charity) to the poor.  Purim is a most popular festival in Yisrael, especially Tel Aviv, where the festivities take the form of a three-day colorful carnival, called Adloyada.

Traditional Foods:  Hamantaschen - triangular pastries filled with purnes, poppy seeds, cherries, and the like are served.  The shape of these pastries is reminiscent of the three-cornered hat worn by Haman.

Custom:  Some Jews follow the custom of fasting on the day before Purim.  This fast, called the Fast of Ester (Taanit Ester) is in honor of Ester, who abstained from food for 3 days before petitioning King Achashverosh.