An advertising company has rejected an artist’s depiction of George Floyd’s death that was set to be displayed on a billboard in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January.
Clear Channel Outdoor, the owner of the Minneapolis billboard where the art was set to be displayed, sent an email to Brooklyn artist Don Perlis on Thursday, informing him that the outdoor rendering of his oil-on-canvas painting entitled Floyd was being rejected because it depicts “acts of violence.”
“Unfortunately, after going through our PR team, your Bulletin design has been rejected because it ‘Depicts Acts of Violence’ … I apologize for the inconvenience. Is there another image (maybe just of George Floyd) that you can switch out the image for?” the email read, KARE 11 reported.
Floyd died on May 25 after former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes.
Perlis said the designer had already sent in the art, and that it was either at the printer or on its way to the printer when he received the news. He pointed out that Floyd’s death has been depicted on a variety of platforms around the world, while his painting was being censored.
The art, which depicts three officers restraining George Floyd, was displayed in Time’s Square in New York in November.
“I wanted to make a painting out of it where I could compress the horror into a single instant. Just to show the humanity of all of it. That’s the thing that reaches everyone is the humanity of it,” Perlis said. “The painting is sad, but it’s not violent, really.”
The art would also feature the quote by Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It was sponsored by the New York-based George Floyd Justice Billboard Committee, a group of artists. Perlis said the artwork had already been approved several times. The painting is set to be displayed in Los Angeles and Atlanta next month.
“It’s our strong belief that art is very important in social justice movements,” said Corinne Basabe, chairwoman of the billboard committee, to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“If it weren’t for art, I would still be sitting in the back of the bus in the year 2020.”
Clear Channel did not respond to the Star Tribune’s request for comment.
Twin Cities defense attorney Joe Tamburino speculated that if the billboard had been put up the lawyers for the officers charged in Floyd’s death would ask the trial to be moved or that the judge would sequester the jury.
“These jurors would see that billboard every day when they come to the courthouse, when they leave the courthouse, of course it would be a reminder and it obviously is a very moving picture,” Tamburino said.
Basabe said the committee is still working to have the billboard displayed. “We’re exploring every possibility,” she said.
The four officers charged in Floyd’s death are set to go to trial on March 8, less than a mile from where the billboard was set to be displayed.
