BERLIN (JTA) — Nuremberg prosecutors are investigating whether an art exhibit of garden gnomes giving a Nazi salute is against the law.
The "Dance with the Devil" exhibit by Nuremberg art professor Ottmar Horl features an army of gold-painted gnomes.
An outraged visitor to the gallery of Erwin Weigl in Nuremberg triggered the probe with an anonymous complaint suggesting that the figures violate the law prohibiting anti-constitutional symbols. The Heil Hitler salute is banned in Germany unless it is part of an educational, pro-democratic project.
Horl described his work as purely satirical, and reported that he has received many requests for the sculptures from around the world — including from American Jewish collectors — since the controversy erupted.
His work is part of a trend of what some call "transgressive art," designed to break taboos. The trend was given a boost by a New York Jewish Museum exhibit in 2002, called "Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery, Modern Art," which included French artist Alain Sechas’ white plastic kittens with Hitler moustaches.
Two years later, in Dachau, Germany, German-American art professor Walter Gaudnek ran into trouble for displaying cartoon-like works depicting Hitler as a “pop-icon," including swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
Several other similar controversies have popped up in the past few years.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
