Visual Art Feb 13, 2013 at 4:00 am

What Will Happen to One of the Northwest's Preeminent Artists—Whose Nazi Imagery Has Always Been Considered Ironic—Now That His Views Are Not a Secret?

"Hitler Idaho" was purchased by a Jewish collector, now dead, who later gave it to a museum in San Francisco. The curator there speculates that if the collector were still alive and knew Krafft’s current views on the Holocaust, he would smash it. Image courtesy of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Comments

1
"I've always had a knack and a penchant for going toward humorous irony."
C. Krafft

humorous, funny, ironic?
none of the above.

And if he is indeed a "White Nationalist" (or Nazi) then propoganda, not art, it is. If he is not, shame on everyone for buying into this self-promoting asshole hater at the expense of the obvious.

2
Anthony Johnson was indeed a black slaveowner, at a time when the difference between "indentured servant" and "slave" was very unclear because there was still a cultural proscription against enslaving Christians, and no clear association yet between black skin and slavery. I don't quite remember the years, but this was in the 1600s.

He was not, however, the first slaveowner ever in the Americas. That's got to go to Columbus, who seized Taino and other indigenous peoples on his first trip to the Caribbean. In North America, Europeans tried at times to take native peoples prisoner, but their ability to keep them permanently as slaves was constrained (slaves could easily run away, they often were kidnapped in order to make them Christians and therefore part of European communities in ways slaves are not, Haudenosaunee control of the Northeast in particular kept European expansion in check, etc).

Back to Johnson. While not the first slaveowner, he's the first black slaveowner on record. He had a black indentured servant who (along with one or two white indentured servants, I forget) ran away and were recaptured. As was typical for this situation (if you run away from your master before your indenture is up, you are "stealing" your master's "property"), the indenture of the white servants was extended by several years. In court, though, Johnson argued successfully that his black servant's indenture should be indefinite on the basis of the servant's black skin. This is one of the earliest legal rulings associating blackness and slavery.

Of interest may also be Elizabeth Kay Grinstead. In the 1650s she successfully sued for custody of her son and freedom for both of them since her son had a white father; under English law, the status of the child followed the father. As a result of her success, the law was changed so that the status of children followed the mother (including both slaves and indentured servants - so one's childhood could be spent in indenture and freedom would come usually in one's 20s).

Anyway, Krafft is a piece of shit. Don't showcase his art anymore, but if galleries don't want to get rid of his work (and I don't think they should), then they should put a historical writeup of the history of the pieces.
3
If this is some bizarre performance art, does that make Krafft more, less or equally a piece of shit?
4
I find it hard to believe that Jen only realized now that Charles is a total Jew hater. He friended me years ago and every other post on his page is spewing hatred against Jews. One that stands out from a couple years ago is a post mocking the tattoos people in concentration camps had. He posted it close to Halloween and called it the Elie Wiesel Halloween costume kit (or something like that). There have been similar posts not just disputing the Holocaust but mocking it. There are a few posts here and there knocking multicultural but his venom is 99% directed towards Jews and it goes beyond simply questioning whether 6 million were killed, it is absolute hatred. I suggest people friend Charles then look at his posts over the last few years and it is undeniable hatred.

Here is a question: If Charles claimed AIDS was a hoax invented by a gay cabal to force society to sympathize with them and he openly voiced that gays are repugnant, if he claimed Emett Till was not a child murdered for whistling at a white woman but a 47 year old serial rapist, if he was a chronic Korean burner aka Pastor Jones and constantly spewed similar venom about Muslims, if he voiced open support for rapists, and claimed 99% of rape accusations are false and in the 1% that did happen women brought it on themselves- would the Seattle art world be as forgiving in any of the above scenerios?
5
Great article exposing scum. Seven years in Tibet may not be enough for this guy.
6
For people who aren't as familiar with Krafft, can you explain if, assuming he's telling the truth about getting interested in white nationalism in 2000, his themes changed at all since then? Can you notice any changes in his work since he started getting Hitlerfied?
7
This article is good but it's unintentionally misleding. Charles main offense isn't simply believing the Holocaust is exaggerated, he spews anti-Jewish hate speech on his fb page constantly which in way more malicious then simply thinking the number of 6 million killed might be inflated.
8
Also, I don't think it's that unusual for people into Nazism to also be into Buddhism/Indian culture. That *is* where they got the swastika.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_Dev…
9
WHO GIVES A SHIT?
10
I suspect he'll continue to sell a bunch of art, but probably to a different demographic than previously.
11
Oh Wild Bill, why would you even comment, thereby exposing yourself as someone who secretly harbors those same tender feelings as the Krufft? Please keep your SHIT to yourself Wild Bill.
12
Oh Wild Bill, I looked at your past comments and you complaining about whitey obsessively. What's up with that?
13
The Institute for Historical Review, mentioned above as a cited source by Krafft in disputing the numbers of Jews killed in the Holocaust, is well-known for being a Holocaust denial organization.
15
There was a time when I saw Charlie Krafft practically every day. This was in the late 1980s and well into the 1990s. We co-authored "The Resurgent Regionalist Manifesto" together, and participated in various COCA and other events. At that time he was completely open about his anti African American bigotry, dismissing it as the bi-product of being beaten up as a schoolboy. The drift into anti semitism, has been gradual, but has been going on for a long time. It is no surprise to any of his friends and long-term acquaintances. I eventually had to unfriend him on facebook, not only for his own statements, but for the gaggle of right-wing skinhead racists and bigots that he had collected in his own friend list. He has always gravitated to areas of knowledge and belief that he considers "dangerous." Such evaluative criteria is a poor yardstick, in the same ways that "modern," "contemporary," and "new" are.
16

"nobody who knows him seems to be enjoying this moment"

au contraire. i knew him as a sadist and unrelenting homophobe in junior high, epithet of choice: faggot!

a few years later, he was stealing artwork from his purported idol, morris graves - hushed up out of misplaced sympathy and enabling him to parlay his "friendship" with morris into a slightly lucrative career of false irony.

now that his mask has slipped, here's hoping his few still-loyal friends will help him to get help.

17
Truly disturbing to know that his whole process has been a ruse hidden in great craftsmanship...ironic that his true art is now known to be veiled deception and personal dysfunction...thanks for the coverage. I frankly look forward to his reaction to the piece.
18
His hatred of Jews, Nazi sympathizing, and Holocaust denial have not been a secret for a long time. An interesting article would be the hypocrasy of the politically correct art scene when it came to this. More light shined on his apologists and promoters would be very informative.
19
Why is it ok for hipsters to wear Mao shirts, the mass murdering commie? Or are they wearing them ironically?
20
I never card much for ceramic hand grenades anyway.
I think lots of people just cant tell the difference between Art and Krafft !
21
old huffer, just big dumb fish in a little dumb pond.
22
Thanks for the article about the well-known "secret" that Charles Krafft is a white nationalist, a holocaust denier and basically a tiresome Nazi apologist. The cranky old coot is a boor, at the very least, and why he continues to be celebrated as Seattle's greatest living artist because of a few incendiary ceramics--oh, and "spone"--is beyond me, but this throws into question our critical abilities. Of course, many generally unpleasant if not outright nasty misanthropes have created wonderful art (witness Ezra Pound, another Nazi apologist, and the notorious misogynist Strindberg, among others) but the celebration Krafft (who is not at their level by an means) remains a puzzle. Is he really running the long con, "laughing at the liberal art establishment he's fooled," or are we just so starved for meaningful art we are his willing accomplices? Some would say leave well enough alone, but since Krafft has recently cranked up his Nazi nastiness on White Power blogs and podcasts, maybe it's time to reassess his worth.
23
" ... increasingly sinister posts. On January 14, for instance, Krafft posted, 'Why amongst the monuments glorifying the history of this nation in Wash DC is there a museum of horrors dedicated to people who never lived, fought, or died here? The USHMM [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum] was erected before there was ever a monument to the 465,000 Americans who died in WWII. And no one did enough to save the Jews of Europe?'

Wow, if it gets any more sinister I might have to go hide under the covers!
25
It's pretty hilarious people were ever taken with this guy to begin with, and it says a lot about the less savory aspects of contemporary art. Oh, how edgy, Hitler ceramics! How shocking and cutting edge. What was this guy, a 13 year old bassist in a sub-basement black metal band? The arts scene was seriously taken in by this crap? Hilarious.
26
"They fail to see It's not the number of innocents that were killed (War kills people), it's the de-huminization, the humiliation, the terrorization by the State, the public turning a blind eye toward it, borders being closed to those fleeing, the reason they were executed that is the point/horror of the Holocaust."

You have almost perfectly described the the Soviet Union, the horrors of which motivated the backlash against Jews in Germany. It's not a jailable offense to question the number of Ukrainians killed by Stalin's genocidal Jewish henchmen in The Holodomor, in part because virtually nobody even knows this event happened.
27
"Here is a question: If Charles claimed AIDS was a hoax invented by a gay cabal to force society to sympathize with them and he openly voiced that gays are repugnant, if he claimed Emett Till was not a child murdered for whistling at a white woman but a 47 year old serial rapist, if he was a chronic Korean [sic, Koran - I think] burner aka Pastor Jones and constantly spewed similar venom about Muslims, if he voiced open support for rapists, and claimed 99% of rape accusations are false and in the 1% that did happen women brought it on themselves- would the Seattle art world be as forgiving in any of the above scenerios?"

Here is another question: If my aunt had balls, would she be my uncle?

If he burned Bibles and posted screeds about white males all being rapists and closet Nazis, would the "forgiving" Seattle art community be trying to destroy his reputation and livelihood - as the oh-so-sweetly concerned Jen Graves is obviously doing right now?

28
This is why New Criticism is untenable. I had to yank any honest answers out of a docent at SAM recently who nearly refused to comment on any artist's intentions.
29
@20: That was an excellent pun—funny, smart, well-timed—and I salute you.
30
We should all give a shit because its people like Krafft who perpetuate racism through art and influence people in a subtle way !!
31
So, Jen and The Stranger are concerned about Charles Krafft's comments about Jews. Well, I did a little research to see how far their warm concern for all humanity extends: I plugged "Christian" into the Stranger's search function.

Here is what I found:

"A Christian pastor tells his co-religionists ... that their faith's hateful reputation is largely their own fault"

"Christian commenters on Slog are always saying we're misrepresenting Christianity by focusing on the haters. Well, fucking prove we're misrepresenting you, Christians."

"I know that religion is sorta off limits when it comes to presidential candidates—you know, as long as they're Christian (or Christian-ish)—because this is America goddammit, where questioning a candidate's crazy religious beliefs (and/or the religion's crazy founding) would just be wrong. But imagine for a moment that the Christian candidate in question was a Christian Scientist."

This took five minutes. "Hateful" .... "crazy" ... "haters" ...

Funny, but I have never seen comments like these about Muslims, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, or, yes, Jews, in the pages of The Stranger. And `ere you think this has something to do with Christians stance on gay marriage, I remind you that Christians in general are far more tolerant of gays than those other faiths, particularly Orthodox Jews.

Pot. Kettle.

TK

32
I feel like I'm lost in an echo chamber
33
one million comments by morning.
34
The truth about Charlie Krafft changes my perception of his art from being brilliant irony to high school-level idolatry. It's like very well executed bongs made in shop class in the shape of Jerry Garcia's head or something. In my mind he has gone from genius to typical mean old white man getting his last licks in before shuffling off to the great lazy boy recliner in the sky. It's a shame, but I really appreciate this article.
35
Amen, @24, amen.
36
Yes, 31, the Stranger or its staff have never, ever said anything derogatory about Jews or religious fanatics in a context of violence (say, Gaza) or terrorists, or violence against women committed against the Taliban, or...wait, you googled it? And discovered what, they're obsessed with the word "and"?

Fuck off with your fucking fake statistics. If you actually think googling a word count is going to give you real information, then you're stupid and you deserve to believe your easy to swallow bullshit.
37
I word-search googled right now and discovered that Slog is incredibly hateful against gays because of their proliferation of the words "faggot" and "hate".

38
And I should add that there isn't a simplistic approach to this. In 2008, some of my classmates did a process documentary on Charles Krafft, and I was perfectly happy to believe that he really was what he said he was about, which was black humour and satire- because I generally believe that most educated, aware people regard holocaust deniers and neo-nazis as absurd. So co-opting the imagery and sticking it to dinner plates and collectibles does seem to me like absurdist humour.

I didn't want to believe that he was actually politically, ideologically predisposed because it just seemed to too damn stupid, or too damn obvious. And that for me is one of the most depressing things. Not only is this guy a total white supremacist holocaust denier (or, you know...1/5th the way) but he's capitalizing on his image of being CRITICAL or cynical about the absurdity of those beliefs. He must really think he's clever.

It's a real shame, too, because his bone-china memorial work is actually quite lovely, and the whole concept is lovely, and the care with which he obviously puts into it is evident in that short film. The question is, what do you do from here? Does this controversy really devalue the artworks or are they going to increase in value? Is everyone who owns a Charles Krafft piece going to suddenly have to explain to them that the values behind the purchase weren't the values behind the process- but then how to do you justify putting money in this guy's pocket?
39
"Fuck off with your fucking fake statistics. If you actually think googling a word count is going to give you real information, then you're stupid ..."

I must have touched a nerve.

"Googling a word count" was good enough for Jen Graves when she was trashing Charles Krafft.

"I word-search googled right now and discovered that Slog is incredibly hateful against gays because of their proliferation of the words 'faggot' and 'hate'.
"

Nobody who reads Slog can think for a moment that it is about hating gays, or loving Christians. It is about loving gays, and hating Christians.

TK
40
HA! Krafft has pulled a great con on the over-intellectualized art establishment. Enjoy your Nazi swag bitches!
41
In case you didn't actually the entry- she spoke to witnesses and friends who qualitatively underscored an identifiable fact.

Also, you clearly lack the ability to identify irony- which might be why your response to "this guy is capitalizing on a horrendous tragedy" is "Slog did it first!"

So, you know, that shows really excellent, Christ-like Christian priorities. Just because no one is casting stones (which, uh...well...) doesn't mean no one is guilty of sin.

Additionally, Christians, particularly in large collectives, make fucking idiots of themselves without any additional help from Slog. Slog is just a highly biased aggregate. Not all biases are created equal, just having one and owning to one doesn't mean you aren't qualified to criticize other biases. Especially, in this case, where false representation plays a huge part.
42
ahem, *read. Carry on.
43
and just to be absolutely clear, I've been reading the Stranger for about 13 years, and Slog for as long as it's existed, and I don't recall off hand (though there may have been) a single instance where Slog outed or attacked a Christian or Christian community (and they surely have given them a place at the debate table, ask Dan Savage) where they didn't thoroughly deserve it. Usually based on what actions they were committing, rather than what they were typing out on the internet, which, one can agree, is a dime-a-dozen occurrence.

The real difference? There's no real large connotation to being critical of the Christian religion, because the Christian religion has asserted itself in a position of superiority. Christian kids don't get ejected from public schools for having Christian beliefs. Christians don't really get to run around screaming about how they're going to get fed to the lions. And Christians who get fucked over are usually getting fucked over by fellow Christians. That dynamic is NOT APPLICABLE here.
44
maybe a delicate painting of a humerously ironic lynch rope can replace him in the top 25. go white boys!!
45
On the positive side, there is little chance that a kitschy looking Hitler head teapot can further the goals of white supremacists. Krafft's delusion obviously affects more than his political beliefs.
46
I enjoy his art regardless of his personal beliefs, but I don't know if I would be comfortable purchasing it.
47
didn't intend that to sound so mean towards you jen. I love your work and your honesty.
48
The little bubbles he's made in the pond haven't traveled as far as he might have hoped. Being shocking for shock's sake doesn't last, and this Nazi shit will eventually all be in the hands of his apologists and nazi sympathizers, so his place in history seems sealed. He'll be another old, decrepit "bad boy", the worst kind of artist.

Look for Krafft to take ze easy way out in his bunker on Beacon Hill zumtime zoon, yes?
49
Could this be performance art? Meta-irony of some sort?

(By the way, anyone seen his weird wikipedia article? could use some revision...)
50
Ask the Native Americans if they give a shit about the jews.
51
The weird thing is that, in spite of his ridiculous ideology, the artwork itself clearly works against that ideology. For instance, the Hitler teapot is really creepy and menacing, and not likely to inspire favorable feelings towards Hitler. So, like many artists, maybe his artistic sensibilities are on a higher level than his obviously pathetic intellect (but I've never been too impressed with his art).

I completely disagree with Owens' comment about Seattle's "misguided kind of false tolerance going on here." We can all figure out for ourselves that white supremacy is bad--- it is not necessary for "the art community" to make sure everyone's marching in step. If that's how it works in Brooklyn or Boston, I'm glad I'm not there. And the notion that tolerance is to blame for Krafft's stupidity is utter nonsense. Our sense of humanity and justice comes from compassion, not conformity.
52
"I did confront him, like, 'Do you consider yourself a neo-Nazi or sympathetic to that?' And he said no, that he didn't," Ott said.
Casually inviting him to exhibit a swastika wedding cake in a Bumbershoot exhibition (of all places)without doing any of the curatorial or critical work it takes to evaluate his art and its validity is exactly why the "local art glitterati" should be taking a long hard look at themselves and their schtick-I mean-is not Yoko Ott the head of the new Behnke Foundation to advance NW artists out of the area-blah blah blah? Promote away fool-and all the other self-appointed art elite that have embraced this charlatan and the such. Oh, and drop the "like" in your delivery Ms.Ott-I believe you left Junior high some time ago.
53
Yes, #51, we should all embrace the ugliness instead of coming out for tolerance and decency. If we don't, the nazis have won by losing, and we'll have played into their hateful hands by demanding peace and respect. Well said, well said.
54
I DO NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT, I FUCKIN' SALUTE YOU, Charles Krafft!

THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO. SYMPATHY FOR HEBREWS SHOULD HAVE NEVER REACHED THE SHORES OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. IT IS NOT OUR BURDEN TO CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE.

CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
55
"Maybe what's hardest to accept is that a man so totally, radically, fist-pumpingly opposed to ideology—a guy you wanted to root for at the end of a bloody, painfully ideological century—himself seems to have succumbed to an ideology."

yeah; but it's still the least politically correct ideology you could have; so I dont see your point. It seems pretty consistent to me. He basically sounds like an anti-globalist that thinks the demonization of WASPS is a convenient smokescreen. If any cultural/religio/racial group eventually rises to the top of the global pyramid scheme it would obviously end up being Jewish folk as the other groups are all intermixing and secularizing. As I said; consistent.
57
@53-- your comment has almost nothing to do with what I actually said. "Embrace the ugliness?" I said nothing of the kind. We can allow objectionable ideas and artwork to exist without embracing them-- and we won't bring about the peace and respect you claim to believe in by "kicking their ass down the block" (as Owens' suggests) when someone steps out of line with what we think is okay. It's really sad that you seem to believe that peer-pressure and conformity (white supremacists' favorite tactics) are all that keep people from becoming white supremacists.
58
Thank you Mr Kraft. Your art is representing what we all wish to say.
59
Here we have another case of something extremely common in Seattle. People granting a pass to bigotry by explaining away the obvious as 'sarcasm' or 'hipster-ia' or 'edginess'. Not all bigots and antisemites are toothless southerners or mountain hillbillies. Some are actually fairly talented. Others are mildly intelligent (in non-historical/sociological/analytical fields).

It sounds like people dismissed Kraffts racism because he didnt fit the 'ignorant, babbling bigot' or 'violent, bootsnbraces skinhead' moniker that many 'progressive' Seattlites tell themselves are the hallmarks of 'racists'.

Here is the kicker: Hes not alone. I dont know a latino or asian person in western WA that doesnt have countless stories of commonplace bigotry. I dont mean 'bad stares' either, I mean things ranging from goading insults to aggression. And as you can guess, for African Americans and Natives in the region, its much much worst (I say that as one). Yet somehow the Seattle art scene and the region in general are given a carte blanche 'tolerant' rating...mostly by the very people who either fit into Krafft's type of anti-social normative behavior or from the endless number of people who excuse it.

"I know he called jose a s**c, but I promise you he isnt racist"

"Oh he doesnt mean anything by those black jokes, I swear hes not racist...but you know there is some truth to...."

"Oh I dont have anything against jews...but you do know they run our banking system and foreign policy!"

This type of mindset is waaaaay too fucking common in this region, and it only persists because no one stands up to it...partially because despite yourselves many of the locals here agree in one or another instance.
60
It's bad enough that Krafft has been able to parade his bigotry as 'art', it's worse that he can also be allowed to fabricate 'history.' Anthony Johnson did not own enslaved people--though he did have indentured servants. Sahara29 has his/her facts wrong as well. In 1640, there was a case of runaway servants whose punishment was race based--but beyond the fact that they lived in Virginia, there was no connection to Johnson. They were not his servants. Much of this seems to be garbled misunderstanding of the PBS series on 'Africans in America.' website here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3… Tangential to Krafft, art and misinterpreted irony, but I'm a historian, and hate to see history and race misused by guys who, if they weren't producing clever Hitler ceramics, would simply be considered creepy neo-Nazi racist wankers.
61
years of exposure to Jewish behavior turned me from an admirer to a severe critic of Jews, who can fail to notice today that the one thing you can't do is criticize them? and therefore it will become the one thing you must do to keep any self-respect
62
Charlie got old, but he never got wise.
63
I should add that of course everything krafft made was pure shit, and it's no surprise that a bunch of dumb hipsters took it for ironic twat-art...these are not bright people, they don't know art they just know what they like, their crap will not survive the collapse of this dying civilization which will hopefully also bring about the extinction of the diseased white race
64
lmao @ all the hipsters furiously denying they ever enjoyed this guy's art now that they've found out he believes something they don't like.

modern art is a huge leftist echo chamber that hasn't produced an original thought in decades
65
You people are so damned silly. If Krafft were a Stalinist or a Maoist there would be no controversy at all.
66
dudebro: the tea party's most respected art critic.
67
If Krafft were a Stalinist or a Maoist he would be working for the Stranger, or on the faculty somewhere.

TK
68
I'm shocked, shocked to find that the artist who loved making swastikas is a Nazi sympathizer...Actually what's really shocking is there are people who are ok having Nazi symbols hanging in their house "ironically"...what do you tell your Jewish friends when they come over "oh don't worry about those swastikas fridge magnets, they're ironic"...They may be "ironic", but they're still swastikas and are a symbol used by an organization who killed millions of people, so if you buy this art you aren't being "ironic", you're being ignorant.
69
Everybody calm down. You sound like hysterical weaklings. What's worse than Charles' "views" and "beliefs" is your apparent decision to be threatened by them.
70
Charles is a genius, so what if he does not share the same historical beliefs as you he does not have to. Does that mean that he treats people of different races or religions with disrespect? No! I personally have witnessed his continued kindness and support of the art/young community black,white,jew or otherwise. This whole article is a bummer and further promotes this negative sensationalism our "wiser" press men and women so often pump through our media. Everyone is in a uproar over symbols and his beliefs and not his daily actions. Jen Graves you are not a PI and your "facts" always seem fairly lackluster and consist of nameless informants with hurt feelings.
71
Why can we NOT question the 6 million? Why is it when WWII is brought up, the first thing people say is Holocaust? There were 50 million killed in WWII, originally the Poles and Soviets claimed 4 million were gassed at Auschwitz, but had to revise it through the years to a million and now it appears that number is not correct based on a review of records, the number of deaths is less than a million. Why is it assumed that no one survived these Camps and that only Jews were in them? Why when anyone asks questions, they called a "denier" and treated like a heritic in the Middle Ages? This thread is a prime example of a lot of programed people.
72
@71 I have no problem with people who question 6 million or anything else you mentioned. Charles denies it happens altogether. That's as offensive as saying slavery never happened or blacks were never lynched or women are never raped. I was facebook friends with Charles and his anti-Jewish posts go far beyond anything you mentioned.
73
This has got to be the most popular Stranger article ever among white pride folks (never white power).
Welcome! Let me wrap my poncho around your bare, bony, white shoulders. Soup?

Anyway, I'm so disappointed. The craftsmanship, the perversion of historic tropes, the irony was a compelling package, assuming its author was sane.

I defend the right of artists to examine potent symbols. But I now wonder if the imagary of Nazism doesn't have the occult power the Nazis claimed it had. That Krafft's use of these images slowly transmogrified his mind. The grimoire now commands the magus. Perhaps Krafft was too weak to withstand the thrall of its invested meanings.
Pathetic worm tangled with tools beyond his ken.
74
@64 hey you stole my phrase. This isn't really related but this kinda makes me think of what happens whenever I talk to anyone else about liking NON or Coil, but I liked it because it sounded like I was in outer space, not because of some hate-speech, but then again these are actually different cases so what do I know, I just know if I mention him at a party I'm not invited back.
75
I, too, thought the Kara Walker comparison wasn't quite spot on--since she, with or without her art, would have encountered the modern legacy of slavery in America.

And all too predictably, this POS Krafft agreed--but because, as a black woman, Walker, ahem "gets to" play the race card. He seems to be against the very idea of genuine political expression coming from a place of personal experience.

My wife came up with a much better comparison: it'd be like if we found out today that Picasso was an ardent Fascist, and Guernica was a celebration of the Fascists' glorious victories over the Republicans.
76
Charlie sent me an e-mail once referring to "Martin Luther Coon" and making other remarks that sure seemed "racist" and "white supremacist" to me.

Racism isn't just a matter of "not sharing the same historical beliefs", is it?

He also seemed to think it was OK for the Germans to invade and occupy France and other countries, and that local resistance to the Nazi occupation deserved the retribution it received. And , yes , he does deny the holocaust.
77
Racism is America's original sin.
78
Speaks volumes (as do many comments here) about Seattle and many there who have used their anti Israel ( bus ads) to couch what's really going on. What's up Seattle with you and the Jewish People? Latent hatred ? Maybe its time to get it all out in the open. Here's your most famous and revered painter who it turns out is a Nazi sympathizer and you all have been holding him and his garbage Nazi art as something special? Shame on all of you and your intellectual twaddle half trying to justify why you didnt see it for exactly what it was. His art should be smashed at the Town Square and he should be shunned from now on. Any museum that continues to show it should be defunded. Didn't enough people die to rid the earth of these fascist racist symbols?
79
There certainly seems to be a good deal of devoted Holocaustians here! Without mocking your faith too much, I would simply like to point out that the Jewish Hollow-Cau$e ™ is currently the ONLY historical event that is ILLEGAL to examine from a different point of view. And thanks to the internet and Youtube videos like “One Third Of The Holocaust” this Jewish lie is breaking down more and more every day.
80
@76, YES, it was OK for Germany to invade and occupy France, remember France declared War on Germany Germany did NOT declare War on France. Please know your history before you are ourtaged. And YES, Germany was justified in taking measures against Partisans, which was provided for in the Geneva Convention, afterall, France had officially surrendered and Partisan activities in Nations which have surrendred are illegal under international Law. The Soviets were not signers of the Geneva Convention and left troops behind lines to engage in horrible actions against German troops and their own civilians. Please know your history before you get outraged.
Finally, it is a persons fundemental right to examine evidence and beleive whatever he or she wants to believe, no one here has a right to force Charlie or anyone else to conform to a standard text of events, need I say the world is flat.
81
See, I thought Nazis were a zero sum when it comes to emotion. They are relegated as the clowns who tried to commit genocide and got destroyed by everyone. Hitler arguments and jokes are considered useless, emotional pomp.

They are ubiquitous and meaningless in society now. Referencing them is a sign of no creativity. Deniers are so vilified because we all understand what happened.

SO, isn't this guy a horrible artist who has always been a horrible artist?

Put in comic terms: He puts wolverine on everything, it's all punchy but not creative and overdone to hell.
82
Thanks Jen for taking on a difficult topic. I've kept Charlie Krafft as a FB "friend" solely to remind myself that racism and anti-semitism are alive and well in my community. It's upsetting to read the comments beneath his posts, both for the racist name-calling and the tremendous amount of energy expended on the construction of elaborate theories designed to blame the victims of historical atrocities. These people see evil jewish overlords behind every rock. They are ridiculous, but ignoring their ideas is dangerous.
83
Nice to see Krafft's fellow dirt-bag Nazis rallying here to impotently take an awful stand.
84
I love Charlie Krafft. Charlie is someone who the longer you know him, the more special he becomes. Now he's even more special - he's a hero!

It's sad he's had to live among all you pathetic, hateful liberals that infest the beautiful city of Seattle. Most spewing their hate here are judging art by ideology; whatever fits your political ideology you accept as "art" and admire. Conversely, when you and Jen Graves discover that Charlie's art might have the "wrong" ideology, hmmm, it becomes suspect.

I would say plenty of the anonymous commenters here are Jewish operatives who jump in wherever Hitler and the Holocaust is the subject, making their very pro-Jewish comments while hiding their Jewishness. It's rampant. And it's dishonest. The U.S. Northwest coast is a faggy, über-liberal enclave of folks who really do want to take over the world and form it in their own image. I appreciated those who pointed out the anti-Christian bias that is so strong. There are no more intolerant people than these types of homosexual and anti-White extremists, and it certainly shows in this article and the majority of comments.

Thank you Charles Krafft for not compromising your honestly-arrived-at beliefs. And thanks to those few who have pointed this out.
85
I never heard of this guy, but I appreciate the article!

It reminds me of the recent story about the Zen master in LA who had been sexually abusing female students for 50 years, and all the insiders knew about it, but nobody ever made a big deal of it until now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/…
86
79- "I would simply like to point out that the Jewish Hollow-Cau$e ™ is currently the ONLY historical event that is ILLEGAL to examine from a different point of view. "

It's not illegal in 95% of the world, and is actually encouraged in the Islamic world. Questioning any claim Muslims have about their persecution or the Prophet Mohammad and you will be hounded the world over. Saying "Throughout history Muslims have done as much or more injustice then they've been subject to" would fall under "insulting Islam" which is punishable by death. Questioing whether the Armenian genocide did happen in punishable in Turkey. So you are 100% wrong.
87
@84 Nazi Friend of Charlie Krafft:

That's right, this comments section is a Jewish conspiracy! Look over there - that lamp is a Jewish conspiracy! Look outside - the tree is a Jewish conspiracy.
88
Personally, I defriended Charlie a couple of years ago, as I find his political opinions offensive.

But all this stuff about him pulling the wool over peoples eyes, or Seattle "celebrating" him, or him raking in the dough- thats just baloney.

Charlie has always been a difficult person, and a lot of people have always steered clear of him. He has not been "celebrated" in Seattle- he hasnt even had a gallery show here in decades, and he has never had a major museum solo show around here, much less a retrospective. Curators here have occasionally included a piece in a group show, but he is not exactly a critical or musuem or collector darling.

Any works of his in local museums were almost certainly donated by collectors, not purchased outright by museums throwing money his way.

We "celebrate" people like Gary Hill or Dale Chihuly, we give museum shows to people like Patti Warashina, or Fay Jones, or Jeffry Mitchell- you know, women, and gays. Not Charlie. I would say he is pretty good at reaping what he sows, scaring away serious money, collectors, and curators.

And as far as money- I would be amazed if Charlie makes anywhere near as much as a Union Garbageman. He sure doesnt make as much as a college professor. He squeaks by, making a living as an artist, which, in and of itself, is a major accomplishment, but as far as I know, he doesnt own a house, or a car, or have health insurance, and he sure doesnt wear gold doogie chains with diamond studded swastikas hangin off em.

In short - Seattle did not shower Krafft with money, acclaim, fame, and art world status.
Nobody was ever "fooled" or "scammed" by him.

He has been making art for 30 plus years, and some people have bought it. Some of it is good, some of it not so good. He is a lot LESS objectionable than a bunch of artists I know who are drug addicts, wife beaters, crooks, and creeps, who are far more wealthy and famous than he is.

Is his political stance creepy? You betcha.
Should the art scene in Seattle, whatever that is, somehow have lynched him, or kicked him in the balls, or sent him to re-education camp for his views?
I dont think so.
There are plenty of jerks in the art scene, just like any scene.

I think its great Jen wrote this, but I dont think we need months of self criticism meetings over our failure to properly deal with Krafft.
89
@87 who wrote: "Look over there - that lamp is a Jewish conspiracy! Look outside - the tree is a Jewish conspiracy."

I expected this, and you, Bic, have not disappointed me. I used the word Jew in only one sentence, but you picked right up on it.

Where did it come from that everyone has to love Jews? As a tribe or as individuals, you are not at all loveable! The fact that Jews are all over comment pages like this one, defending their myths of innocence and attacking "Nazis", is no secret. It's very tiresome and, hopefully, more non-jewish people will tire of it sooner rather than later.

I do not love jews but I do love Charlie Krafft!
90
I don't even know who here is a troll and who is a Nazi. I just wanted to point out that the labored wordsmithing of a Nazi (see "Jewish Hollow-Cau$e ™" above) makes me think of middle school kids who think it's original to put a trademark next to something they think will shock the rest of the room.
91
I checked out that podcast and looked into some of the other stuff you wrote about [good job by the way]. The guy seems basically fine; just deeply, profoundly unfashionable and politically incorrect; which is of course ugly. He sounds like a level-headed, objective intellectual who's obsessed with some obscure, fringe ideas about history and trends. I always thought his art was a bit shallow and one trick pony but now it's definitely more than that; and better for it. Bottom line; he doesnt sound like a hateful dick to me; just someone who fell into a deeply unfashionable rabbit hole. Maybe if I was more well read regarding history and race politics I would be outraged like everyone else; but I dont see the "hate" everyone is talking about. I mean if he wants to harm people because of their race then thats another thing; but I doubt thats the case here.
92
It's nice to know the guy is an asshole. His art contains far too many "recent" cultural references to stand through time, anyhow.

We can understand the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures without any sort of context. They're beautiful to us without knowing that such-and-such statue of Venus was really meant as commentary on such-and-such historical event we've long forgotten.

Guernica is a beautiful and moving painting regardless of Spanish civil war history. I have no idea the history of Goya's the Executions of the 3rd of May, but I still find the painting pretty.

Will someone who has forgotten Hitler find this sculpture pretty? Will we need to remember this asshole's FB page to fully understand its complexities?

I think history has ruled on the atrocities of WWII. Who cares if an beloved artist and a bunch of anonymous posters want to rage against history?

Maybe instead we should re-examine the artists we consider great in the NW.
93
@88 FTW! That's about as clear-eyed commentary on the article and Charlie I've read so far.
94
@89 Nazi Friend of Charlie Krafft

I do not see much originality in your tiresome thinking either, and you're still seeing evil Jews behind every sofa cushion. Who said I'm Jewish? Who said I have to love Jews to combat ignorant paranoid delusional drones such as yourself? What? I should maybe love Nazis?
95
Re: #91,
Finally, someone is talking some sense instead of holier than thou bs.
96

@89 why do we all have to love jews?

2 words: soul music
97
Roq La Rue did a Krafft show within the last decade and they continue to represent him.

http://www.roqlarue.com/artists-71-Charl…
98
The homophobia statements I've read about Krafft don't seem to ring true to me. I've seen him with a younger Hitler Youth kind of a guy with him who I took to be his Zucker-Junge. The younger man was dressed in the drag of a 1930's German man, missing only the armband to complete his fascist cosplay. I just assumed...
99
The evidence does not support the conventional narrative of 'the Holocaust'. The evidence supports Krafft's views on 'the Holocaust'. As for race: one is either asleep or awake and Krafft is awake.
100
#99- LOL no,
101

So this man was admired when he flattered the frivolity of those in the Pacific Northwest art scene but now that it is shown that he is serious about the future of his race and historical truth he is worthy of contempt?

I know who I find worthy of contempt.
102
Re the comments of 80.
France and England declared war on Germany AFTER Germany invaded Poland, they had agreed to defend Poland if it was attacked. Many other countries who had not declared war on Germany such as the Netherlands were attacked by Germany.
There is nothing in the Geneva Conventions that authorise "retributions" against a resistance.
Sure, a resistance can be fought, but "retribution", such a the rounding up and burning of all 650 men women and children such as was done in Oradour-sur-Glane, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur…) and burning them to death because they may have harbored a member of the Resistance, is not authorized by any rules of war. The ruins of this town still stand as a testament,one example of many to the German barbarity.
I also not that 80 dodged the racism issue completely.
Racism is fundamentally about a lack of compassion and respect for other people.

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