Artist told to remove gingerbread nazis
An artist’s work made of gingerbread Nazis attracted complaints after it was displayed in a US hardware store window.
Shop owner Charlie Palmer covered the gingerbread men during the weekend and said he wanted them out by of his business by tomorrow.
“He’s gone way overboard this time,” Palmer said of artist Keith McGuckin. “A few of his other displays were on the edge, but never that crazy.”
McGuckin said he chose the subject to provoke thought, not to offend.
“I can differentiate between real Nazis and that the atrocties they performed compared to these little gingerbread men, but I guess some people can’t,” said McGuckin, 50.
Palmer left one of McGuckin’s displays uncovered: a depiction of a suicidal snowman sitting under a hairdryer.
“I want people to say ‘Oh, my gosh’,” McGuckin said. “And once they look at it, say: ’It is kind of pretty’.”
Last winter, McGuckin used Palmer’s shop window, in Oberlin, Ohio to display a “caroler-bashing” snowman and a little boy excited about using his chemistry set to create the illegal drug crystal methamphetamine.
McGuckin is searching for new display space in the town, home of Oberlin College and known for its left-leaning, beads-and-incense image.
“Maybe I just find beauty in bizarre places,” he said.
