targeting target

The obvious, maddening, difficulty with Target support for the NGA's Jasper Johns show was the explicit identification of the corporation's logo with the painter's imagery. No doubt, it constitutes a real coup in the history of corporate buy-outs of the ostensible authority and legitimacy of art. Maybe we've forfeited earnest outrage because we -- in the business -- don't really believe museums and artists have that kind of moral heft to confer anyway. (For better or worse, the public-at-large still believes.) So, we're stuck with just laughing it off ? It is funny in a pathetic sort of way. But the memo reproduced above from the NGA press packet for the Johns exhibition is over the top. Targeting the Community? That has an unpleasant, ominous ring. Could this be more absurd? Somebody call Hans Haacke ... What's WalMart's likely response? How's "Walling the Community" sound? They missed the boat on Richard Serra's MOMA show ....
(Serra picture from the MOMA website)