SPELL BINDING

Click on image to enlarge

LARS VILK: A WORD OF ART

Click on image to enlarge

"Lars Vilks was born in Helsingborg, Sweden. He earned a Ph.D. in art history from Lund University in 1987, and worked at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts from 1988 to 1993. From 1997 to 2003, he was a professor in art theory at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts. As an art theorist, Vilks is a proponent of the institutional theory of art."

Lars is not running for his life; he is creating for his life. It's not easy being an artist for Lars, especially after he had depicted Mohammed as a roundabout dog.

For examples:
1. Regularly receives death threats. One woman was charged with uttering a death threat.
2. A generic roundabout dog created by Lars & local children, was later set on fire.
3. "We announce a reward of $100,000 to anyone who kills this infidel criminal. This reward will be raised to $150,000 if he is slaughtered like a lamb," said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. Lars replied, "I suppose this makes my art project a bit more serious. It's also good to know how much one is worth."
4. An attempt to burn down his home was made.
5. An assassination attempt was thwarted this past March 6, 2010.
6. A suburban Pennsylvania woman known by the alias "Jihad Jane" was charged with plotting a murder attempt on Lars.
7. May 11, 2010, Lars was attacked while giving a talk about free speech at Uppsala University.

When I received word that Lars was visiting Toronto, it seemed imperative that I obtain a photo of him holding a FREE SPEECH card. Security was tight, but penetrated. Voila!