Artistic Freedom Maine painters turn their emotional reactions to Sept. 11 into works of art

Mention “9-11” to artist Robert Indiana, now of Vinalhaven, and be prepared for an angry response. Known for his focus on love – he was launched into the art world when he painted the word “LOVE” in bold letters – Indiana still reacts strongly to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a year after the tragedy.

He lost a friend on Flight 11, the plane bound for California that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. He was in New York City that fateful day and witnessed the collapse of a building that annoyed and yet entranced him. A longtime artist, Indiana saw his old Bowery neighborhood change in an hour from a cozy art enclave to a disaster zone.

An ardent patriot, Indiana has six American flags waving on his roof. The front of his Vinalhaven home is covered with the Stars and Stripes.

“On September 11, I will mark the day by lowering the flags,” Indiana said in a telephone interview.

Shortly after the attack, Indiana produced a painting that featured Afghanistan at the center of a bull’s-eye. The words around the center read, “Just as in the anatomy of man every planet must have its hind part.”

“It’s a rather harsh statement,” Indiana said of the painting. “I’m not very fond of Afghanistan, you know.”

The painting still hangs in his home, the former Odd Fellows Hall on Vinalhaven. Museum directors have viewed it, tried it out to small crowds then quietly handed it back. “No one wants to hang it, you see,” he explained.

Life goes on, and Indiana recently has been occupied with a display of his work in China. His premiere showing in Shanghai was taken down recently. It captured media attention, and now Indiana said he is working on a piece of art that features the Chinese word for love which is “I.”

Scratch the surface, however, and his “love in the works” attitude gives way. Reflecting on the Afghanistan painting, Indiana said it is in keeping with the current military attitude in this country. “Given Bush’s attitude – ‘let’s march in and kill Saddam Hussein’ – there’s an aggressive note in our government and this is an aggressive painting.”