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Benefit auction for patriot act case
Art in America, June-July, 2005
An auction held on Apr. 17 at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York raised $167,700 for the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) Defense Fund, to help defray the legal costs in a federal case against artist Steve Kurtz and University of Pittsburgh genetics professor Robert Ferrell [see "Front Page," Sept. '04]. Some 50 artists donated works for the event, which included a live auction hosted by actor/writer Wallace Shawn. Among the artists were Vito Acconci, The Atlas Group, Nayland Blake, Cecily Brown, Chris Burden, Joseph Grigely, Hans Haacke, Mike Kelley, Barbara Kruger, William Pope L., Julie Mehretu, Martha Rosier, Richard Serra and Cindy Sherman.
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Kurtz, a founding member of the CAE, and Ferrell continue to face charges of wire and mail fraud and bioterrorism in connection with a bacterial agent that Ferrell acquired on behalf of Kurtz for use in a CAE art project on genetically engineered food that was to have appeared at MASS MoCA. The investigation began after Kurtz awoke on May 11, 2004, to find that his wife had died in her sleep. Local law enforcement authorities responding to his 911 call discovered lab equipment and other "suspicious" material in the house, and then called in the FBI. Kurtz's wife was later found to have died of natural causes. Further, the bacterial agent is considered harmless.
Last summer the charges were reduced to mail and wire fraud, but recent events indicate that the government is still pursuing the bioterrorism charges by way of the Patriot Act, including a subpoena issued to Steven Barnes, another founding member of the CAE, who was forced to appear before a federal grand jury; last year Barnes and eight other artists invoked their Fifth Amendment rights, but this time the government was able to compel his testimony.
The auction garnered more than three times the amount that had been raised since Kurtz's ordeal began last year, though much more will be needed as the investigation continues. If convicted on either the fraud or bioterrorism charges, Kurtz could face 20 years in prison.
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