Depending on your age you may or may not know who Lee Harvey was. The rules of journalism dictate that I should write “Harvey” or “Mr. Harvey”. Lee would say fuck that, and so, in his honor, fuck that, it’s Lee.
We were not as close as I would have liked, but we did fold our clothes at the same laundromat, we drank in the same bar(s), and he was one of a very short list I would walk into Starbucks and share coffee and conversation with. The coffee sucked but the conversations more than made up for it.
Lee was a knight. He would probably say fuck that too, but I’m telling the story, and to me he was a knight. His paintbrush was his lance, Jacksonville was his kingdom to protect, even when he had to protect her from herself.
His work was controversial from the beginning. It made people with hearts and minds to care about others and to think for themselves, care more, and think more. It made those with closed minds and cold hearts, angry.
That anger exploded in 1997 when Lee displayed a painting of Adam and Eve in his 5 Points Gallery from a window that faced the Riverside Presbyterian Church. You would have thought the church would have appreciated some Biblical Art. They did not. Maybe it was because it was Adam and Eve sans fig leaf.
However, if I remember my Bible correctly, that was before they sinned, so again, what was the big deal? Maybe it was because their “naughty parts” were what some described as exaggerated in size. That was the big deal. Long story short, Lee was brought up on pornography charges, He closed his gallery and moved to New York City.
Some breathed a sigh of relief, relief that wouldn’t last long. He continued his work from afar and proved to be just as big a thorn to the hypocrites, the racists, and the bullies of our city, as he had been before.
Lee rode back into town in 2000. His lance had worked up a new exhibit of paintings he dubbed, Jesusville. Jesusville was an abstract satirical take on a Southern town (Jacksonville). Four years later Lee added the pen to his arsenal and turned Jesusville into a book, Jesusville Speaks: A Southern City Tells All.
In between debut of his art exhibit and his book he traveled back and forth between New York City and Jacksonville. He also began his battle with cancer, mesothelioma.
His travels, his battle with cancer and his fight against inequality, the klan, nazis, greed, mega corporations, mega churches, and injustice in general, would continue until his death and through his art will continue long after ours.
I called him a knight and I believe he was, but I also remember an interview he did where he said; “What I do is create totems, cast out demons, heal the sick and enlighten the unenlightened. I would be given way too much credit by being called anything more than a shaman or a revolutionary.”
The city of Jacksonville Florida has lost her Shaman.
