Art or Deconstruction: Canadian Artist Uses Screws to Paint Prime Minister

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Feb 26 (MARKET WIRE) --
A lack of federal funding and understanding of the needs of the arts
community has brought unexpected hardship on those whose livelihood
depends on the arts, claims artist Viktor Mitic.

A recent comment by Stephen Harper has aroused anger in the arts
community. Author Margaret Atwood wrote: "It's been suggested that Mr.
Harper's disdain for the arts is not merely a result of ignorance or a
tin ear - that it is "ideologically motivated." All children are born
creative. It's the lack of any appreciation of these activities that is
not ordinary. Mr. Harper has demonstrated that he has no knowledge of, or
respect for, the capacities and interests of "ordinary people."

Toronto artist Viktor Mitic describes his recent portrait of Stephen
Harper: "These tough economic times exacerbated by a slap in the face by
Mr. Harper have made me think harder about saving and survival - so I
decided to use basic construction materials to create my portrait of
Harper. I bought a sheet of plywood and 1500 screws from the local
hardware store. Then I carefully screwed the details of the portrait of
our P.M. onto this board. A friend suggested a name "Screw Harper" as an
appropriate name for this piece.

Viktor Mitic's painting "Screw Harper" will be on display at Pages
Bookstore March 22nd to April 12th 2009, 256 Queen St W,
Toronto, ON M5V 1Z8 416-598-1447

To view an image of Viktor Mitic's work "Screw Harper", please visit
the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/s%20harper.pdf

Contacts:
To schedule an interview with Viktor Mitic:
(416) 259-9955
Email: viktormitic@gmail.com

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