This was a very disturbing
painting in a
student art exhibit at
Colorado State University in
1992.
The painting was Ernie receiving anal sex from Bert, with Big Bird looking in through a window. The artist, whose name sadly escapes me, captured our friends perfectly. Of course I don' t think the Children's Television Workshop would have appreciated this at all.
Obviously, this plays on all of the Bert and Ernie rumors, but the painting probably wouldn't even have been noticed by most people if it wasn't on the cover of the student newspaper which actually got distributed all over Fort Collins--you know, grocery stores, day care centers, places like that.
Some heads rolled, but I think the painting itself was pretty much protected as first amendment expression, or satire.