One Grand Gallery Portland Posts Trump Beheading Painting

One Grand Gallery, an art gallery in Portland, Oregon, has posted a graphic painting of President Donald Trump being beheaded with a knife to his throat. Be forewarned that the image and language are both disturbing. The painting includes the words “F*ck Trump.”

A man named Brett Hart first posted a photo on Facebook of the painting as it appeared on a window. “Wow! Saw this today on se 10th, man! Is that sending a peaceful tolerance message, if you have small children imagine the conversation this is gonna be…. #kidsdonotneedthiscrap!” he wrote.

After outrage grew online, the gallery took down the image after receiving “threats.”

Portland Police spokesman Christopher Burley, asked whether police have received complaints about the painting, told Heavy, “I have looked for calls in this area of Portland from 7/1/18 to present. I have located no complaints about One Grand Gallery, located at 1000 E Burnside St. A community member contacted the Bureau of Emergency Communications to inform police of the etching and report threats the caller had seen on social media regarding the gallery. Based on information I read in the call, however, it does not appear this was a ‘complaint.'”

He added, “From the brief narrative in the call, it appears it was information about people speaking of damaging the gallery.”

Here’s what you need to know:

After Criticism, One Grand Gallery Posted the Same Painting Photo on Facebook

The Facebook post One Grand Gallery later deleted.

After online writers started flooding One Grand Gallery’s social media pages with criticism of the painting, the gallery doubled down and posted the same photo on Facebook along with the caption, “The same people offended over a ‘death threat’ are the same people upholding death threats & violence. Irony.” The gallery then deleted the post, which you can see above.

A Twitter page called Educating Liberals was one of those to share the picture of the window painting on Twitter, writing, “Shame on you, One Grand Gallery. This is COMPLETELY unacceptable. I should be calling Secret Service on the owner for threatening our President’s life.”

The photo posted by Brett Hart on Facebook.

The new eventually deleted post sparked additional criticism to flood the gallery’s Facebook page comment thread. “You openly admitted that this is a death threat. Many have taken note of this and reported it,” wrote one woman. People also flooded the page with negative reviews, with one person writing, “I wish I could give this a negative number. Putting disgusting pictures of a sitting President’s head being cut off is the most vile thing you could have shown. If you are looking for ‘real’ art… look elsewhere. This place doesn’t have it!”

The Gallery’s Founder Hid His Face to a Television Crew as He Described Why the Painting Was Removed

Fox12 spoke to a man “who identified himself as the One Grand Gallery’s founder, who refused to give his name and hid his face from a FOX 12 Oregon crew,” and he told the television station that “the graphic image came down following continuous threats and a request from his landlord.”

He declined to explain why the gallery put the image in the window but told Fox12’s Tyler Dumont, “Yeah, but people that are responding, are responding with such anger and violence. People want the gallery to go up in flames with my family.”

The Gallery Has an Exhibit Called ‘F*ck You Mr. President’

On July 13, 2018, the gallery posted a flyer to an exhibit called “F*ck You Mr. President” and wrote, “TONIGHT 7/13 @ 7pm!”

People have filled the comment thread for the gallery with more than 1,000 comments on Facebook, many of them angry. “I hope they shut down your galley for inciting violence against our president. Maybe you should do actual research on what our president has done for our country and stop believing in fake news,” read one. Wrote another person, “I’d be looking for a brick..”

Other anti-Trump artwork was shared on Instagram.

On Facebook, the gallery says it was founded in 2012 and describes itself as a “contemporary art and design gallery, a publisher, a producer of art objects and an agent of creative instigation.”

Heavy has reached out to One Grand Gallery for response by email and phone and will update this story if a response is received.

One Grand Gallery Calls Itself an ‘Agent of Creative Instigation’

One Grand Gallery calls itself a “contemporary art & design gallery and an agent of creative instigation based in Portland, OR.”

It’s top Twitter picture is a sketch of President Donald Trump naked with extremely small genitalia. It’s from November 2016, however. “Sketchy Saturday,” the drawing reads. “11/19! Take a break from the world with some free mimosas & figure drawing at the gallery 1:30-3:30pm @ 1000 E Burnside. $5 suggested #pdx,” says the caption with it.

Other tweets on the page quote famous artists or showcase artwork, both political and non-political. The site advertises live nude sketching events.

Heavy also contacted the United States Secret Service to see whether that agency has received complaints about the painting and/or is investigating it but has yet to hear back.

The painting controversy comes in the wake of members of Trump’s administration being confronted in restaurants as tensions rise throughout the country.