Thorn in the Mayor's side Photograph

Robert Lederman is the President of A.R.T.I.S.T.(Artists Response To Illegal State Tactics) a group dedicatedto First Amendment advocacy for street artists. Lederman has won four Federallawsuits about artists free speech rights and the right to protest. He is a painter, printmaker, musician and filmmaker. Lederman is perhaps best known as the artist who painted hundreds of satirical portraits of NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Giuliani had Lederman falsely arrested, but never once convicted, more than 40 times between 1994 and 2000. The Giuliani portraits appeared thousands of times in the media during the Giuliani era and were a constant subject of controversy during those years. Lederman is featured in the just released documentary Its Giulianitime. His successful lawsuits made it legal to sell art on the street without a license, in NYC Parks without a permit and to protest without a permit on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. For more information visit his website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nycstreetartists/