Fresno Famous

Sometime next month Peter Reynosa will be displaying his controversial painting about Islam called Good Or Evil? It is a black and white painting that shows a crescent moon and star in white on one side of the painting and on the other side it has a black crescent moon dripping blood and a black star that turns into an Arabian sword. And at the the bottom of the painting are the words in Arabic that say Good or Evil. "The crescent moon and star in white represent the good part of Islam while the crescent moon dripping blood and the star that turns into an Arabian sword represents the evil part of Islam," Reynosa said. The painting was first unveiled this year at Sacramento State on the day that celebrates the birth of Muhammad.

Reynosa described the painting as a think piece. "It is meant to get people to think about the religion of Islam." When asked if he thought Muslims might be offended by this painting he said: "I am sure some will, even though no one should. No one should ever be offended by a piece of art that forces one to think about one's religion and what is good and evil about it. All the painting does is ask the question is Islam a good or evil religion. So is Islam a good or evil religion? Is it good? No. Is it evil? No. Well, like all religions it is both. There are beautiful parts of Islam and there are ugly parts of Islam. I like to say this is a black and white painting but the answer to whether Islam is good or evil is not a black and white answer."

The painting looks like it was influenced by the yin and yang symbol of Taoism. "Yes, it definitely was. I like to say I squared the yin and yang symbol. The color white in the painting symbolizes good while the color black symbolizes evil. And yet, the yin and yang symbol does not stand for good versus evil but for how the opposite forces in the universe require harmony and not antagonism."