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Date: 96-04-01 16:50:02 EST

          By David Morgan
          SMYRNA, Ga (Reuter) - House Speaker Newt Gingrich attacked a
Phoenix museum's exhibit on the American flag Monday, calling it
a prime example of the ``elite'' values that Republicans hope to
defeat in this year's election campaign.
          The Phoenix Art Museum's exhibition entitled ``Old Glory:
the American Flag in Contemporary Art'' had drawn only local
protests up to now.
          Dozens of phone calls and letters and a protest rally by the
American Legion have all been aimed at two of the exhibit's 80
works, according to museum officials. One allows patrons to walk
on the flag, while the second shows the Stars and Stripes draped
over a toilet.
          ``That is the wrong exhibit, for the wrong reasons. We don't
need more pathologies in America,'' Gingrich told business
leaders in his home district. ``I believe they constitutionally
have the right to be pretty weird ... just because you have the
right to do something doesn't mean that's the right thing to
do.''
          The Georgia Republican, a former history professor, drew
particular attention to a work he said showed the American flag
in a toilet ringed by prison bars. ``When I talk about elite
versus classic American values, I think the Phoenix art exhibit
is a perfect example,'' he said.
          Gingrich has never been to the exhibit and an aide said the
speaker got his information from articles and photos that
appeared in The Arizona Republic.
          Phoenix Art Museum Director Jim Ballinger said, ``I would
like to invite Mr. Gingrich to come and see the exhibition --
then with a fully informed mind, speak about it.'' He said the
museum has received no protest calls or letters from people who
have actually visited the exhibit.
          ``He, like many people, is probably getting information on
one or two works of art from an exhibition that includes 80,''
Ballinger said.
          The exhibition is entirely historical, demonstrating how the
American flag has been used as an image in contemporary art
since the end of the Second World War. ``As a history professor,
I should think (Gingrich) would understand the importance of
making all aspects of history available to people,'' Ballinger
added.
          The piece involving a toilet is a 1970 work by pioneer
feminist Kate Millett and appears as an example of political
protest art from the Vietnam era. The other controversial piece
is Dread Scott's work, ``What Is the Proper Way to Display the
American Flag?'', which was picketed during its 1989 debut at
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
          Scott designed the work so onlookers would have to walk
across an American flag in order to sign the comment book. While
Phoenix museum officials retained the original design in order
to show the artist's intent, they added a second comment book so
patrons could avoid being disrespectful to the flag.
       ^REUTER@