Social commentator Cordell Riley warned an advert portraying former Premier Ewart Brown as a gangster could reinforce negative images of blacks.And Mr Riley predicted Manuel Palacio’s ‘Black Apartheid’, the City Hall exhibition promoted by the flyer, is likely to create a lively debate across the Island.Mr Palacio’s exhibition features one piece with Progressive Labour Party MPs with blonde hair and blue eyes; another called ‘I Hate White People’ shows Bermuda’s streets renamed Old Boys Club Place, Oligarchy Place, Discrimination and Cohorts Way. The advert has a picture of Dr Brown wearing a suit and brandishing a gun, under the headline ‘Black Apartheid’ with a list of ‘stars’ including Premier Paula Cox and other Progressive Labour Party MPs.In Wednesday’s edition of The Royal Gazette, Mr Palacio explained he believes Government is running the country from a similar perspective to South Africa’s apartheid government.Mr Riley, the president of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda, who stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity, said Mr Palacio is entitled to use his poetic licence to provoke.But he said while he had not seen the exhibition, he had concerns over the flyer.“Perhaps my main concern is that the imagery he uses, based on the flyer to promote the exhibition, the ‘gangsta-like’ character, and his own personal description of the exhibit, may support negative images of blacks which have been sustained over centuries,” said Mr Riley. “While this may be encroaching on his poetic licence, he may have been able to get his point across using imagery which may not carry such historical baggage.”He said of Mr Palacio’s exhibition, which runs from tomorrow until August 9: “Manuel Palacio, an artist who is not new to controversy, is likely to generate passionate discussion about his latest exhibition.“The term itself is likely to spark criticism. Not having seen the exhibition, I can only comment on Mr Palacio’s remarks on same. An artist, by definition, has poetic licence and will often use that licence to provoke. I am reminded of my college days in the UK when a show called ‘Spitting Image’ used to come on.“It was a puppet show that satirically attacked all. Eventually, nothing was sacred. At one point you were laughing hysterically while later on you were deeply offended.“The same can be said of Mr Palacio: some works of his you enjoy, others you could be offended by. His latest works is no doubt likely to fall in the latter category.”Mr Palacio has said he was frustrated that an overseas artist was hired to create the Dame Lois Browne Evans sculpture. Mr Riley continued: “I believe, here, that Mr Palacio may have been attempting to tap into frustration that goes beyond the parameter of artists. And, as such, he is likely to get support from some quarters.”