This Art Is Controversial !!

Anyone who would have ever faltered into an art gallery or two knows how popular the image of the Madonna is as an artistic subject. The artwork was housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, and the gallery saw its funding temporarily withdrawn following outrage from the Catholic Church, Mayor Giuliani, and elephants. The gallery sought an injunction and the court sided with them by reinstating their funding and curbing any attempts by the city to remove the piece.

Unsurprisingly, like Ofili’s Virgin Mary, ‘Piss Christ’ came under heavy fire from the religious community because of the apparent lack of respect it displayed for Mr. Jesus and the Christian Faith in general. The artwork was vandalized numerous times and any gallery that displayed it was bombarded with vicious letters and death threats, as was the artist himself.

The most innovative feature of the ‘piss’ statue is that the men’s upper bodies swivel at the pelvis, so that their respective penesia are in their respective hands, and it is only then that they let forth a glorious stream of fluid. The posture of the two men is respectable, almost proud, creating a humorous juxtaposition between the seeming reverence of the subject and the perceived obscenity of the act being committed. Whatever you’re feeling about the art it has always been a topic of debate and being totally ambiguous it hurts some person individuals.