Blasphemies

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Emer Roberts Child and Rat (2010)
‘There could perhaps be no better (or worse, depending on your religious inclination) day to open a blasphemous art exhibition than Good Friday. As many Irish Catholics were dutifully attending church, a group of young, well-dressed Dubliners gathered in the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art to view an exhibition inspired by the country’s new — and much loathed — antiblasphemy law. The first artwork to greet the visitors to “Blasphemous” is a grotesque variation on Michelangelo’s Pieta, with the Virgin Mary transformed into a malicious giant rat.

 

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Derek Murphy Various (2010)
‘There are many people who think I’m the slime of the earth, a hack, a blasphemer, and that I’ll burn in Hell for my iniquity (seriously, they’ve told me so). The truth is that, since studying theology and comparative religion, and then getting my MA and PHD in Literature and Art History, I’m profoundly interested in the delineation and boundaries of belief systems, and how they interact with contemporary, technologically advanced culture.’

 

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Artem Loskutov Icons (2012)
‘The prosecutor’s office of Novosibirsk has officially opened up a criminal case against street artist and activist Artem Loskutov for blasphemy and hate speech offenses after Artem illegally swapped out some street advertisements with his mock icons of Pussy Riot. He was nabbed for leaving his fingerprints on the Pussy Riot icons. When asked how his fingerprints got on the unauthorized street art, Artem replied: “It was a miracle of God.”’

 

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Arahmaia-ni Feisal Lingga-Yoni (1994)
‘When Indonesian artist Arahmaia-ni Feisal first exhibited Lingga-Yoni, she received death threats. Against scrawled Arabic script, the 1994 artwork showed a vermillion red phallus and forest green vulva. They were the ‘lingam’ and ‘yoni’ of the title: representations of gods in pre-Islamic Java. Feisal was condemned as blasphemous by Islamic hardliners. Afraid for her life, she fled to Perth. For years, Feisal believed her most seminal work lost or destroyed. It had, in fact, been moved abroad. Now, for the first time, Lingga-Yoni is back in Indonesia. Not only that. Today it hangs on the walls of the newly-opened Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara or Museum MACAN.’

 

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Adel Abdessemed Décor (2012)
‘For Décor, Abdessemed borrowed the image of Christ crucified from Mattias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, a devotional work created for a monastic hospital of the Order of Saint Anthony. In its original context this image of Christ served to both comfort and humble patients by reminding them of Christ’s suffering. Abdessemed draws upon this theme with his use of industrial grade razor wire, which imbues the work with a visceral prompt for searing pain. As a sculptural group of four identical figures, the artist denies us a focal point, and furthermore emphasizes his objectification of the image through his use of the title Décor. In so doing Abdessemed has reduced one of the most sacred of holy representations in the life of Christ to serialized ornamentation.’

 

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SimulaM I Am Jesus Christ (2019)
‘The description reads: “I Am Jesus Christ is a realistic simulator game inspired by the stories from the New Testament of the Bible. Get into old times and follow the same path of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. The game is covering the period from the Baptizing of Jesus Christ and to the Resurrection. Have you ever wondered [what it would be like] to be like Him – one of the most powerful and privileged people in the world. Are you ready to fight with Satan in the desert, exorcising demons and curing sick people, or calm the storm in the sea.”‘

 

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Manish Harijan The Rise of Collateral (2012)
‘The acclaimed Nepali painter Manish Harijan’s exhitbition titled The Rise of Collateral in Siddhartha Art Gallery (Patan, Nepal) was charged with blasphemy by the group of World Hindu Federation activists. The author and gallerist were even threatened with death. The police, instead of providing protection, padlocked the gallery. More to that, there is actual legal action against the artist and curator on charges of blasphemy.’

Real Buddha

108 Gods

Laying with Bhairav

Super Nataraj

 

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Hogre ECCE HOMO ERECTUS (2019)
‘A vile poster depicting Jesus as a sodomite and pedophile has appeared outside Rome’s Museum of Modern Art. Titled “ECCE HOMO ERECTUS,” the poster leaves little to the imagination. It shows a depiction of Jesus stands before a boy kneeling in prayer, with a hand on the boy’s head. An erection protrudes from beneath the depiction’s garment, right in front of the young boy’s face.

‘Pontius Pilate uttered the words “Ecce homo,” “Behold the man” (John 19:5), when he presented Jesus to the jeering crowd after Jesus had been flogged and given a crown of thorns. The poster artist, who signs his name “Hogre,” has taken Pilate’s poignant proclamation and added erectus in order to present Christ not as the one who suffered for our sins and carried them to the Cross, but as a sexual being who preys upon boys.

‘When the same poster was first displayed at bus stops around Rome in June 2017, the artist was arrested and charged with blasphemy and faced a fine of up to 5,000 euros or a prison sentence of up to two years.’

 

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Enrique Chagoya The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals (2010)
‘In 2010 a crowbar-wielding Christian woman destroyed a lithograph titled “The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals.” Critics of the piece saw a buxom Jesus receiving oral sex from a man. The artist Enrique Chagoya said the piece was meant to “critique corruption of the sacred by religious institutions” and to comment on the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. The attacker, who was charged with criminal mischief, allegedly screamed, “How can you desecrate my Lord?” before tearing the print at a Colorado art museum.’

 

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Soasig Chamaillard Various (2015 – 2018)

Jeans Marie

Holy Water

 

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Wim Delvoye Various (2007 – 2013)

Tractor, 2008

Twisted Dump Truck, 2013

Concrete Mixer, 2007

Dump Truck, 2013

 

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Sebastian Errazuriz Christian Popsicles (2012)
‘Chilean-born Errazuriz created 100 popsicles made of frozen holy wine­, which served both as artwork and as cocktail refreshment during the 2012 show the exhibition Love It or Leave It at Gallery R’Pure. Once consumed, the Popsicle revealed a wooden stick shaped like a cross with a Christ positioned on it.For added holiness, the popsicles were brought into a church in a cooler and blessed inadvertently by the priest during the Eucharist. The work, meant to address religious fanaticism, went on to be heavily criticized by the Catholic League, which called Errazuriz “a bigot, a hypocrite, and a rip-off artist.”’

 

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Dorota Nieznalska Pasja (2002)
‘The controversial part of ‘Pasja’ is a cross with a photograph of male genitals on it. After the piece had been shown in Gdansk in 2002, the TVN channel broadcast an extensive material on it. Few days after the exhibition ended, the gallery was visited by a group of MPs from the League of Polish Families (an ultra right-wing political party). Under threat of using physical force, the MPs demanded that the work be shown to them, later on, they reported to the public prosecutor’s office in Gdansk that a crime had been committed. Nieznalska was accused of ‘offending religious beliefs of other people, that is Catholics, by publicly insulting […] the object of worship through placing a photograph of female genitals on a Christian symbol – the cross[…]’.

On an Internet portal ‘trojmiasto.pl’, some anonymous members of Mlodziez Wszechpolska (nationalist youth group) threatened that they would ‘hang such artists’ and ‘shave their heads, like the Home Army did with women who were in close relationships with Germans’.

‘Polish government sentenced Dorota Nieznalska because her work “offends religious beliefs”. The artist has been forbidden to leave the country and sentenced to six months of penal labor. How can any artist possibly be sentenced for his or her work?! We live in a country of Inquisition and repression, where ideas and artistic visions of individuals are being persecuted! How should we protest against such Inquisition of the government? Are we to organize a protest march? Or perhaps some more exhibitions, this time deliberately offensive and controversial? How can we speak out about our disagreement with the Dark Ages-verdict of the judges?!’

 

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Juan Davila Holy Family (1985)
‘A Queensland university art gallery says it will not remove an obscene painting of Mary, the mother of Jesus, despite any outcry from church groups. Holy Family by Melbourne artist Juan Davila depicts Mary cradling a giant penis, in the style of the famous Michelangelo sculpture The Pieta.’

 

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Bargain Bin Blasphemy Various (2008 – 2013)

 

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Lakhveer Azad Teresa (2015)

 

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Emiliano Paolini & Rita Marianela Perelli Cake (2018)
‘From May 24 to 28, 2018, the Contemporary Art Festival of Argentina (Feria de Arte Contemporanea de Argentina – FACA) took place in Buenos Aires. Two Argentinian “artists” – Emiliano Paolini and Rita Marianela Perelli – made a cake in the shape of Our Lord Jesus Christ as part of their exhibition.

‘When the Minister of Culture of Buenos Aires, Enrique Avogrado, passed by his exhibition, Paolini, first row below at left, made a mockery of the Holy Eucharist, inviting the Minister, second from the left, and the President of the Festival, third, to come and eat the body of Christ. The blasphemous mockery was received with smiles and both accepted slices of the cake to eat, above and below second row.

‘Catholics from Argentina became indignant – we compliment them for this good reaction – and are promoting a petition asking for the resignation of Avogrado. At this moment the petition counts 28,000 signatures. You may add your protest by signing the petition here.

‘The two “artists” have a long list of blasphemies in their repertoire, as you can witness from the sixth to the tenth rows below. Among many others is their representation of Our Lady of Lujan, Patroness of Argentina, as a Barbie doll. Given this continuous agenda of blasphemies, we wonder whether they are Satanists.’

 

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Maurizio Cattelan La Nona Ora (1999)

 

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Chainsaw Filthy Blasphemy (2017)
‘Unusual, but great vocals drenched in hatred. Goddamn, the guitarist shakes some seriously evil sounding riffs out of his sleeve which even reinforces the impression that there is no time to lose, not even to take a breath. There is just a driving force that’ll push you to listen to the whole record in one go while leaving you with wanting more. “Filthy Blasphemy” is a furious anti-God blast massacre.’

 

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Leon Ferrari Various (2000 – 2007)
‘The Argentine artist Leon Ferrari was perhaps best known for his seemingly blasphemous works. The Virgin Mary in a blender? Check. Saints in a frying pan? He did that too. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a man we now know as Pope Francis, demanded that a 2004 retrospective in Buenos Aires featuring Ferrari’s work be closed immediately, saying it represented a “blasphemous affront.” A judge agreed, but not before a group of Christians could destroy several works.’

 

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Martin Kippenberger Zuerst die Füße (Feet First) (1991)
‘In 2008, during an exhibition at the Museion in Bozen, Italy,[36] a sculpture by Martin Kippenberger depicting a toad being crucified called Zuerst die Füsse (“First the Feet”) was condemned by Pope Benedict as blasphemous.’

 

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Avdey Ter-Oganyan Young Atheist (1998)
‘Ter-Oganyan’s performance in a public Russian square consisted of hacking a series of mass-produced Orthodox icons with an axe. In a surprising turn of events, Ter-Oganyan was stopped while performing and punched by fellow artists, who saw his work as offensive. He subsequently emigrated from Russia under the threat of a criminal case for “igniting religious hatred.”’

 

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Dionysis Kavalieratos Various (2013)
‘On March 14th, 2013, Greek artist Dionysis Kavalieratos was tried in court on blasphemy charges brought on him by members of the ultra-conservative “Genuine Orthodox Christians” Church (the Greek Old Calendarists, that also starred in the “Corpus Christi” charade). The charges were due to the following three sketches exhibited by the artist in a private art gallery. After the artist was acquitted, the plaintiffs and their supporters were up in arms, screaming at the defendant and his lawyer loving christian wishes, such as “cancer on your children”, “you’ll be tortured by demons in hell” and “how much did the arch-rabbi pay you?”. The trial was interrupted and the judges and the defendant were besieged by the crowd and they managed to leave with a police escort.’

Happy Easter

Hidden in Napoleon’s Boudoir

Seven Dicks Jesus

 

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Chelsea Knight Fall to Earth (Blasphemy) (2015)
‘A cycle of short videos inspired by Salman Rushdie’s magical realist novel The Satanic Verses. Each chapter is staged as a live event produced for video and takes as its point of departure themes related to socially condemned speech and other forms of silencing or restraint. “What is at the core of blasphemy? How can a socially condemned or condemnable speech act be engaged in a way that gives it voice and also expresses its danger? As we have seen with the events of Charlie Hebdo and the recent Copenhagen shooting, this is a crucial moment for what blasphemy means in the world and how it is defined, received, and pushed back against.” — Chelsea Knight’

Excerpts

 

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Manuel Ocampo Various (2000 – 2016)
‘Ocampo’s provocative works, which are associated with a grunge counter-culture movement, have been decried as controversial, blasphemous, and lewd. He explains: “The strong symbolism in my paintings is presented as empty signs. I want to push the conventions of painting to the point of ridicule…to go beyond thought.” Ocampo’s style is characterized by his use of coarse brushwork and use of vivid colors, in addition to his dark humor and often macabre subject matter.’

 

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Cosimo Cavallaro My Sweet Lord (2003)
‘Dubbed by the Catholic League “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever”, Cosimo Cavallaro’s My Sweet Lord gained the artist a few death threats, charges of hate speech, protests, and boycotts. His sculpture of a “anatomically-correct” Jesus, with arms stretched out on an invisible cross, was made from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate and was shown in 2007 at Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan. The fact that the statue was completely naked and that the show took place during the 2007 Holy Week caused violent complains of the Catholic League, which succeeded in shutting down the show and having the gallery’s creative director to submit his resignation.’

 

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David Mach Jesus Christ (2011)
‘In 2011, David Mach created a head sculpture of Christ with matches. The sculpture’s ashen remains were displayed in an exhibition at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre, staged to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. While Mach had also included a head of the devil, which he planned to burn in an egalitarian gesture, the Scottish Christian Institute called the stunt “appalling.”’

 

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Mark Ryden Rosie’s Tea Party (2005)
‘The outrage is inspired by Rosie’s Tea Party, a 2003 painting by the self-professed “pop surrealist” artist Mark Ryden, included in a show opening Saturday at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Benito Loyola, CEO of local IT company Loyola Enterprises, is a member of the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission, and he isn’t happy. Loyola has even threatened to slash the museum’s funding for promoting “anti-Christian bigotry.”

‘“Look at this—she’s got a saw in her hand cutting off a piece of ham with the words on the ham ‘Corpus Christ,’” Loyola told local news station WAVY, unpacking just what it was about the painting’s colorful iconography that so enraged him. “That is Latin for ‘body of Christ,’ and the ham is dropping down and eaten by rats.”’

 

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KWAZULU-NATAL, South Africa, November 13, 2019 – ‘Grantleigh Curro School is a small South African school that bills itself as dedicated to “uphold(ing) Christian values and encourag(ing) principled, caring and responsible behaviour at all times,” but currently finds itself mired in controversy over a student art display featuring demonic and anti-Christian imagery.

‘A video by a concerned father went viral last month of paintings, illustrations, and sculptures that included fast food mascot Ronald McDonald replacing Jesus Christ in the Last Supper and God in Michelangelo’s famous painting The Creation of Adam, a depiction of a Jesus figure grotesquely opening his own chest, recurring images of demons and skull-headed figures, and busts of horned figures composed partly of torn-up Bible pages, with more tatters strewn about the table.

‘The display “broke my heart” and “felt like we were crucifying Jesus all over again,” the father said. “My God is not a clown!”’

 

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Ronald Harrison The Black Christ (1962)
‘Inspired by the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, and challenging both the apartheid system and the ingrained notion that Christ was white, the South African painter Ronald Harrison created a very particular Crucifixion scene. He cast Albert Luthuli (president of the illegal African National Congress and 1960 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize) as Christ, and the former Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd (considered as “the architect of apartheid”) and the former Minister of Justice John Vorster as Roman soldiers. After the painting was unveiled in 1962 at St. Luke’s Church in suburban Cape Town, Harrison was arrested and tortured by security police. The painting was banned in South Africa, smuggled into the UK, and returned back to its home in 1997. It is currently held in storage, with a replica on display at the offices of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. A 2007 proposal to permanently exhibit the painting produced public outcry.’

 

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The Bells Angels Black Light Agony (2016)
‘Format : 62 pages, A4, photocopies NB, impression braille, sérigraphie. 30 ex.’

 

 

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p.s. Hey. ** Milk, Hi, Milk. Oh, lucky you. Like I said, even just getting a double espresso, even ‘to go’, is a newfound luxury I anxiously await. I’m getting through this, busy enough not to lose my mind or anything. And, yeah, I get out for walks or to buy food or cigarettes every day. I’m okay. Enjoy your luxuries! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Okay, I’ll try. Everyone, Mr. Ehrenstein’s by now legendary yard/house sale of artful goods is still ongoing as best it can be going through the LA lockdown. To wit, in his words: ‘The Pandemic has put a serious crimp in my Book, CD and DVD sales. However if you live in L.A. you can come over and purchase thrugh “distancing” ie. at the chair at my front door without coming in the house. Write me at cllrdr@ehrensteinland.com and Ill send you a list of for sale items and arrangements can be made.’ ** Dominik, Hi, pal!!!! Very fetus. My goal at this point is to try not to give myself an abortion, and then we’ll see. Of course your SCAB work does my heart good. My yesterday was another day where I know I did stuff since I made it through, but apart from the usual boring stuff like going out to walk/shop, an email or two, talking to Gisele — my favorite of our pieces, ‘Kindertotenlieder, will be going on a small European tour next year, which is great news — a blog post construction or two, … that was all. It was totally skint otherwise. Yikes. Today must be conquered somehow! Yours and mine! Let’s try. Cool, that GIF is from a weird video game called ‘Kids’ that’s in a post about psychedelic video games that someone just sent me as a future guest-post. I would eat a man-sized pancake filled with Nutella in one bite! Hm, … okay, just to go completely out of character for no good reason, how about love like this, Dennis ** Bill, Hey. Your Coil-related task was a better read/think than anything my brain got ahold of yesterday, so thank you for that. Would make a nice little detail in a story or something. Hm. I need to buy a mask. I haven’t worn one since day one of this, but apparently our upcoming somewhat freedom will come only with the price of an ever-present mask. Tonight the French govt announces the de-quarantining guidelines and extent and rules, gulp. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! Thank you again for yesterday all these years later. It was a hit! Never heard of Slack. Strange name for such a thing. I like it. It makes the platform sound like a poem. ** Corey Heiferman, Soviet, or, I guess, post-Soviet synth pop is, or can be, charm central. I’ll check that example. Even the degrees and kinds of nostalgia that you describe feel utterly foreign to me. I’m not sure why or when I become cleansed of nostalgia, if I ever felt such a thing, which I don’t think I did. If I had a time machine I would go back to my days in therapy and ask my therapist why that is. The constraints re: the GIF work are kind of an instinctive thing. They have to remain connected to my writing or my interest in constructing fictions. I’m not interested in them being intentionally visual art or related to video art or anything at all, which is why the idea to frame and put them on a gallery wall is a very tricky one that I’m not yet sure I can find my way into doing and finessing. But that’s it. If it feels right, do it? ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! No, Michael did not bug me. In fact I thought that since the books already exist he maybe decided he didn’t want a blurb after all. But I will write one and send it to him today, and he/you can do whatever he/you like with it. Incredible novel, very obviously. I’ve held up, it seems, yes. We are supposed to vaguely reopen for business in some tentative fashion on the 11th. The govt will announce what that means and entails this evening. Like a kid again, hm, that’s a good way to think about all of this. I’m going to try that. You take care too! ** Jack, Hi. I don’t know who you are or what photos you’re referring to. If you want to say where and what the photos you’re referring to are, and if they’re inappropriately here, of course I will immediately remove them. ** Steve Erickson, You’ve definitely intrigued me about that Lee Jang-ho film. I’ll get on it if I can. Huh. Thanks! ** Right. How about warding off the stay-at-home blahs with some blasphemies. Might help. You never know. See you tomorrow.