Worldly Chatter

I had a comment about my piece ‘Oh Sweet Jesus?’ and stated that I lacked conceptual depth; what was the intention of the artist in making the statue? She may be right; I was not entirely specific on the intentions of the artist and could have gone into more detail about what the controversy was really about. Let’s hope my second time around can answer the questions and add clarity to the story.

When announcements of the exhibit went out they stated it could be viewed from the street from midnight to 1am and 6pm to 7pm; starting April 1^st and closing April 7^th. According to the Catholic League news release on their website one title Naked Jesus-Genitals Exposed-Crucified dated March 29^th Bill Donohue, head of watchdog Catholic League, wrote this about the statue. “As I’ve said many times before, Lent is the season for non-believers to sow seeds of doubt about Jesus. What’s scheduled to go on at the Roger Smith Hotel, however, is of a different genre: this is hate speech. And choosing Holy Week—the display opens on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday—makes it a direct in-your-face assault on Christians…” He goes on further to say would contact all resources available to him to boycott the hotel and gallery holding the exhibit.
From the information on the Catholic League website as well as the interview that Kiera McCaffrey they are upset about the lack of loincloth. The New York artist has done his interpretation without one, this and the showing over the holiday week for Christians; this is enough to ruffle a lot of feathers in the Catholic community. The fact that it is made from chocolate only seems to be more fuel for them to use and is not the main point of the protest. Artist Cavallaro is known for his art with food and merely wanted to depict the savior in chocolate, something sweet and a means to get closer to his faith. He has made no mention as to why he depicted Jesus without a loincloth and his website has no mention of that detail either. So far I have not gotten a response to the inquiry.
Since modesty is such a large part of the Christian community and America in general most were only asking for it to be a closed exhibit. The fact that you would have been able to view this from the streets of New York is what was bothersome to some. Some weren’t bothered with the statue itself only bothered by the timing of the show. What is troubling is that the piece was criticized before it was even able to be displayed. Most hadn’t heard of it until there was uproar from the Catholic community. Bill Donohue, nor any representative of the Catholic League, has seen the piece in person nor have they attempted to talk to the artist himself to gain any insight as to his motive. Why not? Why not put an inquiry about it before getting on the horn to bash something not completely known to you?
Bill Donohue also stated “All those involved are lucky that angry Christians don’t react the way extremist Muslims do when they’re offended—otherwise they may have more than their heads cut off. James Knowles, President and CEO of the Roger Smith Hotel (interestingly, he also calls himself Artist-in-Residence), should be especially grateful. And if he tries to spin this as reverential, then he should substitute Muhammad for Jesus and display him during Ramadan.
This is extremely disturbing to me as I was always taught that Christianity was love, understanding and tolerance. Where is the tolerance and love in all of this? All of this seems so extreme; an attempt to bankrupt a hotel and ruin the reputation of an artist. What for? What statement is trying to be said here by Bill Donohue and his organization? That a tolerant religion cannot tolerate freedom of expression when it comes to one owns personal depiction of their faith? What exactly was the artist trying to say in doing this? Was it an attempt for controversy, to bash a religion he claims to have faith in or simply a means to express his own faith, no matter how strange we might find it?
There is one thing I do not understand in all this. If one can recall the Greek and Roman statues and art work that are now spread throughout the world; these pieces are detailed in the human figure and in some cases do depict the male or female genitals. The human body has been shown in art form in several ways as each artist as their own way of viewing the human form and portraying that to the public. How is this any different than years before? Is it because it is Christ and therefore should be made more modest? Jesus had a human body just as you or I, why not show Jesus as a man, a human as the Christian community says he was. A human with a human body and it seems to me that all Cavallaro was doing was showing the world what he saw in his religion, Jesus as a human just as you or I but without knowing what he thought when he made it I can only state my interpretation of the sculpture. Isn’t that what art is, interpretation?

I hope this puts a little more clarity into the story. I am currently waiting to hear back from my inquiries and when I do I will be sure to relay them back to you. Furthermore, if you want to read more on the controversial story links are available.

The artist Cosimo Cavallaro can be found here.

The website for The Catholic League can be found here.

All other articles on the subject can be found here.
Post Chronicle March 28, 2007
MSNBC March 30, 2007
Previous article ‘Oh Sweet Jesus?’

Chocolate Jesus, Sweet Jesus, Lab Gallery, Manhattan, Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Comiso Cavallaro