June 6, 2008
Catholic Church Group Protests Cooper Union Art Show
Another clash of the art world and the religious reich is going down in the East Village. The AP reports that a "Roman Catholic watchdog group is protesting a student art exhibition that includes vulgar depictions of religious symbols including a crucifix and rosary." Just how does one depict a rosary as vulgar? There are ways:
The target of the protest is a series of paintings by Felipe Baeza. One of them depicts a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum. A Latin caption says, "The day I became a Catholic." Another painting shows rosaries with male genitalia and a third, a man with a halo and erection.The controversial pieces will be on display at The Cooper Union art school through June 10th; the school met the attack with one simple statement: "Hundreds of student works are shown annually without censorship -- a tradition at the school since its founding by Peter Cooper 150 years ago." The president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights gave his own, more long-winded statement about the show, which said in part:
Surely there is a difference between art, traditionally understood as conveying beauty, and junk. I have the sneaking suspicion that these paintings made the cut precisely because they were an assault on Catholic sensibilities. No, I can’t prove what the motive was, but I can be deadly certain that if even a reverential portrait of Muhammad had been offered, it would have been rejected. I hasten to add that if a reverential portrait of Jesus had been submitted, it too would have been rejected, but for entirely different reasons.”This isn't the first time the Catholic group has been up in arms over art; In 1999, The Sensation show at the Brooklyn Museum was met with controversy when Giuliani tried to stop it, and attempted to prevent taxpayer funds from subsidizing the museum.
Photo of Cooper Union by Wally G.
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
[ report this ]
Your headline is inaccurate and misleading. William Donahue, the president of the Catholic League, has as much official authority in the Catholic Church as I do.
[ report this ]
catholicism is still around?
[ report this ]
Thanks!
[ report this ]
This artist shouldn't be condemned for his critique of the Catholic Church, he should be condemned for his lack of originality.
I mean, really, I'm as resentful of my 12 years of Catholic school education as anyone, but can't artists think of a more creative way to critique the Church than these juvenile hissyfits? The first artist (whoever he/she was) to use the crucifix in a subversive sexually suggestive way was a pioneer, all the rest are just really lazy.
[ report this ]
This isn't the first time the Catholic group has been up in arms over art
gee, what a surprise that a Catholic group might take offense at a painting depicting a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum captioned "The day I became a Catholic."
How about a whole series, "The day I became a Jew" with a Star of David coming out someone's ass, or "The day I became a Muslim" with a Koran coming out of someone's ass.
Or better yet, "The day I became an artist" with a picture of a painting by Felipe Baeza coming out of someone's ass.
[ report this ]
a picture of a painting by felipe baeza coming out of his own ass.
these are the kinds of things that cooper allows to pass? no wonder the new museum is full of that inane crap.
[ report this ]
Ah, every now and again, comments on Gothamist make me laugh heartily.
I do kind of wish they had just ignored this. The guy clearly wanted the attention and look! His lame, look at me! art project is getting free advertising.
It's so boring. I get issed off at the folks who use this tactic, sure, but I'm more annoyed at the fact that we all seem to eat it up.
If you ignore them, some of them will go away.
[ report this ]
a rosary with penises on it...what the hell??
this guy shouldn't be stopped cause it's offensive, he should be stopped cause his art is totally unappealing and uninspiring
[ report this ]
hey, the guy's an art student. if he can't be stupid, offensive, uninspired, lazy or inane now, when can he be? after he graduates and he's faced with the reality of actually trying to sell his art, he'll do what he needs to do to succeed or fail.
[ report this ]
I hear originally he was going to put crucifixes in in jars of urine but he's pee shy. (Oh and because Serrano alread did it a million years ago and it was lame then too.)
I'm no fan of the Catholic church but this is just stupid and unoriginal.
Is there a female artist featured in the show that uses tampons and mutilated barbie dolls as a "commentary on women's body issues" as well? Trailblazing shit, man.
[ report this ]
Hey, just imagine how crazy Catholicism would be if it was invented last week. Imagine it. Crazy right? Same boat as scientology right? That being said, this exhibition is cliche and boring and very first year art student.
[ report this ]
"traditionally understood as conveying beauty"
Really? So the idea of conveying fear, outrage, disdain, or making any negative commentary through art just started popping up within the past few years? I mean, I don't know much about art so clearly this guy knows better than me... I'm just trying to learn.
"hey, the guy's an art student. if he can't be stupid, offensive, uninspired, lazy or inane now, when can he be?"
An art student displaying his stuff in a student exhibition that hardly anyone would have known about or seen if not for the "protest" of it pushing into the newspapers. Do people think at all about what the results of their actions might be before they react when their "sensibilities" are "assaulted?"
[ report this ]
i agree with #2 petebfd
these hate filled religious fanatics don't pay any taxes anyway.
they don't happen to like an art show accurately criticizing them and they immediately go postal and scream censorship.
typical fascist behavior.
[ report this ]
As the guys on Comedy Central said, "We don't mock Islam because those guys will threaten to kill you". If one day catholics become as violent in their threats as Muslims, 1st amendment be damned, the idiotic artists will stop.
That will be a sad day but Civilization is a two way street. One group can not continually abuse another, including "fighting words" and expect the other to take in perpetuity. If this exhibit is not "hate speech", what is?
[ report this ]
>>>The target of the protest is a series of paintings by Felipe Baeza. One of them depicts a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum. A Latin caption says, "The day I became a Catholic."
Hatred in its rawest form.
www.forgotten-ny.com
[ report this ]
"Hatred in its rawest form."
^^^^^^^^
You misspelled "Harmlessness."
[ report this ]
You go, Kevin (#15)!
Draw a swastika inside a bathroom stall and you go to jail.
Mock the Papists in public and you win a prize.
Watch all the Politically Correctoids castigate you for defending your personal and private beliefs.
[ report this ]
#17 - if you draw a swastika in a bathroom stall you get somebody drawing a arrow next to it and saying "Racist". that's it.
[ report this ]
Don't for a minute think that the Catholic Church isn't getting in on the publicity. Why else would a 2,000 year old organization bother with a stupid talentless gnat exhibiting his own displaced guilt and shame for the world to see? Any opportunity to attach the mouldering brand to a discussion of representations and out come the media whore "standard bearers". Real Catholics don't worry about this shit because somewhere out there, far from the NY spotlight, another statue is bleeding.
[ report this ]
the president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights is wrong. there is no difference between art and junk. art can be anything. anything at all. it really isn't up to him to decide, and if he doesn't like it, he shouldn't go see it.
[ report this ]
Ah, the fundamental (only in college) question of what is art. My favorite answer is that art is the shit-waste of society, which neatly explains God as well. And religion is the smell coming off the shit of God--shit of God being redundant, of course.
[ report this ]
It's highly amusing to read people's criticism of paintings they haven't even seen. Apparently, you can now trash art students based on a paragraph of literal description posted on the gothamist.
Also, originality is so overrated. It is not required of an "artist" (for the lack of a better word) that he or she be original before everything else. There is also authenticity, integrity and honesty (and I'm not saying these paintings have these qualities, since I haven't seen them yet, but neither have you).
[ report this ]
Geez
So again, Geez- I use my own crucifix as a rectal thermometer to give me the EXACT social temperature at that moment in time!
It works great(!) ...because it allows me not to 'give-a-crap' about catholicism, or religions of any kind!!
(Religion: the biggest hoax ever perpertrated on mankind and the human species! - Watta Joke!)
[ report this ]
Poor Baby Hitler. He doesn't know that depictions of swastikas (and nooses) is categorized as a hate crime, subject by arrest and imprisonment.
How come no one has the balls to depict a Star Of David coming out of someone's rectum?
Catholcism was against the law for almost two hundreds years in NYC. Yes! You'd get arrested for just being a Catholic here in Gotham up until 1783.
The haters are still evident, following a long tradition here.
Catholic-bashing: the last condoned prejudice.
[ report this ]
So.... when are the bombings?
[ report this ]
I am a student at Cooper, and I would just like to point out that these paintings are actually prints.
There are seven floors chock full of student creations from architects, artists, and engineers. I invite all of ya'll commenters and internet gawkers to actually come to the school and see what is going on - there's even work that isn't garnering controversy!
(which, seems to be the only way to get a write-up these day! Congrats Felipe!)