The “Piss Christ” artist’s surprise exhibition of Trump memorabilia speaks to the darkest corridors of American idolatry, but does the artist speak for the nation or just himself?
Andres Serrano
Posted inArt
The $200,000 Worth of Trump Paraphernalia Andres Serrano Bought for an Exhibition
Our critic picks the best (and by extension, worst) objects from the “Piss Christ” artist’s collection of more than 1,000 items marketed, branded, or autographed by Donald Trump.
Posted inOpinion
Stop Self-Censoring
It’s been three weeks since two masked gunmen stormed into the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 11 people. In that time there’s been self-censorship — quite a bit of it.
Posted inArt
Displaying Three Decades of LGBTQ Art Censored by Museums
In Irreverent: A Celebration of Censorship, opening next month at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York, all of the art has previously been censored from major museums.
Posted inOpinion
The Trouble with Favela Chic
A Milwaukee bar called Nomad World Pub wanted to create a special place for its customers to watch the World Cup, so it decided to set up a faux favela inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s poverty-stricken mountainside slums.
Posted inOpinion
Andres Serrano Shows Us How Not to Help the Homeless
As New York City transitions from a technocrat mayor to a more “populist” one, much recent discussion — at least in the press and among us liberals — has focused on homelessness. Artist Andres Serrano has been thinking about the crisis, too.
Posted inArt
The Art World Needs Some Shock Therapy
It all started with a write-up on the Gallerist blog about Jordan Eagles’s new show at the Krause Gallery where his blood paintings are currently displayed. I immediately cringed when I went on a journey following all of his press, posts about him on Facebook and Twitter, and real life opinions with real life people. Everyone seemed to be so in awe of paintings made out of blood, finding it so shocking that someone could use such an “unusual” and “disgusting” material to create something so beautiful. All I could do was roll my eyes.
Posted inNews
Serrano’s “Piss Christ” Smashed With Hammer (Again)
The Guardian reports that an extremist Christian group has attacked a print of artist Andres Serrano’s infamous photograph “Piss Christ” (1987), smashing an acrylic plastic barrier around the piece and slashing the print itself with a “screwdriver or ice pick” (WTF). This follows previous attacks on the same photograph in 1997 and 2007.
Posted inOpinion
Steve Martin, Stella, Fairey & Serrano on Colbert Report
I can’t remember the last time so many bold faced art names were on mainstream television. Last night, Stephen Colbert tried to convince well-known art collector Steve Martin to buy his René Magritte-like portrait but it wasn’t an easy sell. Colbert soon marched on some major artists to make it more enticing. As he said, Stella declared it art, Fairey recontextualized it, Serrano added controversy, and Colbert even added Martin’s image but still no sale. The segment is a funny and clever way to introduce some artists to a mass audience that may not be familiar with their work. For that, Colbert gets an A++. Click thru to watch the segment.