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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| An Easter Story: In Three Acts |
| 2007-03-30 |
| Happy Easter everybody... Act 1: NEW YORK -- World renowned artist Cosimo Cavallaro unveils his latest and most striking installation at the Lab Gallery (at the Roger Smith Hotel, 47th and Lexington avenue) in the early morning hours of April 1st. Cavallaro's work, entitled "My Sweet Lord" is a 6 foot tall, anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus Christ in milk chocolate. Pic at the link. "I'm truly thrilled to be working with Cosimo again," says Matt Semler Creative Director of the Lab. "The sign of any great artist is how their work affects the observer. His art always gets a reaction, but this is the most dramatic piece of his career. It is absolutely amazing." It's just faaaaabulous! The exhibit can be viewed from the street when the velvet curtains of the gallery open from midnight to 1 AM and 6 PM to 7PM (starting April 1st and closing April 7th). Although Cavallaro has work in permanent collections of museums world-wide, he is best remembered for covering a New York City hotel room in melted cheese (1999). It wasn't a chocolate Jesus, but it was faaaaabulous! Act 2: Catholic League gets wind of it. Not happy... NAKED JESUS—GENITALS EXPOSED—CRUCIFIED From April 1 to April 7, the Roger Smith Lab Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City will display a 6-foot tall anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus in milk chocolate; the figure is depicted as crucified. Artist Cosimo Cavallaro titles his work “My Sweet Lord.” A picture is available on the Internet. Catholic League president Bill Donohue outlined his game plan today:“The Roger Smith Hotel is located in the heart of New York City, and it boasts on its website that its Lab Gallery ‘is a high traffic, fast paced’ venue. Indeed it is: the gallery is located on street level, easily accessible to the public. But it is sure bet that in the years to come there will be little in the way of high traffic coming from the Christian community. “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. “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. I'd pay to see that... “I am contacting hundreds of organizations about this assault. Our allied list contains scores of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations, as well as secular groups, that share our concerns about religious hate speech and the degradation of our culture. The only thing that those who operate the Roger Smith Hotel understand is when they get hit in the pocket book. So that’s exactly where we’ll hit them. The boycott is on.” Act 3: The happy ending... Chocolate Jesus Easter Exhibit Cancelled, Hotel "Affirms Dignity" Yeah, our..."dignity"! That's the ticket! In response to the public outcry over the life-sized 6-foot chocolate Jesus, naked and hanging on a cross, during the Catholic Lent week leading up to Easter, the Roger Smith Hotel has decided to cancel the exhibit. Damn! Get Chocolate Jesus outta here! Bring him to a homeless shelter or sumthin! According to a press release from the hotel, James Knowles, the president of the Roger Smith Hotel, said the feelings of Catholics and Christians, who announced via the Catholic League their intentions to boycott the exhibit -- and the subsequent news media wall-to-wall coverage of the outraged citizens protesting the idea of a naked figure of Jesus in chocolate -- were "crystal clear". Knowles said they decided to "affirm the dignity and responsibility of the Hotel" by cancelling the controversial exhibit. Wow, we never knew this would happen... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #11 "I'm melting! I'm melting!" Whoops! Sorry, wrong movie. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-30 23:27 |
| #10 Ya got me, tw. In Luke the roman soldiers are said to have taken Jesus' clothes and "cast lots" for them. In the Baptist church this is taken to mean Jesus was naked. In Mathew the Roman soldiers stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, then put his own clothes back on him but there is no mention of the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' clothes. In Mark the robe is purple but Mark does tell of the soldiers crucifying him and taking his clothes and casting lots for them, this is before Jesus dies. John makes no mention of the purple or scarlet robe but does tell of the soldiers taking his garments, "also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout" wich implies the coat was valuable. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-30 21:07 |
| #9 Which translation, Deacon Blues? There was a time when "unclothed" could mean either "not properly clothed for one's station in life and the situation", eg an aristocratic lady not in day gown, hat, gloves, and overcoat, followed by a suitably attired maid when calling on a lady friend, or "wearing only one's own skin with nothing between it and God's fresh air and sunshine". ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-03-30 20:45 |
| #8 I spread the word among 5000 chocolate-lovers here in Colorado Springs. There's a 737 full of them ready to go at a moment's notice, with their chocolate picks and plastic bags. Three people are fighting over the ears alone... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-03-30 20:35 |
| #7 What I read in the New Testament said Jesus was crucified with no clothes on. What's wrong with a little realism? |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-30 19:29 |
| #6 Roll on Tu! LOL! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-30 18:59 |
| #5 I sent this story to my friend and asked if we should riot over it. He said no, do nothing, the artist will get his 'just desserts.' |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-30 17:59 |
| #4 And then just today i spilled a bowl of chili on a table at work and nobody applauded my work as art. they called me a f^&king slob...... It's all in the presentation and the audience. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-03-30 17:36 |
| #3 And then just today i spilled a bowl of chili on a table at work and nobody applauded my work as art. they called me a f^&king slob...... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-03-30 17:27 |
| #2 Update: The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan, said Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director. Semler said he submitted his resignation after officials at the Roger Smith Hotel shut down the show. Very well, Matt. Enjoy your new career as a bike messenger... The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions." Oh, no! Hate mongering! Censorship! The Chill Wind of McCarthyism! The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display. What'd he do? Cover himself in ketchup? "In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety," Semler said. Ya think we had Mohammed cartoons up or sumthin... Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham. "Quirky". I think that means "really fuckin stupid"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-30 16:08 |
| #1 Catholic League president Bill Donohue outlined his game plan today: I'm not a Catholic, but I just love to see Bill get up a head of steam on TV. He makes a great interview on these sorts of |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-03-30 15:53 |