The Pope, Andres Serrano, and "Piss Christ": A Newfound Presumption of Good Faith in Contemporary Art
The Pope’s approval of controversial contemporary Christian art signals a novel, uncensored relationship between religious leadership and artists.
Rebecca Kopelman
July 23, 2023
July 23, 2023
Photo Credit: Sotheby's UK
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Earlier this summer, Pope Francis hosted 200 artists at the Sistine Chapel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museums’ contemporary art collection. Among these artists was Andres Serrano, whose 1987 photograph,“Piss Christ,” which depicts a plastic crucifix submerged in urine, has previously been called blasphemous by Church officials and religious groups alike. “I was surprised to be invited and even more surprised that he gave me a thumbs up,” Serrano told the New York Times of the Pope’s warm welcome. “And I was very happy that the church understands that I am a Christian artist and I am not a blasphemous artist. I’m just an artist.” Addressing the crowd of invited artists, Francis said, “Like the biblical prophets, you confront things that at times are uncomfortable; you criticize today’s false myths and new idols, its empty talk, the ploys of consumerism, the schemes of power.” Artists aiming to challenge powerful religious, social, and cultural institutions often face extreme backlash on many levels, from the personal to the professional. The Pope’s open support for such creators not only marks the waning power of religious censorship, but also the potential for real collaboration and support between artists and the institutions they challenge. Now more than ever, the cultural input of artists has a chance to act as a gateway to lasting change. Bishop Paul Tighe, second-in-command of the Vatican’s culture and education ministry, further emphasized the Church’s need to support art, however controversial or ‘un-beautiful’: “We’re ready for a conversation,” he said. “We want to hear and talk with, meet with, dialog with artists, because we think artists have perspectives and ways of seeing the world that we need to take account of…I think we all just have to work on the presumption of good faith of the artist who is trying to say something, challenge something, and may sometimes have to resort to strong measures to waken us up.” |
Photo Credit: Wallpaper Magazine
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The relationship between the Church and artists has always been paradoxically codependent and uneasy. While the arts arguably saved the Catholic Church in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in 1517 by renewing and reaffirming interest in Catholicism, and while works like Michelangelo’s Pieta, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and Handel’s Messiah have inspired artists for centuries, the Church has a long and fraught history of censorship.
Even the Sistine Chapel, which represents the very best of papal patronage, was once fraught with controversy. In 1564, Pope Pius IV ordered that the nude figures in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment to be covered with loincloths, and sculptures with visible genitals and pubic hair (including Michaelangelo’s David) were covered en-masse using garlands of fig leaves. |
Photo Credit: MutualArt
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In 1921, cardinals at the Holy Office in Rome publicly censured Belgian artist Albert Servaes for his vivid charcoal depictions of the Passion because the images were “impregnated with a bold realism which render[ed] his representations of Christ as undignified and improper.” The Church further condemned the entire “new school of painting” that Servaes apparently represented.
26 years later, as contemporary art movements were beginning to flourish, Pope Pius XII specifically condemned modern art in his encyclical Mediator Dei, writing that modern art was a “distortion and perversion of true art and which at times openly [shocks] Christian taste, modesty and devotion, and shamefully offend the true religious sense. These must be entirely excluded and banished from our churches, like ‘anything else that is not in keeping with the sanctity of the place.’” But things have changed in recent decades – perhaps a return to form (the on-again, off-again patronage that the Church has always offered artists), or perhaps an entirely new form. |
Photo Credit: Artnet News
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The 2018 Met Gala, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”, represented the start of this change–the Church gave the theme their blessing, and even lent more than forty holy vestments and relics to the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. “Historically,” wrote Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO of the Met, in his introduction to the exhibition catalog, “fashion and religion have been inexorably intertwined, inspiring and informing one another. This relationship, though complex and sometimes contested, has given rise to some of the most innovative creations in the history of fashion. [“Heavenly Bodies”] speaks to religion’s enduring and divine imprint on art and design.” It is possible that Pope Francis’ invitation — and indeed, his thumbs up — speaks to yet another level of complexity, an embrace of the inexorable intertwinement of religion and the arts, and the worthy challenges they conceptually pose to one another even when it may be uncomfortable. In turn, that discomfort, born of acceptance, collaboration, partnership, holds the power to deepen the faith of the observers through personal search for understanding. One might hear an artist say that going into their studio is something like entering a church, or that making art is a kind of prayer. The Church’s rhetoric seems to have moved in an artistic direction with it: Francis, in his address, told the artists that “you want to reveal reality also in its contradictions and in those things that it is more comfortable and convenient to keep hidden.” Serrano himself has said “If ‘Piss Christ’ disturbs you, maybe you should think about what it symbolizes.” Rebecca Kopelman is an assistant account executive at Gesso House. Natalie Kawam, Founder & CEO of Gesso House, co-authored this piece. Gesso House is an art consultancy forging strategic partnerships between innovative brands and groundbreaking artists to create cutting-edge experiences, and push the limits of traditional art exhibition. |
Small Wonder: How The Mini MSCHF Louis Vuitton Handbag Holds the Future of Brand Partnership
The “useless” MSCHF Microscopic Handbag is selling the conversation that surrounds it - is that a bad thing?
Natalie Kawam
June 25, 2023
June 25, 2023
Photo Credit: MSCHF
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In early June, MSCHF, a creative collective that has sold a single giant fruit loop, ‘Eat The Rich’ popsicles in the shape of billionaires’ faces, and individual spots from a Damien Hirst original, released exactly one production of The Microscopic Handbag. The handbag, a vivid green replica of the Louis Vuitton OnTheGo tote complete with logo and monogram flowers, is made from photopolymer resin and measures just 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers. Unless held up to a microscope, it looks like a single fluorescent green crumb, or a stray grain of radioactive rice. |
Photo Credit: MSCHF
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“It is the final word in bag miniaturization,” MSCHF wrote in a statement on their Instagram. “As a once-functional object like a handbag becomes smaller and smaller its object status becomes steadily more abstracted until it is purely a brand signifier.” This tiny bag is pure whimsy, an absurdist reaction to the provocative nature of high fashion. Even bags with the explicit purpose of, well, holding things, keep getting smaller to the point of “uselessness” (think the Jacquemus 'Le Chiquito' Clutch, or the Valentino Mini Vlogo Bucket Bag). With this said, to evaluate any art on a scale of material functionality is to encourage a crudely utilitarian filter for whether it is worthy of attention at all, and the parody of creating a bag that barely exists itself is obvious and seemingly harmless. So why has it evoked such strong responses? “Another sign of a decline in civilization…a legitimized focus on frivolities…” reads one comment on a New York Times piece about the bag. “....and the reason for this is?” reads another. “If anything, what we’re seeing is the emergence of fashion as content, where clothes serve no real purpose other than going viral online,” writes Daniel Rodgers in Dazed. “The Microscopic Handbag serves no practical function. It is near-invisible to the naked eye. It is just a meme.” The micro Micro bag is a tease, yet it is wonderfully open about its frivolity. In fact, MSCHF refuses to deceive the consumer, claiming their works “comment on the absurdity of the collaboration culture practiced by some brands.” With a track record for reimagining and producing products from name brands such as Fenty Beauty, Casper, and Nike, the company exists to push social notions of the presence and permanence of the things people value for their branding. There is no denying, however, that MSCHF’s vehicle for creating art is through the collaborations (albeit often riskily one-sided) that they claim to mock. MSCHF is, first and foremost, an art collective. Conversations provoked through their parody of collaborations between creative entities point to partnership opportunities for brands and artists alike that are larger than the jokes they aim to sell. Ironically, The Microscopic Handbag has already successfully done far more than exist to sell. In failing to do what a bag typically does on a functional level, as contemporary art typically does, it has ignited a conversation at the intersection of several topics, including fashion, pop culture, technology, and socioeconomic status (bidding on the Handbag started at $15,000 this month). Every brand holds potential for bringing its artistry further to the forefront. Perhaps two creative teams – one artist, one brand – are stronger than one. Of course, even for the sake of art, it is difficult to morally (or legally) exemplify the “ask forgiveness, not permission” philosophy that MSCHF lives by when engaging in these one-sided partnerships, as described by the collective’s chief creative officer, Kevin Wiesner. |
Photo Credit: BBC
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It is no secret that the brand has repeatedly toed the line with brands like Nike in 2019, when they released the infamous $1,425 “Jesus Shoes” – Nike Air Max 97s containing holy water from the River Jordan – and faced swift backlash. Two years later, they dropped the “Satan Shoes” collection, also made with Nike Air Max 97s, each containing a drop of human blood. While Nike eventually sued MSCHF for trademark infringement, the 666 pairs of shoes priced at $1,018 had sold out within one minute of the release.
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Photo Credit: MSCHF
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Other brands, however, embraced their own uncommissioned MSCHF campaign. Fenty Beauty was recently the focus of ‘Ketchup or Makeup?’, with a red lip gloss resembling ketchup served as the product for sale. Honoring the art collective’s stunt as creative antics, Fenty Beauty featured their campaign in an Instagram post with the caption, “MSCHF is up to mischief again! Fenty Beauty is the target of their latest collectible art drop, ‘Ketchup or Makeup?’ We love both!” Setting aside the often inflammatory nature of MSCHF’s drops, they successfully consider a brand’s vision, legacy, audience, price point, and artistry in order to create a novel campaign (one might even classify it as an exhibition) that features a noteworthy product made new again. And, while MSCHF claims to comment on the absurdity of brand power, they profit from the prominence of the very brands they often target for mimicry. A more genuine example of a successful art-brand collaboration is between MSCHF and Tiffany & Co. With both parties working together, in 2022 they created a limited release of 100 sterling silver trophies named ‘The Ultimate Participation Trophy’. Tiffany & Co., a nearly 200 year old brand, received praise for the campaign that was seen as unique, cutting-edge, and playfully unexpected. MSCHF successfully demonstrated its renowned creative prowess – and their ability to work within a two-way partnership. There is a larger opportunity for brands and artists to collaborate to bring art to the lives of a collective audience not only through the consumption of the products themselves, but also through the artistry of the brand and artist that is displayed. Businesses are continually faced with the challenge of sustaining relevance while building and maintaining customer loyalty, while artists are faced with barriers to the world of exhibition and recognition. Now is the time for brands and artists to consider the novel creative opportunities that art-brand partnerships can provide. Natalie Kawam is the Founder & CEO of Gesso House. Rebecca Kopelman, assistant account executive, co-authored this piece. Gesso House is an art consultancy forging strategic partnerships between innovative brands and groundbreaking artists to create cutting-edge experiences, and push the limits of traditional art exhibition. |