Gay Jesus photos spark protest

February 19, 2010 • Andalucia, Granada, Lead2 • 1 Comments

(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

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PHOTOS depicting Jesus as gay, the Virgin Mary as a prostitute, Joseph as a drug dealer and the nativity scene as a brothel have been pulled down in Granada.

The controversial artwork was torn down for having ‘injured the sentiments and convictions of a large number of people’.

Security fears were considered when Granada University closed photographer Fernando Bayona’s exhibition.

Some 18,000 complaints were received in just four hours about the shocking pictures.

Bayona said he wanted the display to act as a critique of the New Testament and a sarcastic and subversive reversal of the Biblical story.

‘Circus Christi’ contained 14 large photographs telling a story of Christ in modern Spain, mostly in the 1970s.

One picture shows the Virgin Mary, as a prostitute, meeting Joseph while he does a drug deal on the Jaén road in Granada.

Bayona has previously said of his artwork: “In each production I solely speak of love, heartbreak, human relationships, beauty, violence, sex, tension and distension.

“I seek redemption in my aesthetic acts, my objective being to feel alive through them.”

The exhibition received funding from the University and the Centre of Contemporary Culture.

Deputy Rector of Granada University, Miguel Gómez Oliver, was disappointed the university had been involved in causing such offence.

Opened at the Corrala de Santiago, a university residence, the exhibition attracted 38 people in two days.

The artist says he has received death threats by email and mobile phone.

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Reader Comments »

Wendy

May 8th, 2010 9:29 pm

How sad, and oppressive.

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