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The history of modern art has often been understood as being completely separate from Christianity, echoing the modernist thesis that through the secularisation of society, art and religion have grown apart (Paparoni, D. 2007: 19). This separation or disconnection between Christianity and art also highlights the shift from a ‘unifying’ cultural and religious ideology to a more fragmentary and individualistic vision of the world. Habermas calls a society in which Chritianity is substituted by a global, fast paced and expanding modernisation, a “post-secular society” (Habermas, J. 2008)¹⁴. From the eighteenth century, the relationship between art and Christianity underwent considerable changes caused by the Reformation, the rise of capitalism, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the cult of ‘rationality’, (Fishman, A. 2004:

14 Habermas, J, (2008). Secularism’s Crisis of Faith: Notes on Post-Secular Society. Available from

http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~ewa/Habermas,%20Notes%20on%20Post-Secular%20Society.pdf [Accessed 30.04.2015].

2).¹⁵ The feeling of withdrawal of the divine expressed by the Romantic artists, and the

announcement of the death of God by Nietzsche in the late nineteenth century, combined with Marxism, psychoanalytic-, and scientific development, led to a reconsideration of the place of human beings in relation to the ‘Creation’ and, therefore, in relation to Christianity as a whole (Habermas, J. 2008).

Yet God seems to have outlived Nietzsche’s predicted death. God and Christianity survived the indifference of Western secular society; hence, religious sensibilities are still pervading and profoundly shaping culture, (Zimmermann, J. 2012: 22; Wilson, E. 2012: 101).

As Giovanni Vattimo writes: “While our civilisation no longer professes itself Christian but rather considers itself by and large dechristianised, post-Christian, it is nevertheless,

profoundly shaped by that heritage at its source” (Vattimo, G. 1999: 43). According to Jean Luc Nancy, it is not possible to think about Western secular society without acknowledging the fact that contemporary Western society has its origin in Christianity (Nancy, J.L. 2008:

140). The Christian narrative, therefore, is always inherently informing Western thought.

Taking atheism as an example, Nancy explains that atheism can only be explained in connection to religion, as only religion makes the concept of atheism possible. Therefore,

“The only thing that can be actual is an atheism that contemplates the reality of its Christian origins” (Nancy, J.L. 2008: 140).

Habermas in his 2008 article: ‘Notes on a Post-Secular Society’, also rethinks his secularist thesis and acknowledges the “resurgence of religion”.¹⁶ For McAvan the

“postmodern sacred consists of texts that are consumed in part for their spiritual content, for an experience of the transcendent ambivalently situated on the boundary of formal religious and spiritual traditions” (McAvan, E. 2012: 6).

Sociologists attribute this new relevance of Christian religion in all areas of society to the postmodern collapse of the scientific meta-narratives, the effect of globalisation, the doubting attitude towards biogenetics, and the 9/11 attack on New York, in 2001 (McAvan, E.2014: 1-4; Paparoni, D. 2007: 19).

It is also important to highlight that the sacred is not a static entity but is constantly modified through the interaction of culture, media, and the virtual. The return of the sacred

15 For Max Weber at the heart of modernisation lies the substitution of mysticism promoting collective identities with scientific rationalisation and intellectualisation, (Weber, M. 2008: 35).

16 Jürgen Habermas ascribes the resurgence of Christian religion to geo-political events, such as missionary expansion, fundamentalist radicalisation and the potential implicit violence in some of the world religions, Habermas, J. (2008).

Secularism’s Crisis of Faith: Notes on Post-Secular Society. Available from

http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~ewa/Habermas,%20Notes%20on%20Post-Secular%20Society.pdf [Accessed 16.03.2015].

then, implies a return of a different sacred, one that has been influenced by the cultural shift of the last fifty years (McAvan, E. 2014: 3). Has this ‘ return of the sacred’ influenced

contemporary art, changing the way Christian iconography is used outside of the religious narrative in the twenty-first century? Could this shift be connected, consciously or

unconsciously, to the religious and political motivated terrorist attacks? Controversial debates about the Catholic Church, Middle East policy, and Islam indicate that religion is seen, now more than ever, as an integral part of cultural identity. A return Religious appurtenance then, becomes an important part of the individual’s and the nation’s cultural identity. De Bruyckere also comments that:

We used to have certainties of faith and tradition, but now we are all looking for rules, norms or a purpose to help us survive in this world, although we are always left wondering if they are the right ones (De Bruyckere, B. in Theys, H. 2011: 26).

Contemporary art, as Martha Buskirk explains, has witnessed a renegotiation of past artistic practices and an explosion in appropriation of specific art works, (Buskirk, M. 2005: 112, 114). In her view, the introduction of the ready-made in the 1950s and 1960s can already be seen as an early indication of the “postmodern play with reference and quotations from a range of art as well as non-art sources”, (Buskirk, M. 2005: 110). The last three decades, however, were not only characterised by the intensification of quotations and the repositioning of the human body in art discourses, but they also saw an upsurge in the use of religious references for non-religious purposes, (Beart, B and Van Gelder, H. 2006: vii).

Art historians, curators and visual artists have acknowledged an important movement in art over the last thirty years of engaging with religious topics and religious iconography.

However, there is still disagreement about the degree and importance of Christianity and its symbols in contemporary art (Paparoni, D. 2007: 61; Nagel, A. 2012: 9: Alexandrova, A.

2008: 772). What in the 1980s and 1990s started as a ‘timid’ desire for transcendence in the arts, during the last decade seems to have become a need to tackle topics related to

Christianity, such as human sacrifice, suffering, atonement and mortality’ (Paparoni, D. 2007:

19).

The recent increase in the number of exhibitions devoted to religious themes can be interpreted as another indicator of the renewed interest in Christianity and religious

iconography in contemporary art.¹⁷ However, contemporary artists reference religious symbols without the need for questions of belief and denomination. Religious symbols in the

postmodern virtual reality are often disconnected from their context, (McAvan, E. 2012: 5).

The heterogeneity of the artwork quoting religious themes or forms makes it difficult to discuss this type of work as a single category. However, what contemporary artworks that reference Christian iconography have in common, is the fact that these artworks are not interpreted or used in a religious context, and even when they are exhibited in a church, they are not considered to be ‘religious art’

6.2 Reverence

Christianity and the way religious images should be used within both a religious and non-religious context, has recently been a matter of debate, as the attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, bears testimony (BBC News, 2015).¹⁸ Christian iconography and its use still provokes strong reactions. It is in countries with a strong religious heritage especially, where religious imagery is considered sacred and, therefore, treated with respect and reverence, that distorting or parodying will raise strong emotional reactions. De Bruyckere appropriates Christian theme and iconography in a ‘non-transgressive’ way not only to access a well know vocabulary of pain and suffering in countries with a Christian background, but also access the absorbing sentiments of awe, mystery, reverence and respect that these religious symbols may inspire.

Some art historical research has been devoted to investigating the connections between religious imagery for its spiritual content in art, or the use of religious iconography for its transgressive purposes in contemporary art (Elkins, J. 2004: 15). However, categorising the

17 In 1995, for instance, Eleonora Louis and Christoph Geissmar-Brandi organised the exhibition: ‘Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe, Tod’, and Bruno Latour in 2002, curated: ‘Iconoclash’, (Nagel, A. 2012: 13). In 2006, the first Singapore Biennale was entitled, ‘Belief’, and artists were invited to investigate the beliefs behind different ways of life, (Nanjo, F. 2006). In the 2008-2009 exhibition: ‘Medium Religion’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Karlsruhe, Germany, religion was combined with the fast moving medial reproduction. In 2008, the Centre Pompidou in Paris brought together works by 200 international artists under the heading: ‘Traces du Sacré’. Through a wide selection of paintings, sculptures, installations and videos spanning from the eighteenth century to the present day, the exhibition aimed to question the notion that the origin of modern art lies in the changed relationship between man and religion. Instead, the curator of the exhibition, Jean de Loisy, argued that even though the secularisation of society released artists from their subjection to the churches, the religious crisis did not mean the disappearance of metaphysical questioning. On the contrary, the persistence of this questioning throughout the twentieth century seemed to be an indispensable key to understanding the history of modern art, (De Loisy, J. 2008).

18 On the 7^th of January 2015 Islamic terrorists attacked Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, and killed 12 people for drawing and therefore insulting the Prophet Muhammad, (BBC News Europe, (2015). Charlie Hebdo: Gun attack on French Magazine kills 12. BBC, 7 January 2015. Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30710883 [Accessed 09.03.2015].

use of Christian iconography in contemporary art into transgressive and non-transgressive may be problematic, due to the fact that the artist’s intention may differ from the spectator’s

understanding.

Transgressive religious artwork often incurs violent critique, censure and even destruction.

Andres Serrano, for instance, in 1987 produced a photograph titled Piss Christ (image 6-9), which was described by politicians and journalists as “a plastic crucifix submerged in the artist’s own urine” (Siedell, D. 2015: 97). However, the photograph features Jesus on the cross in a brilliant yellow light. The image “looks like a giant still from a religious film” and has been described as “aesthetically beautiful” (Niederkorn, 1989).¹⁹ The image was one of thirteen other photographs in the series, ‘Immersions’ (1987-90), all of which represented classical statuettes immersed in bodily fluids, such as blood, semen, milk, and urine. The content of the image and the title’s allusion of pissing on Christ caused heated controversy and

“became an icon for the bloody culture wars of the early 1990s” (Siedell, D. 2015: 96).²⁰

6-9: Andres Serrano, Piss Christ, 1987

19 Niederkorn, W. (1989). The Man Behind A Controversy Andres Serrano, Who Uses Bodily Fluids As Elements In Some Of His Works, Defends His Depiction Of Jesus Against The Campaigns And Rhetoric Of Politicians. The Inquirer, 26 August 1989. Available from http://articles.philly.com/1989-08-26/news/26148343_1_jesus-picture-works [Accessed 10.03.2015].

20 The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in 1988, gave $15000 to Serrano to create work to be exhibited alongside the work of nine other artists. The problems started when, after the exhibition had been shown without controversy in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Richmond, Rev. Donald Wildmon wrote a complaint letter to the Congress, that then inspired Jesse Helms in his actions against the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), (Siedell, D. 2015: 97).

Piss Christ was caught at the centre of the debates about the funding of the Arts in the United States, when Senator D’Amato ripped up a reproduction of the work in the Senate (Warner-Marien, M. 2006: 448). Senator D’Amato addressed the Senate on 18^th May 1989, stating that

“shocked, outraged and angered” voters regarding the “deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity” in Serrano’s photograph, Piss Christ, had contacted him.²¹ Jesse Helms, in his letter, described the work as “sickening, abhorrent and a shocking act by an arrogant

blasphemer” (Dubin, S. C. 1994: 97). In October 1997. ‘Piss Christ’ was exhibited in Victoria, Australia, where it was subject to two attacks. In the first attack, the photograph was removed from the wall and kicked by a viewer. In the second attack, one of the attackers kicked the portraits of a Ku Klux Klan follower whilst the other, hit Piss Christ eight times with a hammer, as they considered the exhibition “racist and blasphemous”. The exhibition closed shortly after, raising questions about censorship and freedom of expression (Art Crimes, 1997).²²

The photograph Piss Christ, continues to inhabit a controversial space, one in which images are attacked for what viewers, in this case Catholic viewers, believe they represent. As mentioned above, through the interaction with viewers and their ability to convey several meanings at the same time, images can give raise to ambivalence and conflicts. In April 2011, in Avignon, for instance, four men attacked Serrano’s work. The destruction of images points to the exaggerated power ascribed to these images.²³ In 2012, the photograph Piss Christ, which was part of a retrospective exhibition ‘Body and Spirit: Andres Serrano 1987-2012’, was seen as “an orchestrated effort to undermine Western Culture and Christianity”, (Siedell, D. 2015: 97, 100). These critiques demonstrate the persistent misunderstanding surrounding images that refer to religious content or form, as being imbued with religious

‘truth’. This confusion dates back to the iconoclastic controversy in Byzantine times, which attributed idolatrous status to religious images and sculptures. Furthermore, the image of Christ is central to the Christian narrative for dying on the cross to save humanity and also for being physical proof of ‘God’s existence’. For these reasons, Christians may react very strongly if they feel that the image of Christ has been vandalised or misappropriated.

21 D’Amato, A. (1989). Congressional Record. Senate May 18. [online] Available from: <

http://web.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361_r7.html> [Accessed 10.03.2015].

22 Art Crimes (1997). Piss Christ: The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. Art Crimes, 12 October 1997. Available from:

<http://www.artcrimes.net/piss-christ > [Accessed 10.03.15].

23 This can also be noted in the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban in 2001.

A similar act of vandalism was carried out in 1999, on the African artist Chris Ofili’s (1968- ) The Holy Virgin Mary (image 6-10). Ofili’s work caused controversy and heated debate for using elephant dung and pornographic images of women’s genitalia for his representation of the mother of Christ. The painting was shown at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, in December 1999, as part of an exhibition entitled ‘Sensation’, which had already been exhibited in 1997 at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and at the Berlin Hamburger Bahnhof museum in 1998. The exhibition was then shown in New York at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1999, where, even before its opening, Ofili’s work was criticised as Catholic-bashing and displayed his disapproval by throwing horse manure at the museum’s outside walls. During the exhibition, Dennis Heiner, a retired teacher, devout Catholic, and pro-life activist, threw and smeared paint over Ofili’s painting of the Virgin Mary, as he considered it blasphemous, (Art Crimes, 1999).²⁴ However, the man in image 6-10 is attacking the face of a ‘Black Mary’ and not the elephant dung or the genitalia used to create the image.

The extreme reaction to Ofili’s Mary may then be connected to racism, because what has been felt as blasphemous is the representation of Mary, the mother of Christ, as a black woman.

6-10: Chris Ofili’s ‘Holy Virgin Mary’

being sprayed with white paint by retired teacher Dennis Heiner in New York

The strong feelings towards a perceived lack of respect towards religious imagery, can be seen as the result of a long tradition of worship, reverence and acceptance that places religious

24 Art Crimes. (1999). Holy Virgin Mary: Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, Art Crimes, 16 December 1999. Available from http://www.artcrimes.net/holy-virgin-mary [Accessed 11.03.2015].

icons at the centre of Christian practice, as physical and tangible connections between Man and God. The representation becomes the visual expression of the Christian doctrine. In fact,

“the images represented by the icons are intended to evoke and express truth, and to open a

‘window’ to transcendence” (Espin, O. and Nickoloff, J. 2007: 991). On the other side the

‘Sensation’ exhibition was a prime example for the beginning of ‘shock art’.²⁵ Shock art was not only a crowd puller for museums that lacked visitors but it also opened debates about certain topics such as religion, beliefs, and freedom of expression.