Obama as Christ Statue

[Merlion]

Some of you may have seen this in Fox News TV. This link is a video. The statue is life-size.

Controversial Piece on Display Now (http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=2818040&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1)

Created March 31, Last Edited April 1

Some call it art. Other call it blasphemy. A new piece of art showing Senator Barack Obama as Jesus Christ is now on display at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

[evaldart]

Even when your only goal is to be controversial you still have to make a decent sculpture to be effective. This piece is clumsy and amateurish, would have been only a little better as a cartoon. Will blow over quickly.

[Merlion]

It is the work of a student, for his senior show. Here below are much more details from the Washington Post.

Sculpture of Obama As Jesus Causes Stir (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201149.html)

April 2, 2007; CHICAGO (AP)-- He wears Jesus' robes and a neon blue halo, looks like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and is causing a stir at a Chicago art school.

An undergraduate student's papier mache sculpture of Obama as a messianic figure _ entitled "Blessing" _ went on display Saturday at a downtown gallery run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. By Monday, word of the piece had spread on political blogs, and the school had been flooded with calls.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/04/02/PH2007040201150.jpg

David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama has received since he first hinted he may run for the presidency.

"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," Cordero said. "In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped."

Obama's campaign worked Monday to the distance the Illinois senator from the artwork.

"While we respect First Amendment rights and don't think the artist was trying to be offensive, Senator Obama, as rule, isn't a fan of art that offends religious sensibilities," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Cordero said the school had fielded plenty of calls about his work, "some of them from angry people." He also said he had heard from a few potential buyers.

Bruce Jenkins, dean of the art school's undergraduate program, said response to the piece _ part of a student exhibition _ has been mostly positive....

[eLITe]

I am doing my Graduate studies there now and to be fair, he hardly looks like Obama, but just another average African-American.

The political implications are inevitable I guess and I was told that the artist, who is also head of the Student Government is not an attention seeking media whore of sensationalism. Though he should have seen it coming whether he wants it or not. The School is extremely edgy when it comes to potential liabilities like these after past controversies in history, so I am sure they are well prepared for any media onslaught.

[Merlion]

Oh, it is very nice to meet somebody else from Singapore. Welcome eLITe. I do wish you would stay on in this forum.

Do you mean you are doing graduate studies at the Chicago Art Institute? Tell us more about your studies, and about the Institute.

[marblecutter]

First the nude chocolate Christ and now this. Politics Art Religion----Sex Drugs Alcohol Guns Guns and more Guns are being fabricated as I write this. Lots of people have died within the last few seconds from gun shot wounds. Let there be no loss of life over this benign statue. If only Bush was the subject...!!! ???

[eLITe]

Thanks Merlion, I have been on for some time, just that I do not have anything worthy to post.

And yes, I am completing my first year in the MFA Sculpture Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and will graduate in Summer next May. Enjoy your frequent updates about the international sculpture scene, keep posting!

[Merlion]

Do show us some of your artworks, elite, say at a new thread, and not in this thread about the Obama statue. Is your MFA in the area of sculpture?

[eLITe]

Sure, perhaps when I have my entire body of works for my graduation, I will post them up for critiques and opinions. And yes, my MFA program is in the Sculpture Dept. Cheers.

[marblecutter]

Quote:
Obama's campaign worked Monday to distance the Illinois senator from the artwork.

"While we respect First Amendment rights and don't think the artist was trying to be offensive, Senator Obama, as a rule, isn't a fan of art that offends religious sensibilities," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.



Did anyone buy this statue?

[Merlion]

Oh, this was back in April 2007, a life size paper mache sculpture by a graduating Chicago Art Institute student on display at a gallery. Obama had just joined the frey as one of the many candidates for President in the Democratic Party.

If you are interested in the fate of this sculpture, you can ask Elite who was a student at this Art Institute, and who I understand reads this forum once in a while.