Artist Creates Jesus Popsicles

From Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ to Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary, artists have managed to raise quite a stink by pissing off Christians. 

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rooklyn-based artist Sebastian Errazuriz has created what he calls Christian Popsicles, which were given out at the New York Design Week opening party in New York City. If you’re an artist looking for publicity, there’s one surefire way to get yourself in the press: incorporate religious iconography into your work in a way that insults people of faith. From Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ to Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary, artists have managed to raise quite a stink by pissing off Christians. 

The popsicles were created using “frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ.” Once the holy popsicles are eaten, the popsicle stick is revealed to be a crucifix shape with the image of Jesus Christ printed on it.

According to an article on CNN.com, “Errazuriz wants his ‘Christian Popsicles,’ which will be stained red by the wine after their consumption, to signify the relationship between fanaticism and historic religious violence.”

That may seem like a bit of a stretch, but Errazuriz claims that he doesn’t intend his work to be controversial.

"It's not that I purposely want to get in trouble,” Errauzriz says. “I just believe if you are not doing work that can make people stop, think and discuss, then it's better not to make any work at all."

If that sounds like the typical “holding a mirror up to society” copout favored by gangsta rappers, performance artists, and shock jocks, that’s because it probably is. There’s nothing wrong with criticizing religion, or any other aspect of society, but we can’t help but think that these kinds of artistic “statements” usually come off seeming like cheap shots.

Whether or not you believe Errauzriz’ claims that he’s simply trying to get people to take their religions a little less seriously, we wish that artists would find something more original to say. It’s not as if there is a shortage of things to mock in our culture. In fact, we wouldn’t mind seeing more art that takes a shot at the art world itself.