‘P— Christ’ Causes Bloody Riots in Manhattan
By Charles C. W. Cooke
September 28, 2012
www.nationalreview.com/corner/328747/piss-christ-causes-bloody-riots-manhattan-charles-c-w-cooke
Warning: Graphic images of unfettered violence.
Yesterday, in midtown Manhattan, Andres Serrano’s infamous photograph, “P— Christ,” went back on display — and all hell broke loose. As the Edward Tyler Nahen gallery opened its doors on the first day of its month-long exhibition of the artist’s work, enraged Christians poured onto the streets outside:
Inside the gallery, security guards struggled in vain to keep some semblance of order. As the fight progressed, fears grew that the work — which many Christians find profoundly offensive — would be irrevocably defaced by the rabble:
But the real fireworks were reserved for the late afternoon, when a thirty-strong mob loitered around the entrance to the gallery. Shouting frenzied slogans such as, “what I’m praying for is for people to be touched by this,” “I just want to give people hugs, actually,” and “we think this art is passé,” the protestors demonstrated the harrowing face of modern American theocracy. One after another, they affirmed the primacy of the First Amendment and assured me that they were merely exercising their freedom of speech to reject the artist’s message. Frightening stuff.
The antipathy toward Serrano was particularly brutal. “We determine if that guy is successful if we look at his art, and deem it as art,” said one woman who described herself as a “Christian…who loves Jesus Christ.” “I think it confuses the message of Christianity,” she added. An older man railed, ”it’s really not a good use of his talents.”
As the press representative from the Catholic League started to distribute business cards, I feared for my life. “Call me if you need any more information,” he offered with a sinister smile. “We’re not directly affiliated with the Catholic Church,” he continued, “but we’re in good standing.” This set me on edge. I know how dangerous splinter groups can be, so I looked around for a policeman. There were none to be seen.
And then it happened. A rogue Occupier with an anti-Semitic sign started lobbing insults at the gallery’s owners. “The artist is an idiot!” he shouted. “The gallery is a Jewish idiot! Jews control America!”
This was too much for the assembled crowd, which went wild. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” said one. “He’s crazy!” agreed her friend. Others stared passively on. One man even snickered. “I’m not a part of the Catholic League,” said the crazy man.
Things reached fever pitch when the artist arrived. The crowd tore him limb from limb:
DONOHUE BARRED FROM EXHIBIT [AND GOES BALLISTIC--VERBALLY NOT PHYSICALLY]
September 28, 2012
www.catholicleague.org/donohue-barred-from-exhibit/
Bill Donohue comments as follows:
Last evening, I held a press conference outside the Edward Tyler Nahem gallery in New York City protesting the Andres Serrano exhibit featuring “Piss Christ.” After talking to the media, I attempted to enter the gallery; it is on the second floor of a building at 37 W. 57th Street.
When I entered the lobby, I was stopped by a man who works for the building. He asked for ID and requested that I sign in. I said okay, and then asked if I could go to the gallery. He said the gallery and the building are two different entities, and that I had to ask the men from the gallery; they were right in front of me in the lobby. I then asked them if I could enter, and they said no, without explanation. At that point I turned to the crowd behind me explaining that my First Amendment rights were being censored by the same people who were proudly displaying Serrano’s crucifix in a jar of urine.
No one else was barred from entering the gallery. Just me. We have all of this on tape, and the quality of both the audio and the video are excellent. Stay tuned.
[Did the art gallery officials read and really believe the above National Review item? If so, they forgot to look at the pictures]
ART GALLERY LIES ABOUT DONOHUE
September 28, 2012
www.catholicleague.org/art-gallery-lies-about-donohue/
Yesterday evening, Bill Donohue held a press conference protesting the Andres Serrano “P— Christ” display at the Edward Tyler Nahem gallery; the gallery is located on the second floor of a building at 37 W. 57th Street in New York City. He now responds to what the gallery is telling the media:
The gallery is saying that (a) the police showed up after they were summoned (b) 30 or so protesters barged into the building, and (c) Serrano confronted me to discuss the controversy but I balked. All of it is a lie.
There were no police—none (to prove me wrong, the gallery should release the names of those whom they say were there). No one barged into the building: As I entered the lobby, there were supporters and members of the media behind me, but no one bullied their way in. Serrano and I never met. We have all of this on video, so it is not a debatable issue.
Gallery officials intentionally denied me the right to enter because I am a Catholic activist whose criticisms of the display they reject. And now they are fabricating a story out of whole cloth about what occurred.
* * *
I will discuss the gallery’s decision to stop me from seeing the exhibit, along with their lies, tonight with Lou Dobbs (Fox Business Network); the scheduled airtime is approximately 7:30 p.m. ET.
Double-Standard in Condemning Anti-Islam Movie [but not P--- Christ Display]?
Lou Dobbs
Fox Business
September 28, 2012
“Planned Bullyhood” author Karen Handel and The Catholic League President Bill Donohue on the controversy surrounding the anti-Islam film [and the anti-Christ exhibit].
If that article is true….It’s amazing that it took an Occupy Wallstreeter to seriously defend Jesus. And what would happen if that was Mohammed in that picture ….bloody riots and Mr Wonderful bowing, scrapping and kissing butts. Just Amazing no real crowd of Catholics there. Where is the Bishop of NY he’s too busy partying with Mr. Wonderful…down right sickening. And this is paid for with tax payer money.
We have the president God thinks that we deserve.
The text of the above National Review item is completely fictitious (including the part about the supposed Wall St. Occupier with an anti-Jewish sign, making insulting remarks to the art gallery owners), as evidenced by the contrasting pictures of the calm and decorum at the site.
I omitted the latter part of the above comment “ART GALLERY LIES ABOUT DONOHUE” but now include it to report on actual demonstrators who showed up–not opponents but supporters of the exhibit. I do not include a picture of them from the Huffington Post piece, because their signs include the exhibit’s offending word, which I do not know how to blot out.
Why doesn’t Serrano do a self-portrait called ‘P—Serrano’? Or a portrait of Edward Tyler Nahem called ‘P—Nahem’?
And stick his head in it.
[A riotous and violent demonstration by the Catholic League at the P---Christ display? Definitely not; Bill Donohue "got his Irish up," but he didn't "lower the boom."]
VIDEO SHOWS GALLERY CONFRONTATION
October 1, 2012
www.catholicleague.org/video-shows-gallery-confrontation/
Bill Donohue comments as follows:
Last Thursday evening, September 27, I was barred from entering the Edward Tyler Nahem gallery that was hosting the Andres Serrano “P— Christ” piece.
The gallery said that when protesters tried to push pass the guards, the police were called and showed up to monitor the situation; the same gallery officials said that Serrano went outside to talk to me, but that I refused to engage him. All of this is a lie.
A reporter for the New York Times spoke to Serrano and he admitted that the two of us never met. She called the police and they confirmed that no one from the gallery called them. We had called the police prior to the press conference, and some showed up at 6:22 p.m. after the press conference ended (it began at 5:25 and was over at 6:00 p.m.); this was also after the confrontation in the building’s lobby (it started immediately after the press conference).
So on these two issues—Serrano and me meeting and the cops showing up in response to trouble—the evidence shows that the gallery lied. Still in contention is the gallery’s position that protesters barged into the building; I contend that we sought to enter the lobby but did not force our way past security. To see exactly what happened, [see the video below].
In other words, we are dealing with a prominent gallery in a high-rent district of Manhattan that promotes bigotry, censors its critics, and lies to the press.
This one of the reasons for the End of the World.