Provocative photog Andres Serrano appears at museum

By Amy Sara Clark/The Jersey Journal
November 12, 2009, 11:29PM
Amy Sara Clark /The Jersey Journal


Controversial photographer Andres Serrano, left, of "Piss Christ" fame, visits the Jersey City Museum.

Internationally acclaimed photographer Andres Serrano, best known for "Piss Christ," a photograph of a crucifix in a clear vessel of urine, and filmmaker Adam Kahan, who made a documentary about him, discussed their respective works today at the Jersey City Museum for an audience of about 60 people.

"If you're strong in what you believe you're not going to go down, on the contrary, you're going to reap a lot of success," said Serrano, who came to the show dressed all in black, including black leather boots with two rows of silver buttons and a rhinestone-studded belt.

Besides "Piss Christ" -- which set off a barrage of criticism from politicians and the Christian Right in the late 1980s -- Serrano has done other controversial works, such as a cross made of meat, his "A History of Sex" show and most recently a show featuring closeups of excrement from 66 animals and humans.
Asked why he chose excrement as a subject, Serrano said he began using bodily fluids when he participated in a show in which photographers mimicked painters. He put a clear vessel of milk next to one of blood, to create a canvas half white and half red.

"I decided to do more work like that using only bodily fluids. I did a monochrome all white, I did monochrome all blood. I realized I would be taking red and white pictures forever if I didn't add another color to my palate, so it was for formal reasons that I chose piss," he said, adding that he soon started using sperm as well.

He said he once thought he would never work with feces, but changed his mind about 18 months ago.

"Nobody ever did a close-up of s--- and I said to myself, there's nothing wrong with provocative work. I could do work that could even disturb me," he said.

He said that he never thought about the audiences' response to his work before "Piss Christ" came out.

"I was just completely in my own world," he said. "Since then I realized there is an audience out there. But when I'm working I forget about the audience. I think, yeah, they may or may not like it. But I do the work I feel I need to do."

The discussion followed the showing of Kahan's 27-minute documentary "Andres Serrano," released in 2007.

After the Jersey City Museum opened its new permanent exhibition "New Look, Same Great Taste," which includes "Ode to a Missourian Chief" by Serrano, Michelle Laughlin, the museum's director of programming and education, reached out to Serrano and Kahan to arrange yesterday's event, said Brendan Carroll, the museum's program coordinator.

Serrano, who lives in Brooklyn, said he was glad to participate. "Adam did a great film and I try to accommodate people," he said

Wow, can you get some Catholics to protest?



Piss Christ

Questions? Email info@jerseycitymuseum.org