Profile: Andres Serrano Affiliated Movements: Contemporary Art. Minimalism, Earth Art Affiliated Artists: Joel-Peter Witkin Damien Hirst Jeff Wall   * The placement of other artists in the same category is purely for didactic purposes - any number alternate criteria could result in a different choice. This list is chosen by suggesting other artists, mostly working at the same point in time and whose work might evoke similar questions in the viewer.

Andres Serrano, Piss Christ (excerpted), 1987.

Shock on the Right

Andres Serrano gained great notoriety from authoring the image PIss Christ (see below) well known for it's use by American Right-Wing politician Jesse Helms as an instrument for revealing the heresy of the National Endowment for the Arts, which granted Serrano a sum of USD $15,000 as an award for crafting the image. The image itself depicts a crucifix immersed in a mixture of urine and cow's blood, photographed through the front wall of a five gallon aquarium, according to sources close to the artist. The image became, as a result, the nexus for an argument for and against American freedom of expression laws in the United States. The BBC Documentary 'Damned in the USA' featured the work and artist as a central topic of discussion on similar issues from a european point of view. Still further and much greater controversy was accredited to the image when New York City mayor Adolf Giuliani spoke in favor of censoring the Brooklyn Museum for a show including Piss Christ,  thought some suggest that it was in the Museum's interest to capitalize on the fame of the image - along with others.

Never one to be shy, and likely emboldened by the media attention that the image gave him, Serrano continued the series, publishing some of it publicly - such as 'Piss Satan' (to attempt to neutralize the message on might assume) and others, depicted below. Later he authored the series "A History of Sex" as well. It remains to be seen whether Serrano can catch up to his reputation for radical and creative output.

Piss Christ, 1987. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

Madonna and Child II, 1987. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

Piss Satan, 1987. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

Piss Elegance, 2004. Cibachrome Print, . Dimensions vary with edition.

The Morgue: Burn Victim, 1992 . Cibachrome Print. from edition of 3.

The Morgue: Rat Poison,1992 . Cibachrome Print. from edition of 3.

The Morgue: Rat Poison,1992 . Cibachrome Print. from edition of 3.

Pieta, 1985. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

Heaven and Hell, 1985. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

The Morgue: Burn Victim, 1987. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

The Morgue: Rat Poison, 1987. Type C Photographic print. Dimensions vary with edition.

Reference Articles

Andres Serrano on Wikipedia
Andres Serrano's Personal Website
Andres Serrano interview from Community Arts Network
Andres Serrano at Arken Museum of Modern Art

written and edited by JWD