Blasphemous Feminist Art. Incarnate Politics of Identity from a Post-Secular Perspective¹
Blasphemous Feminist Art. Incarnate Politics of Identity from a Post-Secular Perspective¹ Anne-Marie Korte Introduction: »Blasphemous« Feminist Art Among the increasing number of publicly exhibited works of art that have been accused of blasphemy or sacrilege in the context of cultural identity politics in Western societies, religiously connoted feminist art works and performances seem to stand out and fulfill a particularly provocative role. The works of art in ques- tion have remarkable common traits in their disputed imagery. They connect almost life-sized and often naked human bodies to iconic sacred scenes of Western Christian culture and art, such as the suffering Jesus on the Cross, the Last Supper, the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, or the Pieta (Mater Dolorosa). Well known examples are works such as Ecce Homo by Elisabeth Ohlson (Sweden), i.n.r.i. by Serge Bramly & Bettina Rheims (France) (Fig.), Yo Mama’s Last Supper by Renee Cox (usa), Our Lady by Alma López (usa), Blood Ties by Katarzyna Kozyra (Poland), and Passion by Dorota Nieznalska (Poland). More recently, songs and acts consisting of social, political, and religious criticism, performed »provocatively« by pop artists such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, or the Russian feminist punk rock group, Pussy Riot, have become publicly con- tested for comparable reasons. All these works of visual or performative art have been accused — more or less formally — of blasphemy or sacrilege, which contributed to both their notoriety and their controversiality, by attracting huge media attention. Not only have conservative religious interest groups and religious leaders and representatives targeted these works of art and per- formances; secular politicians and civil authorities have also declared them offen- sive, and both parties have tried or even succeeded in stopping, prohibiting, or banning their public exhibition or performance.
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