A photographic work by American artist Andres Serrano depicting a crucifix dipped in urine, and has provoked strong protests from Catholic movements who considered blasphemous, was vandalized Sunday in the premises of the contemporary art collection Yvon Lambert in Avignon (Vaucluse).
The work entitled "Piss Christ Immersion", and another snapshot of the New York artist whose subtitle, "Sister Miriam Jane" were destroyed Sunday around 11:30, shortly after the museum opened, two visitors equipped with a "hammer and a blunt object, such ice pick or screwdriver.
Three guards who tried to intervene were threatened and beaten, while the assailants managed to escape the museum, said the leadership of the collection that has filed a complaint and said that the museum would reopen its doors on Tuesday morning with "works shown as they are destroyed."
Sunday evening, the Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand condemned an "attack on a fundamental principle, the presentation of these works squarely within the creative freedom and expression which is part of the law," while recognizing that "one of the two works could offend some audiences.
Conducted in 1987 by Serrano said to be a Christian, "Disposal Piss Christ" display as part of an exhibition entitled "I believe in miracles", celebrating ten years of the collection was the subject since early April of strong protests from many Catholic movements, especially fundamentalists.
The Civitas Institute, which presents on its website as "a work of regaining political and social re-Christianize France to" activist "establishment of the Social Kingship of Christ over the nations and peoples", launched a petition against the work.
The series editor, Eric Mézil, had already reported several hundred phone calls and emails "offensive" after the launch of the petition. Saturday, a demonstration involving some "800 ultra-conservatives and fundamentalist youth," according to management, was forced to close the museum.
The bishop of Avignon, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz, had also demanded the withdrawal of the work, denouncing a cliche "abhorrent" that "violates the image of Christ on the cross, the heart of our Christian faith."
"I am persecuted by telephone. I received 30,000 emails, I am not exaggerating, 30,000 emails fundamentalists (...) This ignorance, such intolerance.It's the Middle Ages who returns to big-step ", has outraged Yvon Lambert, who lent his collection for twenty years to a future donation to the state, with deposit works in Avignon.
The Observatory for the freedom of creation, from the League of Human Rights, denounced in a statement "these acts of vandalism" and reiterated: "That the public to judge the works, not self-appointed censors" .
The work, which was the subject of controversy in the U.S. media "extremists" at the time of its creation, had elicited no response in a retrospective in 2007 at Avignon, at no more than National Campaign to display the exhibition, which included the work.
Boasting approximately 350 works, the collection is allowed Lambert in the eighteenth century mansion owned by the city of Avignon. The municipality, region and state are subsidizing the arts center. The exhibition "I believe in miracles" opened Dec. 12, 2010 must be completed on May 8
