Abstract:In 1989 Senator Jesse Helms called artist Andres Serrano “a jerk.” Speaking on the floor of the United States Senate, the Republican senator from North Carolina endorsed a letter to the National Endow...In 1989 Senator Jesse Helms called artist Andres Serrano “a jerk.” Speaking on the floor of the United States Senate, the Republican senator from North Carolina endorsed a letter to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), drafted by Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.), which objected to the NEA’s supporting “a so-called ‘work of art’ by Andres Serrano entitled ‘Piss Christ.’” According to Senator Helms, “What this Serrano fellow did, he filled a bottle with his own urine and then stuck a crucifix down there – Jesus Christ on a cross. He set it up on a table and took a picture of it. For that, the National Endowment for the Arts gave him $15,000, to honor him as an artist. I say…he is not an artist. He is a jerk. And he is taunting the American people, just as others are….And I resent it. And I do not hesitate to say so.” The lines of battle could hardly be more starkly drawn: a powerful conservative senator attacking an accomplished artist and defending “the American people” from the alleged taunts of this “jerk” – with a federal arts agency caught in the middle. The so-called culture wars, described by one observer as a “struggle to define America,” had begun.Read More
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-11-15
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 1
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