Piss Christ - Andres Serrano

'Piss Christ’ by American artist and photographer Andres Serrano was taken in 1987 and depicts a crucifix suspended in a glass of the artist’s own urine. At the time it was extremely controversial due to the blasphemous nature of the photograph, and was even attacked with a hammer by two teenagers in 1997. The overall colour is an orange glow and the photograph is taken from slightly below the crucifix, almost as if you were looking up at it. The scale of the photo isn't clear at a first glance, without knowledge of the context, and initially I believed it to be a full scale crucifix in the ocean. Once the viewer becomes aware that it is actually suspended in urine, the reaction completely changes. Andres Serrano was raised a very strict Catholic, and for Catholicism this piece of work would be considered extremely offensive. However, Serrano, who is now a Christian, has claimed that this work was more of a commentary on the state of the church and humanities attitude towards the sacred nature of the cross.