HUMN 303N Week 7 Assignment: Reflection –
What Is Art?
Although controversial art is not a topic exclusive to the 20th century, the distribution of information
regarding controversial art has increased with the proliferation of media. Please discuss an example of a
20th century controversial work of art from any discipline of the humanities (music, literature, sculpture,
film, etc.) and an accompanying statement from the artist(s). Based on your example, to what extent does
controversial art make a social contribution? Are governments ever justified in censoring art?
Controversial art includes music, movies, essays, novels, poems, paintings, sculptures, and so
forth. Can a controversial piece of art ever make a social contribution? Does it depend on the
nature of the controversy?
The example that I chose of controversial art is The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili. In this
piece of art, the portrayed Virgin is a black woman surrounded by putti (winged cherubs) with
bare bottoms and genitalia cut out of pornographic magazines. Two balls of elephant dung
support the painting inscribed with the works “Virgin” and “Mary” and a third clump defining
one of her breasts (Sayre, 2013, p. 492). The piece reflected Ofili’s African heritage while
showcasing female organs and divinities to symbolize the fertility of the Virgin Mary. It was
blasphemous and anti-Catholic to many spectators and was even smeared by white paint by an
angry spectator while on display in Brooklyn. The Catholic community was outraged that
someone would depict art related to their sacred Virgin Mary in such a way, especially with the
use of elephant dung and clippings from pornographic magazines. The mayor of New York of
that time threatened to cut off funding and even evict the museum it was displayed in from it’s
city-owned building. Although these tactics were meant to hurt Ofili’s presence in the art
community as well as his art work, he only gained more attention and prominence.
This piece of art made a great social contribution in the sense that art is whatever the artist
intends it to be. As stated by Ofili himself on the Art Newspaper webpage, “As an altar boy, I
was confused by the idea of a holy Virgin Mary giving birth to a young boy. Now when I go to
the National Gallery and see paintings of the Virgin Mary, I see how sexually charged they are.
Mine is simply a hip-hop version” (Miller, 2018). Artists have the freedom to showcase what
they want and however they want to. It may cause controversy among others, but that’s the
artist’s own prerogative. Art is a form of freedom of speech in sense, and although the
Government can play a role in censoring some forms, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the
art comes from the artists own point of view, whether their intentions are seen appropriately or
not. In my opinion there may be some reasons in which the Government may be justified in
censoring art but majority of the time it goes against the artists freedom of speech.
References
Miller, J. H., 2018, “Controversial ‘hip-hop version’ of the Virgin Mary given to MoMa.” The
Art Newspaper. Retrieved from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/steve-cohen-gives-chris-
ofili-s-virgin-mary-to-moma
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 02-15-2022 22:44:33 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/39303271/discussion-week-7-1docx/
What Is Art?
Although controversial art is not a topic exclusive to the 20th century, the distribution of information
regarding controversial art has increased with the proliferation of media. Please discuss an example of a
20th century controversial work of art from any discipline of the humanities (music, literature, sculpture,
film, etc.) and an accompanying statement from the artist(s). Based on your example, to what extent does
controversial art make a social contribution? Are governments ever justified in censoring art?
Controversial art includes music, movies, essays, novels, poems, paintings, sculptures, and so
forth. Can a controversial piece of art ever make a social contribution? Does it depend on the
nature of the controversy?
The example that I chose of controversial art is The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili. In this
piece of art, the portrayed Virgin is a black woman surrounded by putti (winged cherubs) with
bare bottoms and genitalia cut out of pornographic magazines. Two balls of elephant dung
support the painting inscribed with the works “Virgin” and “Mary” and a third clump defining
one of her breasts (Sayre, 2013, p. 492). The piece reflected Ofili’s African heritage while
showcasing female organs and divinities to symbolize the fertility of the Virgin Mary. It was
blasphemous and anti-Catholic to many spectators and was even smeared by white paint by an
angry spectator while on display in Brooklyn. The Catholic community was outraged that
someone would depict art related to their sacred Virgin Mary in such a way, especially with the
use of elephant dung and clippings from pornographic magazines. The mayor of New York of
that time threatened to cut off funding and even evict the museum it was displayed in from it’s
city-owned building. Although these tactics were meant to hurt Ofili’s presence in the art
community as well as his art work, he only gained more attention and prominence.
This piece of art made a great social contribution in the sense that art is whatever the artist
intends it to be. As stated by Ofili himself on the Art Newspaper webpage, “As an altar boy, I
was confused by the idea of a holy Virgin Mary giving birth to a young boy. Now when I go to
the National Gallery and see paintings of the Virgin Mary, I see how sexually charged they are.
Mine is simply a hip-hop version” (Miller, 2018). Artists have the freedom to showcase what
they want and however they want to. It may cause controversy among others, but that’s the
artist’s own prerogative. Art is a form of freedom of speech in sense, and although the
Government can play a role in censoring some forms, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the
art comes from the artists own point of view, whether their intentions are seen appropriately or
not. In my opinion there may be some reasons in which the Government may be justified in
censoring art but majority of the time it goes against the artists freedom of speech.
References
Miller, J. H., 2018, “Controversial ‘hip-hop version’ of the Virgin Mary given to MoMa.” The
Art Newspaper. Retrieved from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/steve-cohen-gives-chris-
ofili-s-virgin-mary-to-moma
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 02-15-2022 22:44:33 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/39303271/discussion-week-7-1docx/
