2. Piss Christ – Andres Serrano
A work of art that caused international controversy and political debate – even over the Christmas period – was the work ‘Piss Christ’; a 1987 photograph by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano. In 1987, Serrano’s ‘Piss Christ’ was exhibited at the Stux Gallery in New York and was favourably received. The work of art later caused a scandal when it was exhibited in 1989, with detractors, famously including United States Senators Al D’Amato and Jesse Helms, who were outraged that Serrano received $15,000 for the work, and $5,000 in 1986, from the taxpayer-funded National Endowment for the Arts. Serrano received death threats and hate mail. Others alleged that the government funding of ‘Piss Christ’ violated the separation of church and state. The work was later vandalised at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, and gallery officials reported receiving death threats in response to the work.