White Christ

In 1987 Andres Serrano made the provocative photograph Piss Christ, depicting a mass-produced statuette submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine. He received violent criticism, and as recently as 2011 protesters vandalized one print of the work. Piss Christ belonged to a series showing various statuettes immersed in bodily fluids: blood, milk, urine, and semen. Each composition was printed at a grand scale that elevated the miniatures to the level of worship. This work, involving milk and water, was created in response to the Piss Christ controversy. Serrano sardonically gives the public a pure, white Christ figure, untouched by baser human substances.