Saatchi's new sensation: the Peeing Madonna
Sunday 17 September 2006
Latest in This Britain
On Facebook
From the blogs
Why David Cameron owes unemployed single mothers an apology
How would you describe an unemployed single mother, with moderate depression, who can't afford new s...
Can we shop our way out of a recession?
The idea that a lot of shopping translates into a healthy economy is dubious. On the three prior oc...
How social networking made public vanity acceptable
When did it become acceptable to brag about oneself publicly?
‘French beer is unknown. We must change that’
Stereotypes die hard. ‘The Very Hungry Frenchman’, the BBC’s current television series following che...
Charles Saatchi, the art collector who has exhibited works such as Tracey Emin's unmade bed and Damien Hirst's pickled shark, is to display one of his most outrageous works yet.
As the centrepiece of a new display of recent acquisitions he will unveil a sculpture in which more than a dozen religious icons of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary have been fitted with penises and gathered around a urinal.
The "offensive" artwork, Medusa by Terence Koh, will show at "USA Today", a new exhibition of young American artists due to open at the Royal Academy of Arts next month.
Mr Saatchi ranks Koh as one of the most gifted sculptors in the US, and many of Koh's works feature his own blood and semen.
Mr Saatchi said: "Terence Koh's work is as nasty as you like. He has the face of an angel but the soul of a sewer rat. He and Banks Violette are the two most exciting new sculptors in America." Violette is another artist featured in the month-long exhibition.
Chinese-born Koh, 29, lists his own urine as one of the components in Medusa, a steel urinal inside a water closet which also contains a shelf crowded with the religious figures, each with a crudely fashioned phallus.
This exhibition comes almost 10 years after Mr Saatchi's Royal Academy exhibition "Sensation" caused widespread outrage, featuring massive images of the child murderer Myra Hindley by Marcus Harvey as well as Chris Ofili's depiction of the Virgin Mary, which contained pornographic magazine images.
Nathan Paine Davey, secretary-general of the Society of Mary, which is devoted to honouring the Virgin, said: "If the artist has attached phalluses, I think most people would find that grossly offensive."
- 1 Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
- 2 Pete Doherty: I was a bit unhinged
- 3 Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics
- 4 Greeks rage at erosion of sovereignty while leaders haggle over deal
- 5 Swiss to launch a space 'janitor'
- 6 Energy watchdog tells big firms: cut prices or else
- 7 Hey, You've got to hide your drug away
- 1 Rothschild loses libel case, and reveals secret world of money and politics
- 2 Vatican told to pay taxes as Italy tackles budget crisis
- 3 The West Bank's Bobby Sands
- 4 Prehistoric cybermen? Sardinia's lost warriors rise from the dust
- 5 Spotify: 1 million plays, £108 return
- 6 Female teachers accused of giving boys lower marks
- 7 The artist vandalising advertising with poetry
- 8 Apple admits it has a human rights problem
- 9 Mark Steel: If religion is 'marginal', I'm the Pope
- 10 Can you master a language in a weekend?
Free trial of new Independent iPad app
Get your daily dose of the best of British journalism, sponsored by American Airlines
Amazing restaurant offers
Three glasses of free champagne and a special menu at 46 top London restaurants.
Latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
Wilderness and wildlife in Australia’s Top End
48 Hours: Marrakech
Bear with Bern for Swiss skiing
The West Bank's Bobby Sands
A very good cuppa: Restaurants embrace afternoon tea tradition




Comments