{"id":11124,"date":"2024-07-12T10:41:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T14:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=11124"},"modified":"2024-07-12T10:41:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T14:41:31","slug":"jesus-looney-tunes-painting-removed-from-art-exhibit-after-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/07\/jesus-looney-tunes-painting-removed-from-art-exhibit-after-complaints.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus ‘Looney Tunes’ Painting Removed From Art Exhibit After Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Philjames<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A painting of Jesus has been removed from an art exhibit in Sydney, Australia after complaints that it mocked Jesus Christ. The painting is entitled \u201cJesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem,\u201d referring to the scene in Luke 23:28-31, when Jesus turns to the weeping women of Jerusalem as he is bearing his cross and comforts them. It contains a serious, realistic style of some of the onlookers and the cross, but Jesus, Mary, and another onlooker have faces replaced by \u201cLooney Tunes\u201d style characters, as well as a cartoon ghost hovering on the cross and weeping. The painting was created by an artist named Phil James, who goes by Philjames, and was a finalist for the Blake Prize for religious or spiritual art and had appeared at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre for two months.<\/p>\n

Christians, however, were not amused by the painting\u2019s irreverent take on one of the most holy scenes in the Christian religion. Charlie Bakhos, founder of the Catholic-led Christian Lives Matter (CLM) took to Facebook to describe his disgust with the painting. \u201cHere we go again another cheap and low attempt at mocking Christianity here in Sydney,\u201d Bakhos wrote<\/a>. He called it \u201clow quality art.\u201d \u201cWhy is it always Christianity and our scared figures\/symbols that are the target of such low quality artists. Any other communities, would never face such open mockery yet Christians are suppose[d] to just wear it.\u201d He called on followers to contact Casula Powerhouse with concerns and to be respectful. He also stated he had told the gallery he was planning a protest. According to The Guardian<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>the gallery received 60 phone calls in a single day protesting the artwork. Philjames stated he\u2019d received over 200 \u201cvile\u201d social media messages. \u201cI do like stirring a bit of a reaction with my work, but the novelty very quickly wore off on Friday. The level of vitriol and the sheer volume of it was actually frightening. I\u2019ve been doing these sorts of works for around 15 years and I\u2019ve had one or two people upset but nothing like this. It was vile and not at all Christian,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The backlash was so intense that Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun called on the painting to be removed. \u201cThe Christian Messiah and the Muslim Messiah Jesus has no connection to the cartoon character Goofy,\u201d he said. Acting Liverpool Council CEO, Jason Breton, announced that the painting would be removed due to safety concerns and community feedback. \u201cLiverpool is one of the most religious LGAs in Sydney. Religious art should be respectful and unifying, not divisive and disrespectful,\u201d he said. Philjames, who stated he had attended Sunday school growing up but was not religious, said the artwork wasn\u2019t meant to make any sort of statement. \u201cI find it all a bit absurd, it was a playful work. I like incorporating cartoon characters \u2013 they deal with human issues,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be honest, there wasn\u2019t really any meaning behind the piece. It\u2019s just an image \u2013 choose your own adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A painting of Jesus has been removed from an art exhibit in Sydney, Australia after complaints that it mocked Jesus Christ. The painting is entitled \u201cJesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem,\u201d referring to the scene in Luke 23:28-31, when Jesus turns to the weeping women of Jerusalem as he is bearing his cross and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":11130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus 'Looney Tunes' Painting Removed From Art Exhibit After Complaints<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A painting of Jesus has been removed from an art exhibit in Sydney, Australia after complaints that it mocked Jesus Christ.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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