Andres Serrano - Photographs New York Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle

  • Exhibited

    Cuerpo Sagrado: Andres Serrano, Fotologia, Museo Iglesia Santa Clara, Bogotá, 9 August - 1 September 2007
    Sacred & Profane: Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, England, 13 October 2001 - 13 January 2002; York City Art Gallery, York, England, 20 April - 23 June 2002; Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton, England, 2002
    Andres Serrano, Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, 8 January - 1 February 1998
    Andres Serrano, Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, 12 July - 30 August 1997
    Andres Serrano, Galleri Charlotte Lund, Stockholm, 5 May - end of June 1997
    William Christenberry, Axel Hütte, Andres Serrano, Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, 7-30 November 1996
    Andres Serrano Selected Works.1986-1992, Richard L. Feigen, Inc. Chicago, 19 November - 31 December 1993
    for all, another example exhibited

  • Literature

    Takarajima Books, Andres Serrano, Body and Soul, n.p.

  • Catalogue Essay

    Since the explosive debut of Andres Serrano’s Immersions series in 1987, select images—especially those depicting religious insignia, as seen in Piss Light—have ignited a polemical firestorm whose impact still burns bright today. The series depicts a number of universally recognizable symbols of reverence, from Classical busts and Roman athletes to the Pietà and the Madonna, allegedly submerged in the artist’s bodily fluids. No other composition from the series, however, provoked a stronger reaction than that of Jesus on the cross. Those in opposition to the work have been passionately denouncing it as blasphemous and heretic, while it’s defenders have exalted the work as a valid form of expression about the state of the Church, the role of censorship, and even a subversive homage to religion.

    In Piss Light, the figure of Jesus Christ appears to emerge from under an amber-colored glow. The rich tonality and the striking composition invite further inspection and encourage a sense of ambiguity that vacillates between a strong visual appeal and powerful conceptual statement. The sense of duality is further enforced by the title, oneword referencing human physical matter while the other referencing spiritual salvation. This iconic work was created at the zenith of the artist’s creativity and influence on the art world.

    Other prints of this image are in the collections of the Fundación Federico Jorge Klemm Arte Contemporáneo and the Fundación PROA, both in Buenos Aires

83

Piss Light

1987
Cibachrome print, Diasec mounted in original artist's frame.
40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Signed, titled and numbered in pencil on the verso. One from an edition of 10.

Estimate
$60,000 - 80,000 

Contact Specialist
Vanessa Kramer Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs
vhallett@phillips.com
+ 1 212 940 1245

Photographs

2 October 2012
New York