Chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled after uproar
NYC gallery inundated with angry calls ahead of display during Holy Week
Chocolate Jesus exhibit canceled - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com
Updated: 12:33 p.m. PT March 30, 2007
NEW YORK - A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid a choir of complaining Catholics that included Cardinal Edward Egan.
The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan, said Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director. Semler said he submitted his resignation after officials at the Roger Smith Hotel shut down the show.
The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."
But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as "a sickening display."
Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."
"It’s not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing — to choose Holy Week is astounding," he said.
The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.
Valid point. People tend to conveniently forget the part of the text in the Bible that states Jesus had hair of wool and feet of bronze.
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