- Andres also spelled:
- Andrés
- Born:
- August 15, 1950, New York, New York, U.S. (age 76)
- Notable Works:
- “Piss Christ”
Andres Serrano
-
Who is Andres Serrano?
Andres Serrano (born in New York City on August 15, 1950) is an American photographer known for his confrontational and provocative large-scale color images. Serrano's work often incorporates bodily fluids and religious symbols, which evokes images of Christ’s Passion that he observed while growing up in a Hispanic, Roman Catholic home. His controversial photograph, Piss Christ (1987), which depicts a crucifix submerged in urine, sparked intense debate about public funding for the arts in the United States.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What kind of photography is Andres Serrano known for?
Andres Serrano is an American photographer known for his confrontational, large-scale color images. His work often incorporates bodily fluids and explores themes connected to his Hispanic, Roman Catholic upbringing.
Serrano's Piss Christ (1987), a photo of a crucifix submerged in urine, sparked significant controversy and became central to the culture wars of the late 1980s and 90s. This piece and others led to reexamination of arts funding in the U.S.. Serrano also employs traditional portraiture, photographing members of the Ku Klux Klan and homeless New Yorkers. Other series examine Middle America, Catholic workers, and human sexuality.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is one of Andres Serrano’s most famous works?
One of Andres Serrano’s most famous and controversial works is Piss Christ (1987), a photograph of a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine. The image sparked outrage and debate about public funding for the arts in the United States. Serrano's interest in bodily fluids and religious imagery, influenced by his Catholic upbringing, led to the creation of this provocative piece, which has been vandalized multiple times since its release.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why did Andres Serrano’s artwork cause controversy?
Andres Serrano's artwork, particularly his photograph Piss Christ (1987), sparked significant controversy due to its provocative nature. The image, depicting a crucifix submerged in the artist's urine, was perceived by many as profane and irreverent.
The outrage from the Christian community and right-wing politicians led to a media frenzy and attacks on Serrano and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which had partially funded the work. The NEA faced funding cuts as a result of the public debate surrounding Serrano's art and other similarly confrontational pieces, leading to restrictions on grants for individual visual artists.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How does Serrano use everyday materials in his art?
Andres Serrano is known for his confrontational photography that incorporates everyday materials, particularly bodily fluids. His controversial work Piss Christ (1987), which depicts a crucifix submerged in urine, sparked intense debate about public funding for the arts.
Serrano's interest in fluids like blood, urine, milk, and semen is evident in pieces such as Milk, Blood (1986) and Blood Cross (1985). Beyond these, he has also captured the signs of homeless New Yorkers in his series Signs of the Times (2013) and memorabilia related to Donald Trump.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What impact has Andres Serrano had on photography and modern art debates?
Andres Serrano's photography, particularly Piss Christ (1987), ignited significant controversy and became central to the culture wars of the late 1980s and 90s. His confrontational works, featuring bodily fluids and provocative figural compositions, led to a reexamination of arts funding in the United States. Public debate over Serrano's art and similar pieces prompted Congress to restrict grants to individual visual artists and cut the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding. Serrano's impact extends to his portrait series of the Ku Klux Klan and homeless New Yorkers, as well as his exploration of objects related to slavery and racism.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American photographer whose Piss Christ (1987), an image of a crucifix submerged in urine, resulted in a storm of controversy and was a central element in the so-called culture wars of the late 1980s and ’90s. The piece and others of a similar confrontational nature caused a reexamination in the United States of funding for the arts.
Serrano studied art, notably photography, at the Brooklyn Museum in 1967–69 and later acknowledged that in the 1970s he was a drug dealer and addict in New York City. He returned to photography in the early 1980s, presenting large-scale colour images concentrating on dramatic and provocative figural compositions. The intensity of these images evoked for the artist the images of Christ’s Passion that he had observed growing up in a Hispanic, Roman Catholic home. An interest in bodily fluids—blood, urine, milk, semen—sometimes in isolation (Milk, Blood, 1986), sometimes combined with cruciform shapes or reproductions of statuary (Blood Cross, 1985), led the artist to create his infamous Piss Christ. This image was exhibited at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1988, as part of that institution’s Awards in the Visual Arts series, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Many viewers found the image profane and irreverent and further objected to the support of the NEA, which itself was funded by taxpayers. The public debate engendered by this and other provocative artworks caused Congress to restrict grants to individual visual artists and to cut the NEA’s funding by two-fifths.
In later series studies Serrano employed traditional portraiture strategies to photograph members of the Ku Klux Klan (Klansmen, 1990) and homeless New Yorkers (Nomads, 1990). His Morgue series (1992), which is believed to have been photographed in Paris, studied the heads and bodies of corpses. His other series examine such subjects as Middle America, Catholic lay workers, guns, and human sexuality.
Serrano continued to make art in the 21st century, often photographing objects he had collected, including the signs of homeless New Yorkers ( Signs of the Times, 2013), memorabilia associated with U.S. Pres. Donald Trump (a collection he turned into the book The Game: All Things Trump, 2020), and historical objects related to slavery and racism (Infamous, 2020). In 2022 he debuted his first film, Insurrection, which comprised clips of stock videos combined with live footage of the 2021 United States Capitol attack pulled from public platforms. In addition to photography and film, Serrano also practiced music, assuming the alter ego Brutus Faust to release the album Vengeance Is Mine (2010).