Andres Serrano transforms “Piss Christ” into a new NFT

“It’s not something I’ve ever done to be controversial,” Andres Serrano says of the 1987 photograph Piss Christ, which has become canonical as the premier example of transgressive art. “I just did it to be myself.”

The work, which shows a crucifix immersed in a glass tank of the artist’s urine, became known in 1989 after a major campaign against funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). On May 18, 1989, U.S. Senator Alphonse D’Amato tore up a photo of the photograph on the Senate floor, calling it “a deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity”. The moment is widely cited as the beginning of the culture wars of the 1990s, starting a national debate about artistic freedom of expression and public funding of controversial art.

On November 30, Christie’s 3.0 debuts Piss Christ (original), the first non-fungible token by Serrano, as part of Next Wave: The Miami Edit. NFT was produced in collaboration with a/political, an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting artists working within a socio-political framework.

The dynamic video NFT recreates three historical vandalisms of the original photograph from 1987 on an annual cycle. Skillfully using the time-based mechanisms of digital art, Serrano both archives and transforms the history of his infamous photograph, emphasizing its enduring legacy in art history and the right to creative expression.

Piss Christ received positive attention when it debuted at the Stux Gallery in New York City in 1987. It also received a $15,000 award from the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, which was funded in part by the NEA. The photograph was subsequently exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art in Pittsburgh, before drawing the ire of Methodist minister Reverend Donald Wildmon when it was shown at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond in 1989.

The founder of the American Family Association, Wildmon sent letters of protest to every member of Congress. Serrano’s work was eventually used by right-wing conservative Christians to justify restrictions on government funding of subversive art. D’Mato’s dramatic desecration of the image in the Senate chambers took place in response to Congress and the Supreme Court’s ruling that the NEA must take “general standards of decency into account” in making grants.

“They didn’t care that I’m a Christian,” says Serrano. ‘I am an artist who uses the symbols of my faith: the body and blood of Christ.’ For Serrano, the visceral bodily materials used in the photograph reflect the nature of Christ’s suffering. ‘If Piss Christ offend you, then I have succeeded – at least in making you feel what happened during the crucifixion.’

Since the May 1989 incident in the US Senate has transcripts of Piss Christ on display has been vandalized on two further occasions. In October 1997, after the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell’s injunction to remove the work from an exhibition in the National Gallery of Victoria was rejected by the High Court of Australia, the archbishop called on his followers to protest and hold candlelight vigils in front of the museum. On October 12, two teenagers attacked and destroyed, one armed with a hammer Piss Christ.

Fourteen years later, on April 17, 2011, following a demonstration of around 800 protesters the previous day at The Collection Lambert in Avignon, France, where Piss Christ was shown, a person took a hammer to the work and destroyed it.

Serrano notes that he was drawn to his most controversial work through an NFT because the format allows the artist to “destroy” the work “on the three days in history when it was attacked and destroyed by people.” In this way, the artist recovers these highly charged reactions – which relate to religious themes of iconoclasm – and brings them into the work itself. “You’ll see the original, and suddenly it’ll shatter in three different ways.”

This new iteration of the Piss Christ also continues to explore the complex formal questions that drove the 1987 photograph, finding beauty in the unexpected. “The body fluids were a way to make beautiful pictures,” he says. “Whatever I make, I try to make it beautiful. Because at the end of the day, everything I do is a self-portrait.’

The dynamic video work is an edition of five, each done in a different color. The work offered at Christie’s 3.0 is number one in the edition and features the rich sanguine and amber palette of the original photograph. The bubbles in the liquid circulate gently, giving the submerged crucifix a sense of calm that is canceled out by the violent attacks of the vandals.

Through Piss Christthroughout its eventful 35-year life, the work has attracted lively attention from a wide range of audiences. And Serrano has become nothing short of a cult hero, known for creating conversational work where viewers confront their biases. Still, he has long been troubled by the word “transcendent” surrounding his practice. “As long as my conscience is clear, I don’t worry about whether something is controversial or transgressive. I only do work that I can stand.’

The impact of Serrano’s art has reverberated throughout the art world and popular culture. He has exhibited internationally, in spaces ranging from the Cathedral of St. John of the Divine in New York to the Barbican Arts Center in London. He has also paved the way for groundbreaking works such as Chris Ofilis The Holy Virgin Mary (1996). Metallica used two of the body-floating photographs for the covers of their albums Load and reload. He has even collaborated with streetwear brand Supreme.

In reimagining his iconic photograph, “it made sense to make an NFT, because it’s a piece of history,” says Serrano. This dynamic new work underscores the continuing relevance of the issues surrounding freedom of expression that Piss Christ provoked 35 years ago, which is more relevant than ever. “Sometimes people want to reuse history; sometimes they will rewrite it. It is important to look at the past, because otherwise we will continue to make the same mistakes.’