The 2023 oil painting “Jesus Speaks to the Daughters of Jerusalem,” created by the Australian artist Philjames, faces backlash as it was submitted to the Blake Art Prize exhibition at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. The artist adds a hysterical twist to the sorrowful biblical tale of when Jesus comforted the weeping daughters of Jerusalem, as the melancholy on the faces of his subjects is masked by those of “Looney Tunes” characters.
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The piece received heaps of online criticism, with Christian protestors threatening violence, resulting in the removal of the painting from the contest by the mayor of Sydney’s Liverpool district, Ned Mannoun.
Though Philjames is no stranger to his work sparking controversy—being the creator of the piece depicting The Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples eating KFC—he admits that the reaction received “was actually frightening.”
The artist, however, did not fail to show his disapproval towards the mayor’s decision, “putting politicking before freedom of expression,” he said. “Where does it end?”
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#MaltaDaily
