100 PHOTOGRAPHS 113
IMMERSIONS (PISS CHRIST) by Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano said he did not intend his 1987 photo-
graph of a crucifix submerged in his own urine to offend;
indeed, when it was first displayed in galleries, no one pro-
tested. But in 1989, after Piss Christ was exhibited in Vir-
ginia, it attracted the attention of an outspoken pastor and,
soon after, of Congress. Angry that Serrano had received
funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),
Senators Al D’Amato and Jesse Helms helped pass a law
requiring the NEA to consider “general standards of de-
cency” in awarding grants. The uproar turned Piss Christ
into one of the key fronts in the culture wars of the 1980s
and 1990s, alongside the work of Serrano’s fellow NEA re-
cipient Robert Mapplethorpe, and divided a nation over
the question of whether the government had the right to
censor art.
The battle over Piss Christ has left a dual legacy. The
campaign to place the picture outside the boundaries of ac-
ceptable art contributed to its fame, inspiring other artists
to push limits even further. But those provocateurs are less
likely to do so with help from the government: the decency-
standards law passed because of Piss Christ was upheld by
the Supreme Court in 1998.