Artist defends Jesus BDSM artwork displayed at European Parliament
Few members of EU Parliament protest sexual depictions of Jesus' Apostles
Controversy has erupted in the European Parliament over a photography exhibition by Swedish artist Elisabeth Ohlson that includes a depiction of Jesus accompanied by homosexual men dressed in leather attire associated with BDSM fetishism.
Few MEPs have spoken out against the artwork, with the exception of politicians from Italy, Spain and Poland.
Maria Veronica Rossi, an MEP from Italy’s Lega Party, told The Times (U.K.) that it “represents Jesus surrounded by apostles dressed as sadomasochistic slaves.”
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Ohlson argued that it’s “just 12 pictures of Jesus loving the LGBT rights” among millions of other artistic depictions of Him, so it shouldn't cause offense.
The exhibition, located in a restricted area of the Parliament building, has been met with criticism from some members of the European Parliament who have deemed the artwork disrespectful and blasphemous.
Ohlson's photographs were presented in the European Parliament with the support of Malin Björk, a parliamentarian from the Leftist Party of Sweden who praised the exhibition for demonstrating societal progress regarding "LGBT rights" over the past 25 years, according to Evangelical Focus.
The exhibition, first presented in 1999, had previously been denied access to the Parliament building in the early 2000s for being offensive.
Critics of the exhibit include Jorge Buxadé of Spain’s Vox party. In a tweet, Buxadé accused the European Parliament of providing a platform for the “LGTBIQ+ lobby” with the complicity of leftist parties.
Italian MEP Maria Veronica Rossi of Lega Nord also expressed her concern over the “lack of respect towards millions of believers all over Europe.”
“It is legitimate to address issues of all kinds in institutional settings, but exploiting a religion is an intolerable lack of respect for millions of faithful throughout Europe,” Rossi told Italy24. “Other than cultural insight, this appears as a gratuitous provocation: Why offend and lack respect?”
Ohlson defended her work. “There [are] a lot of pictures of Jesus with heterosexual [people],” Ohlson wrote on Twitter. “Millions, billions of paintings, famous artists. But this is just 12 pictures of Jesus loving the LGBT rights, so 12 pictures should not be so scary for them.”
An exhibition at the EU Parliament featuring an LGBT Jesus (in the background) has sparked protests from MEPs who say it is 'blasphemous and disrespectful'. Here is how the artist, Elisabeth Ohlson, responded to the critics. pic.twitter.com/1w7q8hZ0CG
— Pietro Guastamacchia (@ilpiotr) May 2, 2023
The Swedish photographer has a history of creating controversial artwork. In 2019, St. Paul’s Church in Malmö, Sweden, displayed one of Ohlson’s paintings on its altar, which featured a Garden of Eden scene with two homosexual couples and a transgender person instead of Adam and Eve.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini wrote on Facebook, “Art? No, just vulgarity and disrespect.”
The Times (U.K.) noted that European Parliament rules state that “cultural events and exhibitions shall not in any way undermine the dignity of parliament ... be offensive or of an inflammatory nature ... or likely to give rise to disturbances in the designated exhibition areas.”
Another contentious artwork in the exhibition portrayed a soldier forcefully pushing a tiny vessel loaded with migrants back into the ocean, the newspaper said.
The four-day exhibition in the European Parliament concluded on Friday.
When the same work was displayed at the Belgrade Pride festival in Serbia in 2012, Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church criticized its display.
“I had not expected that this year I would again be forced to turn to you on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Church, its members, who are the dominant majority in Serbia, and on behalf of numerous members of other religions, with the plea and demand that, by your authority as prime minister, you prevent the scandalous exhibit of photographs by Swedish artist Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin,” Patriarch Irinej told b92 at the time.
