Artist Scraps Unveiling of Obama-as-Christ Painting
An artist has canceled plans to unveil a painting that depicts President Obama with a crown of thorns and arms extended outward as if he was being crucified.
Michael D'Antuono had planned a public unveiling of his latest work, "The Truth," on Wednesday as Obama marked his 100th day in office.
Due to overwhelming public outrage, however, D'Antuono decided to cancel the event at New York City's Union Square Park, but insisted that the work was intended purely as a political piece.
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"The religious reference was used metaphorically and not to insult anyone's religious beliefs," he stated through a publicist. "If that is the effect that my art has had on anyone, I am truly sorry."
Since news of the painting was first made public on Friday, D'Antuono has received thousands of emails and phone calls, a vast majority of which criticize him for the use of Christian symbolism in the painting.
Numerous online blogs and other public commentary have also weighed in on the work, though the concept – as controversial as it may be – is nothing new.
Last year, an undergraduate student's papier mache sculpture of Obama as a messianic figure went on display at a downtown gallery run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," David Cordero, the 24-year-old artist behind the sculpture, told The Associated Press last April.
Furthermore, according to a Harris Poll released in February, Obama was named by most American adults (18 and older) as the person they admire enough to call their hero.
Jesus Christ, meanwhile, came in second, followed by Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger, and Mother Teresa, respectively.
At his 100-day mark, Obama has an approval rating of 68 percent, according to a new poll by The New York Times and CBS News.
Furthermore, 72 percent said they are optimistic about the next four years, though most don't expect Obama to be able to end the war in Iraq or the economic recession by the end of his first term. Most of the respondents, however, said they expect the president to make progress in overhauling health care, energy and immigration policy.
