bloggie

Man cannot live on bread alone, but if he were to consume Cosimo Cavallaro's newest creation he could live off of Jesus -- for approximately eight months. An oddball artist known for his "eclectic" forms of expression, Cavallaro's latest contribution to culture is a six-foot tall, anatomically-correct milk-chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ. His confectionary Christ is made with more than 200 pounds of chocolate, containing approximately 480,000 calories. (The artistic endeavor titled, "My Sweet Lord," can also give you 3,240 percent of the Vitamin A you need each day.)

Cavallaro is an artist fond of working with food; his most infamous installation up until now was his exhibition in 1999, which involved covering Room 114 of New York City's Washington Jefferson Hotel in melted mozzarella cheese. If consumed, the junk food Jesus would fill you with 32,000 grams of fat, which is enough to insulate you for well over a year. This Jesus is sure to pack on the pounds, but is this art really food for thought...or just a publicity stunt passing as art?

Just in time for Easter, the high-calorie Heavenly Father will exhibit on April 1st at The Lab gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York. Creative Director Matt Semler says, ''The sign of any great artist is how their work affects the observer." Looking at the Lord, viewers may be moved to muse about their own mortality: Death by chocolate? Hypertension? Or atherosclerosis? Perhaps Cavallaro's intention is to warn the overzealous that when it comes to faith or food -- be it Christ or Cadbury -- indulgence should be avoided at all costs. Or maybe it's simply for shock value -- he wants us to stand there and salivate while suppressing the temptation to nibble on Christ's toes.

Or maybe Cavallaro is just trying to shock us, because he really can't think of anything original to do.

Anti-Christian art---it comes around every spring (yawn).

It would be tasty, but it's never gonna happen.

Controversial and edgy artists who "Speak truth to power" and "make us think" aren't dumb; they know which groups can be safely mocked, and which can't.

When they start making Mallow Creme Mohammeds, peanut butter fluff Castros and funny pictures of Lenin, then we'll start talking about how gutsy they really are.

I don't care if it rains or freezes
'Long as I got my chocolate Jesus
Melting on the dashboard of my car...

Life as a Tom Waits song.

What's shocking is the call by the Pope to riot in the streets until this situation is resolved to satisfaction, reparations are made, and a church erected on the spot. /is this necessary?

Seriously, all religions not named Islam are fair game for artists, cartoonists, satirists, and the media to pile on, but if you stare at the word Islam the wrong way, you get a big fat fatwa, not to mention riots knocking down doors and calling for your head.

Something is definitely rotten here.

#8 lawhawk

You are absolutely right.

Those things wouldn't get an NEA grant.

Update - the show has been cancelled.

amid a choir of complaining Catholics

Still better than a mob of marauding Muslims.

a choir of complaining Catholics

RT!