Catholics Getting Nervous?
 

TOPEKA-- A sculpture depicting a Catholic clergyman in a cap resembling a penis has drawn
criticism from people who want it removed from the Washburn University campus.

The piece, called "Holier Than Thou," is the work of Jerry Boyle of Longmont, Colo. It depicts
the upper body of a heavy-set man with a contorted face and a tall ecclesiastical cap known as a
miter. The caps, with peaks in front and back, are worn by bishops, cardinals and the pope for
ceremonial occasions.

The base of the sculpture bears the following inscription: "The artist says, I was brought up
Catholic. I remember being 7 and going into the dark confessional booth for the first time. I knelt
down, and my face was only inches from the thin screen that separated me and the one who had
the power to condemn me for my evil ways. I was scared to death, for on the other side of that
screen was the person you see before you."

"I like controversy," he said. "For a piece of art, if people, want to laugh with it, laugh at it or
spit on it, that's OK. I just don't like them to walk by it."

People walking past the sculpture Tuesday differed on whether it was offensive. One young
woman said she had not noticed the hat's resemblance to a penis until someone else mentioned it.

Cooney, who described the clergyman as "evil-looking," agreed that the sexual image
portrayed was "very subtle." But he said the sculpture insulted members of the Catholic church,
which has undergone a scandal involving child-molesting priests.

"I think all Catholics should be outraged," he said.

Cooney questioned whether public money was spent on the sculpture. David Monical,
Washburn's executive director of university relations, said no tax money supported the sculpture
and four others put on display in the past two weeks as part of an exhibition financed by private
donations.

Monical said artists and art teachers representing Washburn's Campus Beautification
Committee picked Boyle's sculpture and four others from 90 entries to be displayed as part of the
municipal university's eighth annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

The sculptures are on loan to the university and should remain on display until July, Monical
said. He said no one involved in picking the sculptures intended to cause anyone pain.
Boyle said he created the sculpture as a "humorous piece" that was "not intended to be
meanspirited," and he said he hoped people would form their own opinions about its meaning.

"It's subjective. That's why it makes the world go around," he said. "Everybody sees something
different."

Monical said one purpose of art is to engage people intellectually and emotionally.

"This work apparently has fulfilled that function as there is a wide variety of commentary on
the piece, ranging from support to opposition," he said.

I dunno, the statue they just installed in Lawrence, KS seems even more phallic to me. S'whats up with all these erections in Kansas?:D
http://www.ljworld.com/photos/2003/09/27/artpark.jpg

Stranger yet is the news here locally that some guy wants to construct a 600-foot plus 'tornado' ala the St. Louis Arch, and use it as the linchpin feature to get someone to develop an Oz-themed amusement park, presumably in the same area with the new Kansas Speedway (and this is our big NASCAR race weekend, BTW), which has been hugely growing since the track went in.

Some of us think he's being a bit insensitive, considering that the tornado that tore through the north side of the Metro KC area started in exactly this area...

Most Catholics could care less. Anti-Catholicism is everywhere in our society, when we address it we look intolerant. I look at the piece and see a work of hate, intended to make observent Catholics uncomfortable. I didn't pay for it and I believe in free speech so I guess I don't do anything, least of all get nervous. It is ironic that the left pushes cases against institutions which make work places uncomfortable for its chosen groups but embraces this. He is making a legitamit criticism in an obnoxious way.... whatchagonnado?

I'm confused. Who the heck is Cooney?

I could easily see that sculpture with judges robes or a cops uniform. Children are traumatized by authority figures every day.
This guys trauma happened to be a priest so that's what he made.

To me it looks like a venus flytrap from the side, which has just closed on a fly. Something like 'Little Shop of Horrors'...

Quzah.

I'm almost certain I saw a pen and ink drawing of this priest a long time ago, maybe a plate in a book? I can't place it though. Any info on the artist, Patrick?

Only what it says in the article...Jerry Boyle of Longmont, Colorado...

I didn't find anything on him on the 'Net, but then I didn't look very hard, either.

I really hate how journalists causally mention someone's name, and then 6 paragraphs down they start talking about the person with no explanation as to who they are. Every time I read a story, halfway through I'm like, "Who the fuck is Julie??" How am I expected to remember all these names? What am I, a rolodex? Do I need to take notes??

And in this case, as far as I can tell, the reporter didn't even bother to casually mention the person's name. They just start talking about some random stranger with no explanation as to who they are!

Am I wrong?

Julie? Who's Julie? Where's Julie? I don't see no stinkin' Julie.
Who's Cooney?

Julie is just a random person I made up for my hypothetical example. Cooney.. that is the big question. Who in god's name is Cooney?

      What, have you been living under a rock or something? Cooney, dude, everybody knows Cooney. Jeeze, how could you not know Cooney?
      Next you're gong to say you've never heard of Goerge W. Bush or the band the Rolling Stones. Ever heard of the Pope? Probably not if you don't know Cooney... Man, I thought everone knew Cooney...

Yeah, I'll bet you know Cooney. You're probably in cahoots with him. You're probably an unindited co-conspiritor. :rolleyes:

He looks just like the Hierophant card in the Robin Wood Tarot. Spittin' image.