This is one of those art pieces which provoke strong reactions:
"My Sweet Lord," an anatomically correct milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ that infuriated Catholics before its April unveiling was canceled, returns Oct. 27 to a Chelsea art gallery, its creator said Tuesday.
This time, artist Cosimo Cavallaro said he expects the public exhibit to proceed without a problem.
"There is nothing offensive about this," Cavallaro said of his controversial confectionary work. "If my intentions were to offend, if I did do something wrong, I wouldn't be doing this. But I didn't do anything wrong."
Cavallaro, who received death threats before the April show was canceled, said the vast majority of his mail was in support of his six-foot piece.
"I got a lot of positive mail from people in the Catholic Church, people studying theology, people in monasteries — all kinds of letters and e-mails of support," he said.
I have no idea what Cavallaro wanted to achieve with his sculpture, whether he was ridiculing religion or trying to delve deeper into that sacrifice myth which is a fundamental piece of Christianity, but I found this part of the article incredibly touching:
The sculpture is actually a new version of "My Sweet Lord," created with 200 pounds of chocolate over three days. The original was stored in a Brooklyn facility where mice nibbled away at its hands, ears, nose and feet, forcing Cavallaro to toss the original and recast the sculpture.
Mice taking Holy Communion.