>From: "K. Ken Johnston"
>>---Forwarded article----------------
>>PARODY OF `LAST SUPPER' DRAWS COMPLAINTS >> >>By Oscar Avila >> >> A painting that uses Toucan Sam, Cap'n Crunch and other >>breakfast >>favorites as figures in a parody of Leonardo da Vinci's religious >>masterpiece "The Last Supper" is causing an uproar in Schaumburg. >> >>More than 100 callers have complained since "The Last Pancake >>Breakfast" went on display Friday at the Chicago Athenaeum. The >>work >>features cartoon characters partaking of pancakes and orange juice. >>Mrs. Butterworth, of syrup fame, fills the role of Jesus. >> >> Critics say the work is blasphemous, and the debate provides >>an >>offbeat echo of a controversy in New York, where an art museum is >>displaying a photographic version of "The Last Supper" with a nude >>woman as Jesus. >> >>Athenaeum officials see a bright side to the local outcry. >> >>"Anytime you can create a discourse that gives people something >>stimulating to talk about, it's a good thing," Julie >>Reichert-Marton, >>director of administration for the museum, said Tuesday. >> >>Reichert-Marton said she respects the criticism, and acknowledged >>that >>organizers briefly considered moving the painting out of the main >>exhibit. But on Tuesday, officials reaffirmed their commitment to >>keeping the painting on display at the Athenaeum, 190 S. Roselle >>Rd. >> >>"The Last Pancake Breakfast," by Chicago artist Dick Detzner, is >>one >>of more than 60 works by emerging artists in an exhibit called "Art >>Scene Chicago." Most of the complaints came before the exhibit's >>opening, when a suburban newspaper ran a photo of the painting. >> >>Sixteen Catholic parishioners from the northwest suburbs submitted >>a >>petition, with a copy of the article, that stated: "Please remove >>this >>picture from your exhibit. It is ridiculing the Last Supper of Our >>Lord, Jesus Christ!" >> >>Detzner said he never received any complaints when he exhibited the >>work in Lakeview and Lincoln Park. >> >>The painting is part of his 13-work collection called "Corporate >>Sacrilege," which also includes Jesus on a Wheaties box, Mickey and >>Minnie Mouse in the Garden of Eden, and the Pillsbury Doughboy on a >>crucifix, being poked in the belly by the hand of God. >> >>Detzner said "The Last Pancake Breakfast" is "the most innocuous of >>the whole bunch" and called the criticism surprising. He intends >>for >>his work to show how corporate icons can create visceral reactions >>as >>intense as religious icons. >> >>"If anything, I would have expected to hear from the companies I'm >>lampooning. What I'm going after is not religion, it's >>advertising," >>Detzner said. >> >>Rev. Phil Horrigan, director of environment and art for the >>Archdiocese of Chicago, said he was amused, not offended, by "The >>Last >>Pancake Breakfast." >> >>But Horrigan, who helps decide what artwork is appropriate for >>liturgical settings, understands why some Catholics find it >>disturbing. >> >>"My devotion and faith are bigger than any single piece of art," he >>said. >> >>The Schaumburg exhibit went on display the same day that the >>Brooklyn >>Museum of Art began showing "Yo Mama's Last Supper," by >>photographer >>Renee Cox. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York City and a >>conservative >>Catholic organization called that work "anti-Catholic." >> >> >> >> >>===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================