Christ sculpture holding submachine guns displayed at French festival
French artist James Colomina installed a two-meter-tall red sculpture of the crucified Jesus Christ holding Uzi submachine guns as part of an art festival in Marseille.
The sculptor mounted the two-meter figure, made of red resin and bearing the inscription “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” on the facade of a former soap factory in the city’s 15th arrondissement. The crucified Savior was depicted holding two Uzi submachine guns.
“We invented religions, laws, and principles. Then we invented a thousand reasons to break them,” James Colomina wrote on his Instagram page.
The controversial installation sparked outrage among Catholics and local residents. Festival organizers from the Mister Freeze collective moved the sculpture indoors following protests and amid concerns that the exhibit could be damaged.
French activist Ad Vitam said the organizers had removed the sculpture from public display, citing “the risk of vandalism and a desire to avoid offending residents’ religious beliefs.” “The visual shock of juxtaposing a sacred figure with automatic weapons produced exactly that effect: immediate media attention and its removal from the streets. It had to be taken down immediately,” the activist concluded.
As the UOJ reported, an artist in Kyiv previously desecrated an image of a priest and icons to promote a new song.
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