Representatives for a gallery in Gateshead appeared in court yesterday charged with outraging public decency, after featuring a statue of Jesus with an erection.

The artwork was part of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art’s September 2007-January 2008 exhibition Gone, Yet Still, by the controversial Chinese artist Terence Koh, which featured dozens of plaster figures including Mickey Mouse and ET – all in some state of arousal

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Lawyers for Emily Mapfuwa, a 40-year-old Christian who was offended by the artwork, launched a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency and causing harassment, alarm and distress to the public.

Christian Legal Centre – an organisation that aims to “promote and protect the biblical freedoms of Christian believers in the United Kingdom” – agreed to pay her legal costs…A CLC spokesman said Mapfuwa believed in freedom of expression, but “this statue served no other purpose than to offend Christians and to denigrate Christ”.




  1. Sea Lawyer says:

    #31, 25, ohh, nevermind, I somehow missed the line in the story where he plead “not guilty.” Heh, I guess this is some sort of retarded criminal case.

  2. bobbo says:

    #31–SL==very clever. Try to dodge being wrong on the first subject by cleverly being wrong on the second subject?

    The article says she: “launched a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency…”

    Doesn’t sound like a personal tort to me and does sound like a private enforcement of the law for illegality.

    I’m too tired to look up the finer points, but most torts are violations of law, so I don’t know what point you are trying to draw out. In addition, this is an English case==not American.

  3. Sea Lawyer says:

    #33, If I thought I could never be wrong, I’d be busy riding Obama’s coat tails as his VP running mate.

  4. Rob says:

    OMG! I had no idea jesus was so well hung. The second coming is going to be a mess.

  5. Cursor_ says:

    Ok first of all the guy is using the ITALIAN version of Jesus.

    Jesus was a friggin jew.

    So ANY image of Jesus as ANYTHING other than a JEW is never an accurate portrayal. So thi sis just shit work. End of the story.

    Fake christians getting pissed off from a fake jesus figuring. Damn these people have too much time on their hands.

    Cursor_

  6. Kevitivity says:

    Another piece of art that screams “first year art student”.

  7. Angel H. Wong says:

    Jesus rose from the dead… With a morning wood.

  8. hhopper says:

    How about this art… from inside a church?

  9. Mr. Fusion says:

    #33, Bobbo,

    most torts are violations of law

    Uuhh, no. A tort is where you have been injured due to another’s party’s willful or negligent actions. Violations of the law are criminal offenses.

    My understanding about Private Prosecutions is that anyone may file a criminal charge against someone they believe may have committed a crime. If the Crown Prosecutor does not wish to proceed with the charge, the private citizen may apply to a Judge to proceed privately. The private citizen would have to convince the Judge there is sufficient evidence before the charge can go forward. This is relatively a rare occurrence but it does occur.

    I remember one case, I believe in the ’70s in Ontario, where a prisoner was killed by some guards. The Crown prosecutors refused to prosecute. The family hired a lawyer and investigator and convinced a Judge to proceed with a trial. Just before the case went to trial the Prosecutor stepped in and took over the case. He then promptly dropped the charge. The family cried foul, the court agreed, and the case proceeded with the province paying a private lawyer to present the case. The guards were fired shortly after that even though they were acquitted.

  10. deowll says:

    Um, very poor anatomy. It is located to low,a bout mid thigh, and the object of interest doesn’t just out like a nail in a floor. It stands up.

    As a work of art, I’d give it an F-.

  11. LowLife says:

    There was a big movement, as it were, in the Middle Ages where artists would show Jesus with an erection. There were also lots of depictings of Mary pointing at, and the wise men inspecting, his junk. This was after the Church had been emphasizing Jesus as God but then had to turn around and convince everyone he was man enough to do repentance on our behalf.


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