ePaper
Subscribe
Newsletters
Search
Profile
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Vermeer
Adventures with Van Gogh
Russia-Ukraine war
Subscribe
ePaper
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Vermeer
Adventures with Van Gogh
Russia-Ukraine war
Diary
blog

What would Jesus wear? Adidas, probably

The Art Newspaper
1 March 2023
Share
Subverting expectations: Adrian Ghenie’s The Martyrdom of Father Pino Puglisi (2020), commissioned for an Italian church  © Adrian Ghenie

Subverting expectations: Adrian Ghenie’s The Martyrdom of Father Pino Puglisi (2020), commissioned for an Italian church © Adrian Ghenie

In a lively discussion at Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in London, the Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie spilled the beans on his high-profile permanent commission for the historic Chiesa della Madonna della Mazza in Palermo. Ghenie made two site-specific paintings for the church that were very much not what you would expect to see in a Sicilian place of worship. In Ghenie’s reinterpretation of the theme, the individual in The Crucifixion (2019) is clothed in contemporary Adidas sportswear, while another figure is wrapped in an orange shroud, recalling the jumpsuits worn by prison inmates in the US.

Adrian Ghenie

Painting is more important than politics: Adrian Ghenie on his Trump-inspired portraits in Venice

Gareth Harris

Meanwhile, The Martyrdom of Father Pino Puglisi (2020) depicts the eponymous priest who was murdered in 1993 for openly challenging the Mafia. “I thought they [church officials] would freak out,” Ghenie said in his discussion with Nicholas Cullinan, the director of London’s National Portrait Gallery. Thankfully, his pictures got the greenlight from the godly authorities.

DiaryAdrian GhenieArtists
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
LinkedIn
© The Art Newspaper