To Hell And Back
Press Controversy
CINDI MICHEAU
built the first Norbert Kox website, subject: "To Hell and Back" The controversial 1999 solo show that brought down the wrath of the New York Catholic Defense League , see 08/10/99 NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM OFFENDS CATHOLICS 
Arts Wire Current -- August 24, 1999

 

Arts Wire Current -- August 24, 1999

Green Bay, WI -- To HELL and BACK, Wisconsin Artist Norbert Kox's exhibit of 10 paintings and sculptures at the Neville Public MUSEUM, ...
www.nyfa.org/current_archive/1999/cur082499.html - 43k - Supplemental Result - - Similar pages

 

 

CATHOLIC LEAGUE LABELS GREEN BAY, WI EXHIBITION "ANTI-CATHOLIC"

GREEN BAY, WI -- TO HELL AND BACK, Wisconsin artist Norbert Kox's exhibit of 10 paintings and sculptures at the Neville Public Museum, was called "Anti-Catholic" by Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. According to the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, (in an article carried by the DETROIT NEWS) the league believes that the artist has blasphemously misused rosary beads, medals, crucifixes, scapulars and votives in works which depict The Virgin Mary as the "Great Harlot" and Christ as the "Son of Perdition."

"I have seen pictures of the display, and there is not two sides to bigotry," the Journal Sentinel quotes Catholic League president William Donohue, as saying. "It is always wrong. I'm so sick and tired of people saying that bigoted artists aren't bigoted."

However, The Journal Sentinel reports that the museum's advisory board voted unanimously to support the exhibition, and that neither local Catholic diocesan officials nor clergy members of other mainstream Christian denominations have voiced complaints. Clergy throughout the area had been invited to join the artist in a discussion of the exhibition.

The Journal Sentinel reports that Kox, wondered if league officials read the documentation of his works because in many cases the artwork draws upon Biblical warnings and either represents Satan disguised as Mary or Jesus or warns against worshiping Mary as an idol. "They've just got things totally turned around," Kox said, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Sources/resources:

Tom Heinen
"Art exhibit branded 'blasphemy'" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel carried in the DETROIT NEWS -- http://detnews.com Friday, August 13 NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM WEB SITE -- http://www.dct.com/org/neville/

 

 

 

 

1999 Activists

Green Bay, WI – The Neville Public Museum, which is run and funded by Brown County, opened an exhibit by artist Norbert Kox entitled "To Hell and Back. ...
www.catholicleague.org/1999report/arts1999.html - 22k - - Similar pages
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July 3, 1999
Green Bay, WI – The Neville Public Museum, which is run and funded by Brown County, opened an exhibit by artist Norbert Kox entitled "To Hell and Back." Scheduled to run through October 10, the exhibit featured:
· the Virgin Mary depicted as the "Great Harlot";
· Christ labeled the "Son of Perdition";
· God the Father represented as a monster;
· Our Lady of Guadalupe pictured with a cross-shaped knife, cutting out the heart of a baby;
· Jesus wearing a necklace with the Satanic symbol "666";
· A headless statue of Mary with black filth running out of her Immaculate Heart;
· A rewritten blasphemous version of the "Our Father."
There was also blasphemous misuse of Catholic sacramentals, such as rosary beads, medals, crucifixes, scapulars and votive candles. The league’s protest to the museum’s board of directors went unanswered.

 

 

 

CATHOLIC LEAGUE for Religious and Civil Rights

On this score the Catholic League readily agrees, and that explains our desire to ... of paintings and sculpture by Norbert Kox entitled, "To Hell and Back. ...
www.catholicleague.org/99press_releases/pr0399.htm - 58k - - Similar pages

 

08/10/99

NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM OFFENDS CATHOLICS

 

August 10, 1999

NEVILLE PUBLIC MUSEUM OFFENDS CATHOLICS

On July 2, the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, began displaying an art exhibit of paintings and sculpture by Norbert Kox entitled, "To Hell and Back." It features the following: a) the Virgin Mary depicted as the "Great Harlot" b) Christ labeled the "Son of Perdition" c) God the Father represented as a monster d) Our Lady of Guadalupe with cross-shaped knife, cutting the heart of a baby e) Christ wearing a necklace with the Satanic symbol "666" f) A headless statue of Mary with black filth running out of her Immaculate Heart g) A rewritten, blasphemous version of "Our Father." In addition, there is blasphemous misuse of Catholic sacramentals, such as rosary beads, medals, crucifixes, scapulars and votive candles. The exhibit is scheduled to run through October 10.

On July 27, Catholic League president William Donohue sent a letter to Frederick K. Baer, Chairman of the Neville Public Museum’s Board of Directors, and all the members of the board, requesting that a resolution be passed that would "formally express its misgivings about this exhibit." Donohue added that "there is no other way in which Catholic sensibilities, already damaged, can be mollified."

Donohue commented on this issue today:

"Two weeks have passed since we sent a letter—overnight express—to the board of directors of the Neville Public Museum stating our concerns. There has been no reply.

"We never asked for the art to be censored in any way. All we asked for was some reassurance from the board that it did not personally condone anti-Catholic bigotry. That such reassurance has not been forthcoming speaks loudly and clearly about the board’s sense of fairness. Accordingly, we will now contact the officials of Brown County, who run and fund the museum, to consider defunding the establishment; we will also take our case to appropriate state officials."

 

 

2001 Education

The artists included Norbert Kox, the creator of the "To Hell and Back" display at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, WI. That exhibit featured the ...
www.catholicleague.org/2001report/education2001.html - 21k - - Similar pages

 

 

February, 2001
Bethlehem, PA
- An art exhibit at Lehigh University from November 2000 through February 25, 2001 was called "Four Outside Artists: The End is a New Beginning." The artists included Norbert Kox, the creator of the "To Hell and Back" display at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, WI. That exhibit featured the Virgin Mary as the "Great Harlot" and labeled Christ as the "Son of Perdition." At the Lehigh exhibit, Cox displayed a monster in the image of the Statue of Liberty wearing four bras. Under each are scapulars of Jesus and Mary. On the torch is a rosary with a snake and the book in the hand has a cross with a pig on it.