Arts Wire Current -- August
24, 1999
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Green Bay, WI -- To HELL and BACK, Wisconsin Artist
Norbert Kox's exhibit of 10 paintings and sculptures at the Neville Public
MUSEUM, ... |
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/
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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. ... |
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
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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. ... |
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."
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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 ... |
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.
