St. John The Baptist, 1998-2001, recalls Serrano's earlier series of works involving sculptural subject matter, as well as the series The Church from 1991. It is a simple image, a collection of ancient objects all of which show a great amount of history and time passing. As a corner of the artist's studio, it also functions as a partial self-portrait in that it gives an idea of Serrano's interest in natural history and the history of art. In a slightly less formal style, we are invited to make connections between more than one object in the image, including the lamb in the saint's arm and the animal sculls above his head. The addition of light to the object brings an interior glow to the warm brown of the wood, which the statue is made of, and a jewel-like brightness to the blue background and colored glass of the lamp. The religious nature of the objects is also accentuated.

Andres Serrano has had many solo exhibitions since his first show in 1985, most recently at Paula Cooper Gallery, NY, Chac-Mool Gallery, LA, The Barbican, London, and Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris. He has shown extensively in museums around the world, and a recent retrospective of his work was organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, which traveled to The New museum, NY, the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Other venues include the Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland, the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands, the Serpentine Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT, The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, the Armand Hammer Museum, LA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY and Le Consortium, Dijon. Since the initial controversy over Serrano's exhibition of Piss Christ, 1989, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, DC, his importance and notoriety have grown, and recent series have included The Morgue and The Interpretation of Dreams, both series as provocative and elegant as his earliest works. Andres Serrano is represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, NY.



Other artworks by Andres Serrano


The Unborn, 1994