La Civilizaciõn Occidental y Cristiana (Western and Christian Civilization) (sculpture)
Date: 1965
Region: South America
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion Religious
Medium: Sculpture
Artist: Leon Ferrari (b. 1920)
Confronting Bodies: Jorge Romero Brest - Dir. Centro de Artes Visuales del Instituto Di Tella
Date of Action: 1965
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Description of Artwork: La Civilizaciõn Occidental y Cristiana (Western and Christian Civilization) - 1965, (122 X 198 X 60 cm) A Christ figure is cruxified on a fighter jet. His arms span the wings as he grasps a missile on either side. He also presented three other works criticizing the Vietnam War.
The Incident: During a competition held annually by the Centro de Artes Visuales del Instituto Di Tella, its director, Jorge Romero Brest, denied the exhibition of Ferrari's La Civilizaciõn.... He was however permitted to exhibit three other works criticizing the Vietnam war. In a Sept. 9, 1965 article in La Prensa, the conservative critic E. Ramallo attacked Ferrari's work, resulting in the remaining works being removed from the exhibition.
Results of Incident: As a result, in 1967, Ferrari and other artists involved in the incident at the Instituto Di Tella organized an exhibition at Galeria Vignes. Immediately following the opening, the gallery owner closed the exhibition because the artist René Cuellar exhibited a picture of Che Guevarra.
Source: Leon Ferrari
