Artist bringing 'Chocolate Jesus' back

By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

October 17, 2007

Last spring's "Chocolate Jesus" has been resurrected, but this time the artist hopes the controversy has melted away.

The life-sized sculpture will be included as part of the "Chocolate SaintsSweet Jesus" show at the Proposition Gallery in Chelsea timed to coincide with All Saints Day on Nov. 1. The show also will feature eight chocolate sculptures of Catholic saints.

The art space is expected to mail invitations next week featuring a "scratch n' sniff" on the breasts of a likeness of the Virgin Mary.

"It sounds pretty sick to me," said John Horvat, a spokesman for the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property. "Obviously this man has an agenda. He's targeting very revered religious figures."

The gallery director said critics misunderstood the artist's intentions.

"I see it as basically a show about healing," Ronald Sosinski said. "The sculptures are extremely traditional when you see them in their use of material. When you first see them they look like bronzes."

Last March, the Lab Gallery at the Roger Smith Hotel in midtown planned to display "My Sweet Lord" in a ground-floor window. In addition to being fashioned from a confection, it is "anatomically correct" and lacks the loin cloth that traditional depictions of Christ have.

The sculpture set off howls of protest from the likes of Cardinal Edward Egan and others, who objected to what they saw as a deliberately provocative artwork. The sculpture was never shown.

"The timing was appalling," said Kiera McCaffrey, a spokesperson for the Catholic League. "That was an upfront assault on Christian sensibilities during Holy Week."

The league, she said, would not protest this exhibit because "it's going to be limited to galleries and people who expect and like that sort of thing. We don't approve of it, but it's a far cry from what we had last spring," with such a public display.

Cosimo Cavallaro, the Canadian-born artist, did not want to reveal where the sculpture has been stored because of threats, said it had to be repaired after mice gnawed at its fingers, toes, and nose.

He also insisted he's not trying to be sensational.

"As an artist I try to be honest with myself," he said. "When I wake up in the morning everything relates to food. I accepted the world of food and ever since then I've been a lot freer."

He also hopes that portraying an anatomically-correct, chocolate Jesus calls people's attention to the fragility of life and the lived experience of Christ.

"Depictions of Jesus in plastic or wood are what I find offensive," he said. "With my work, you don't want it to melt, so you have to be more aware of the time you have with it. It's more alive."