Protesters: Art exhibit shows Jesus in sex

Protesters: Art exhibit shows Jesus in sex
LOVELAND, Colo. (UPI) -- About 50 people, many of them saying the rosary, demonstrated outside a Colorado museum Friday over an artwork they say depicts Jesus Christ having sex.
The work by California artist Enrique Chagoya is part of a temporary exhibit at the Loveland Museum, "The Legend of Bud Shark and His Indelible Ink," the Loveland Reporter-Herald said. Chagoya's lithograph is titled "The Misadventures of the antic Cannibals."
"This is not art, it's smut, pure and simple," Ronald Minto, one of the protesters, told The Denver Post. "This is a museum, not an X-rated book store."
Donna Rice, a councilwoman in the city 46 miles north of Denver, said a museum supported with tax dollars should not be showing the Chagoya work and said either the council or a court should take action. Daryle Klassen, another council member, failed to get enough votes to place the issue on the agenda for next week's meeting.
Susan Ison, Loveland's cultural services director, said she believes Chagoya is trying to depict his own midlife crisis. She said the cultural services board reviewed the work.
"It's very complex," said Ison, "I really can't describe simply what he's trying to get at."
The exhibit is scheduled to run through Nov. 28.

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