A SCULPTURE of Christ that was created in Leyton town hall has caused protests in France over accusations of sacrilege.
Artist and musician Paul Fryer created the life-like sculpture of Christ seated in an electric chair at his former studio in the town hall in Leyton High Road.
But after the work, entitled Pieta, was loaned by its owner to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gap, in the South of France during the Easter week, many Christians reacted with fury and staged protests against the artist and the church.
Mr Fryer said he was stunned to learn of the furore that was triggered by his work.
He said: “There has been all this fuss in the French national papers. It is funny when I think I created it in Leyton, and you can have all this going on in Europe and no one knowing about it here.
“But I think the reaction is fine. You can’t really make anything of a religious nature without someone having an opinion about it.
“People say I’m having a go at Christians but I am Christian and was born Catholic and my outlook is positioned by that.”
The decision to show the piece in the cathedral during Holy Week was made by the bishop of Gap, Jean-Michel di Falco, who defended his choice to the French press, saying that he was trying to provoke shock to remind people of the scandal of someone being nailed to the cross.
Mr Fryer said he was pleased to have the support of the bishop, because his intention behind the piece, which is no larger than a small child and is made of waxwork and human hair, was to evoke pity for someone being persecuted by another.
Mr Fryer said: “The meaning is open to interpretation. But the original meaning of the Latin word Pieta is pity. To take pity is a crucial part of living, human beings taken pity others.
“Today people might be electrocuted or given the lethal injection, but it is all the same thing, someone ending another person’s life.
“A crucifix has lost a lot of its meaning because it is worn for fashion, Madonna wears it on stage. So with this piece people are feeling the distress the cross used to cause.”
Mr Fryer made four of the sculptures two years ago, all slightly different, and the others are owned by Damian Hirst, the David Roberts Collection and a collector in Texas.
The artist, originally from Leeds, is formerly an electropop singer and DJ and has designed books and printed material for artists, fashion houses and record labels and was musical director for Fendi’s fashion shows.
He has also written a book of poetry, Don't Be So..., which was illustrated by Damien Hirst..
He is currently working on several large-scale peices for an exhibition at his new studio in south London, which include a statue of Lucifer draped in telephone cabels and the “world’s largest tuning fork”.
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