“Drawing with rosaries” in the public space: relations between religion and art from a controversy

Abstract

In April 2006, the piece “Desenhando com terços” of the plastic artist Márcia X. is removed from the exhibition “Erotica – Os sentidos na arte”, displayed at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil of Rio de Janeiro. The decision was taken by the director of the cultural institution after public manifestations of Catholics. With four rosaries united forming two double penis intercrossed, the work was considered offensive by mixing religion and eroticism. From the episode sets up a controversy in which different actors, mainly religious and artists, position themselves on the withdrawal of the work. In this paper, we investigate how the encounter between the different actors and an art object produced a key moment of problematization of the relations and boundaries between religion and art and how both relate to public space.