'My Sweet Lord,' Chocolate Jesus returns to NYC

by Joe DiStefano (Subscribe to Joe DiStefano's posts)
Posted Oct 19th 2007 9:02AM
Filed under: East Coast, Chocolate, Cheese, Food Oddities

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Here at Slashfood we're quite familiar with Christian religious icons appearing in various food items. The Virgin Mary has shown up in everything from eggs to chocolate. Now Jesus Christ is appearing in chocolate, quite literally. And in New York City of all places.

"My Sweet Lord," Cosimo Cavallaro's 200-pound anatomically correct milk chocolate sculpture of a nude Jesus suspended from an invisible cross returns to Manhattan after Catholic groups protested its unveiling during Holy Week last April. Actually in the interest of accuracy the exhibit at Chelsea gallery The Proposition is called "Chocolate Saints...Sweet Jesus," since it also includes eights saints, among them St. Francis, St. Augustine and the lesser known St. Fermin. If all this strikes you as rather reverent you're not far off. Cavallaro does not intend his works to be disrespectful.

Disrespectful or not Cavallaro's other works involving food strike me as just downright silly. Maybe I'm just uptight. After all, what's so weird about painting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, or spraying 5 tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home.

Tags: Chocolate Saints…Sweet Jesus, ChocolateSaints…sweetJesus, Cosimo Cavallaro, CosimoCavallaro, Jesus, Jesus Christ, JesusChrist, My Sweet Lord, MySweetLord, St. Augustine, St. Fermin, St. Francis, St.Augustine, St.Fermin, St.Francis

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10-19-2007 @ 12:01PM

jsmylie said...

Considering all the other things that have been done to Jesus in the name of art ("Piss Christ," anyone?) I think making a simple representation outta chocolate ain't so bad.

10-19-2007 @ 7:21PM

alosha7777 said...

I agree with you - I find his work boring and silly. and this chocolate jesus thing didn't offend me at all. puh-leeze.

aloshaskitchen.blogspot.com

10-19-2007 @ 7:46PM

sue said...

Actually, i thought this particular piece to be quite clever. I remember the storm of controversy he attracted right before Easter, but I thought it was an interesting criticism of how our society views religious holidays. Easter today, in the mass media at least, is more easily and eagerly represented by chocolate and bunnies, so it seems kind of timely to represent Jesus in a way that reconciles him with our pop cultural references.

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