Art Hearts the Far Right

In 1989, Helms became incensed that an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in D.C. that included Serrano's "Piss Christ" (1987), a photograph of a crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine, had received some government funding from the 34-year-old National Endowment for the Arts. He denounced Serrano on the Senate floor (with help from fellow Republican senator Alfonse D’Amato, who added drama to the scene by tearing up a copy of the work).

© Andres Serrano, courtesy the artist and Yvon Lambert