Most critics and fans agree that Piss Christ is Serrano's most significant photograph. At one point, as Senator Helms was slashing artists like a serial killer, this work became an emblem of free expression; it was alive with conviction and the belief that art is integral to civilization. Now, hanging in the New Museum, the fire is gone. It's still impossible to separate the work from the controversy, but Piss Christ looks quieter than ever, as worthy of contemplation as a church window.
[Ed.: Not so. When later displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, assailants attacked and destroyed the photograph, injuring two museum guards.]
