Photo By Media Bridges

AARON KENT's (a.k.a. AK-47) current exhibition, Blood Stains, on view now at MEDIA BRIDGES (1106 Race St.), works purposefully to raise our collective brow with a work entitled "Piss Christ the Next Generation."

It features four copper crosses mounted upon cleanly cut and stained wood blocks. Each cross has a different and ambiguous green oxidized shape. Visually, the work is elegant, a product of a very decisive composition. The corrosion of each cross is representative, according to Kent, "of the political and social contexts in which blood or decayed stains are all too common."

In art, a title does one of two things: It can either help or hinder the visual comprehension of a work. In this case, it not only helps us understand the path the artist wishes the viewer to take but also gives a historical backing that in essence validates the artist's conceptual statement. The title is in reference to the original 1989 Piss Christ, a photograph taken by artist Andres Serrano. The original image depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of what is rumored to be the artist's urine and blood. It's still debated if Serrano truly used his own urine. (The same has been said about some of Kent's work). A key issue surrounding Serrano's work was that it was thought to ridicule things consecrated to God; I don't interpret that to be Kent's intention.

It has been a while since we have seen an artist willingly and openly choose controversy as a method of beginning a dialogue surrounding art and religion as Kent's series does. My concern lies in my belief that the intended effect will be lost due to a desensitized culture and an overly blasé generation. Yet I challenge you to go to Media Bridges, view this potentially controversial work and react for yourself.