Pace Press

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Scandalous sculptures and angry Christians with giant pitchforks were among the images streamlining my thoughts as I walked the three long blocks from the subway station to The Proposition Gallery.
When I got there, I was blown away by my shattered images. There were no scandalous sculptures nor any furious Christians for that matter. The Chocolate Jesus was at the core of every media and public outcry when artist Cosimo Cavallaro released it earlier this spring, but it was not what I had expected at all.
Displayed in an intimate setting, the life-size sculpture was in a resurrected state, lying face up on a pedestal with eight miniature-sized chocolate saints surrounding the centerpiece.
Ronald Sosinski, director of The Proposition Gallery sat down to clarify a few questions. First of all, why did I not even need a sweater to enter the gallery? Surely the Chocolate Jesus would melt without a proper cool temperature.
"[Cavallaro] tested it out as low as 32 degrees outside, which it doesn't freeze, and he's had it something like 94 degrees and it doesn't melt," Sosinski said.
Far more interesting is what inspired the artist to create the Chocolate Jesus. Cavallaro was raised Catholic and when he was four years old, his father's co-worker rushed home to tell his mother her husband was crushed on the job and pronounced dead. His mother's response was to take all their worldly possessions up the church steps and ask St. Anthony for a miracle. His father survived. "Somehow, he relates it to that incident and the chocolate he loved as a child and also receiving communion at church," Sosinski said.
What many people are unaware is the Chocolate Jesus currently on display is not the original piece cancelled earlier this year due to death threats to the Lab Gallery. That original, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ titled, "My Sweet Lord" was initially going to be shown during Holy Week this year at a window display, but was cancelled due to an uproar from Catholics who were offended by this radical art piece.
"There was such a negative response to that Chocolate Jesus on that Good Friday. What we've done is completely turn it around into something positive just in time for All Saint's Day, he's no longer on a cross and we've changed the whole context of him," Sosinski said.
This current exhibit features an entirely new sculpted Chocolate Jesus along with chocolate saints. The artist hopes to gain more positive feedback from the public and art critics alike as they see the new exhibit with a fresh set of eyes.
"Everyone comes with their own point of view. Most are shocked when they first see it, but there's nothing scandalous here. I'm not really sure what they think they're going to see but everybody's basically disappointed," Sosinski said
When asked about the future of Chocolate Jesus, Sosinski was confident the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta would be the permanent home for the sculpture. Even if you're not a fan of art or the Bible, it's worth a trip to see what the chocolate is all about. The exhibit is on display at 255 West 22nd St. until Nov. 24.

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