News Digest

Rubber stamped: The portait of the Pope made out of coloured condoms

The Milwaukee Art Museum says it hopes a portrait of Pope Benedict XVI made of condoms will ignite a conversation about the AIDS epidemic in Africa and the role art plays in public discussions, director Dan Keegan said on Monday. The museum said that about 200 callers have complained about the portrait. Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Jerome Listecki called the museum callous and the portrait insulting in a blog last week on the Archdiocese website.

We look forward to continuing the dialogue around this work and the role art plays in society.

Milwaukee Art Museum Dan Keegan

Milwaukee artist Niki Johnson has said she made the portrait in response to Pope Benedict’s position against the use of condoms even to combat AIDS in Africa. She completed it two years ago. Benedict later softened his stance, saying condoms were sometimes permissible to stop the epidemic. The museum said callers supporting the portrait have outnumbered those opposed it its display.