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Banksy, Cardinal Sin, 2011.
Sawn-off statue, bathroom tiles, and superglue.
© Banksy. -
“I love the way capitalism finds a place—even for its enemies. It’s the equivalent of a thug offering to buy you a drink.”
– Banksy
In Cardinal Sin, Banksy desecrates an 18th-century bust of a priest by chiselling away the face and replacing it with pixelated bathroom tiles. The result is a haunting, faceless figure – a metaphor for the child abuse scandals within the Catholic Church and the culture of silence that surrounded them. By rendering the priest anonymous, Banksy exposes both the perpetrators and the institutions that shielded them.Exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the piece was placed among Baroque religious art, amplifying its confrontation with tradition and authority. Cardinal Sin is not simply a critique of the church, but a broader attack on how history and art are used to sanctify power. -
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