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| Pop Idol painting of Jesus fails to get Transport for London's vote | Pop Idol painting of Jesus fails to get Transport for London's vote |
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| The artwork shows a bound Jesus being judged by an X-Factor-style jury and for 40 days it will hang over worshippers in the church where Byron was christened. But while the Church of England has welcomed the image, it has led to an unholy row with Transport for London. | |
| TfL has taken exception to the piece by artist Antony Micallef that was scheduled to appear on tube platform posters during Lent, alongside other contemporary art interpretations of the passion of Christ that have been deemed acceptable by the transport authority. | |
| Micallef said he was disappointed by the veto. "I am angry because it is censorship, it is someone taking a quick decision on behalf of someone else and it is silly. It is not offensive. I don't understand why the church said yes and the tube said no." | Micallef said he was disappointed by the veto. "I am angry because it is censorship, it is someone taking a quick decision on behalf of someone else and it is silly. It is not offensive. I don't understand why the church said yes and the tube said no." |
| The black-and-white painting plays with the idea of how Jesus would be judged in 2014, and shows him before a smiling panel of four judges. Instead of Pop Idol on the desk, it says "Kill Your Idol", which Micallef offered to smudge out. | The black-and-white painting plays with the idea of how Jesus would be judged in 2014, and shows him before a smiling panel of four judges. Instead of Pop Idol on the desk, it says "Kill Your Idol", which Micallef offered to smudge out. |
| Micallef and other artists were commissioned by the public art organisation Art Below for the Stations of the Cross project to coincide with Lent. The works are on display in St Marylebone church, London, and posters of the works are at tube stations that have a symbolic link with the theme, such as King's Cross, Angel and St Paul's. | Micallef and other artists were commissioned by the public art organisation Art Below for the Stations of the Cross project to coincide with Lent. The works are on display in St Marylebone church, London, and posters of the works are at tube stations that have a symbolic link with the theme, such as King's Cross, Angel and St Paul's. |
| The rector of St Marylebone church, the Reverend Canon Stephen Evans, said he was "enormously surprised" by the decision. "I thought of all the works it was one that had no reason anyone could find not to put it on the underground, especially when one sees some of the advertising that runs for films or television programmes or books. It is not an image that could cause offence, it's not obscene; it is just a very, very strange decision. | The rector of St Marylebone church, the Reverend Canon Stephen Evans, said he was "enormously surprised" by the decision. "I thought of all the works it was one that had no reason anyone could find not to put it on the underground, especially when one sees some of the advertising that runs for films or television programmes or books. It is not an image that could cause offence, it's not obscene; it is just a very, very strange decision. |
| "It is a shame, it is one of those images that is worth being seen by more people." | "It is a shame, it is one of those images that is worth being seen by more people." |
| A spokesperson for TfL said the poster was rejected because it did not comply with the firm's advertising policy. She pointed to a clause that concerns causing "widespread or serious offence to members of the public" and another referring to advertisements that not comply with the law or incite someone to break the law. | A spokesperson for TfL said the poster was rejected because it did not comply with the firm's advertising policy. She pointed to a clause that concerns causing "widespread or serious offence to members of the public" and another referring to advertisements that not comply with the law or incite someone to break the law. |
| Evans said if the words "kill your idol" were offensive he was slightly at a loss. "Is that offensive? I think it is odd, I don't understand it." | Evans said if the words "kill your idol" were offensive he was slightly at a loss. "Is that offensive? I think it is odd, I don't understand it." |
| Micallef pointed out that there are posters all over the tube network for the movie Calvary with the words: "Killing a priest on a Sunday. That'll be a good one." | Micallef pointed out that there are posters all over the tube network for the movie Calvary with the words: "Killing a priest on a Sunday. That'll be a good one." |
| Ben Moore, who founded Art Below with his brother Simon in 2006 "to enrich the everyday life of the travelling public" with the latest contemporary art, said Micallef's work was "powerful and thought provoking". | Ben Moore, who founded Art Below with his brother Simon in 2006 "to enrich the everyday life of the travelling public" with the latest contemporary art, said Micallef's work was "powerful and thought provoking". |
| He added: "Antony is a very talented artist and I was proud and honoured to have him do a bespoke piece for this show." | He added: "Antony is a very talented artist and I was proud and honoured to have him do a bespoke piece for this show." |
| There are works by 20 artists in the show and organisers had not been expecting all the pieces to go on tube posters. There was little surprise, for example, that a still of the late Sebastian Horsley being nailed to a cross in the Philippines did not make it. | There are works by 20 artists in the show and organisers had not been expecting all the pieces to go on tube posters. There was little surprise, for example, that a still of the late Sebastian Horsley being nailed to a cross in the Philippines did not make it. |
| There was surprise at Micallef's piece being refused. "In many ways I think the work is one of the easier images to access," said Evans. "It is a wonderful piece of work and it really does make people stop and think, especially if they like watching programmes like the X Factor. It makes you think about how Christ would bear up in front of a modern TV audience." | There was surprise at Micallef's piece being refused. "In many ways I think the work is one of the easier images to access," said Evans. "It is a wonderful piece of work and it really does make people stop and think, especially if they like watching programmes like the X Factor. It makes you think about how Christ would bear up in front of a modern TV audience." |
| Evans said many people had visited the church to see the works. "I think people don't necessarily like everything they see but they find it engaging, it raises a huge number of questions and also I think it just makes people look again at the whole passion narrative and the events of Holy Week. | Evans said many people had visited the church to see the works. "I think people don't necessarily like everything they see but they find it engaging, it raises a huge number of questions and also I think it just makes people look again at the whole passion narrative and the events of Holy Week. |
| "There are people surprised by some of them, but that is really good. For so long the church has sold such a clean packaged product that people forget that visceral nature of the events that lie at the heart of Christian faith." | "There are people surprised by some of them, but that is really good. For so long the church has sold such a clean packaged product that people forget that visceral nature of the events that lie at the heart of Christian faith." |
| Works that did make it on to the tube include two images of Christ's bloody hands with nails through them, by the artist Ricardo Cinalli, which can be seen at Regent's Park station, and a piece by Polly Morgan called Still Birth, which appears to be a dead quail chick hanging from a red balloon, at Oxford Circus. | Works that did make it on to the tube include two images of Christ's bloody hands with nails through them, by the artist Ricardo Cinalli, which can be seen at Regent's Park station, and a piece by Polly Morgan called Still Birth, which appears to be a dead quail chick hanging from a red balloon, at Oxford Circus. |
| Micallef, whose work has been described as Caravaggio meets manga, is a sought-after artist whose celebrity collectors include Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. | Micallef, whose work has been described as Caravaggio meets manga, is a sought-after artist whose celebrity collectors include Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. |
| All the money raised from the exhibition goes to the Missing Tom fund set up last year by Moore to support the search for his brother who 10 years ago left a note on the table saying "I am going away for some time and I don't know when I shall be coming back!" | All the money raised from the exhibition goes to the Missing Tom fund set up last year by Moore to support the search for his brother who 10 years ago left a note on the table saying "I am going away for some time and I don't know when I shall be coming back!" |
| "He wasn't joking," said Moore, adding that Tom was very religious, so the project felt appropriate. "All the money enables us to extend the search for my brother Tom … I have every reason to believe he is still around. My reasons for finding him are not necessarily to bring him back, but to make sure he's OK – to catch up, to hear his story." | "He wasn't joking," said Moore, adding that Tom was very religious, so the project felt appropriate. "All the money enables us to extend the search for my brother Tom … I have every reason to believe he is still around. My reasons for finding him are not necessarily to bring him back, but to make sure he's OK – to catch up, to hear his story." |
| • Stations of the Cross continues until 17 April. | • Stations of the Cross continues until 17 April. |