A blasphemous figure depicting Christ crucified holding two Uzi submachine guns has sparked outrage in Marseille, France, where it forms part of an urban art exhibition. The sculpture was initially installed outdoors, visible from public space, but the organizers eventually moved it indoors following the reactions and out of “fear that it could be damaged.”
The work, created by French artist James Colomina, stands two meters tall, is made of resin, and is entirely painted red. It is titled Tu ne tueras point (“Thou shalt not kill”) and is on display at L’Aérosol Marseille, a venue dedicated to street art and hip-hop housed in a former soap factory in the city’s northern districts.
Christ crucified with a weapon in each hand
Colomina presents the piece as a denunciation of “the contradiction between the moral principles proclaimed by contemporary societies and the violence these same societies exert.”
To convey that message, however, the artist has directly resorted to a blasphemous representation of Jesus Christ, placing automatic weapons in the hands of the crucified figure.
Moved indoors after the reactions
The figure was initially placed outside L’Aérosol Marseille and could be viewed directly from public space.
The venue’s organizers later decided to remove it from that location and move it inside the exhibition, where it currently remains.
According to the venue’s artistic director, Yannick Alléno, the decision was made for two reasons: to prevent the representation from offending the religious convictions of some neighborhood residents and to protect the sculpture itself from potential damage.
The figure has not been removed from the exhibition. It has merely ceased to be displayed outdoors and remains accessible to the public inside L’Aérosol Marseille. It is scheduled to stay there until November 1.
Not Colomina’s first provocation
James Colomina has developed much of his work through provocative interventions in public spaces, generally using human figures painted entirely red to convey political or social messages.
In 2024, he also used a figure linked to the Church after accusations of sexual abuse against Abbé Pierre became public. Colomina then presented, in a deconsecrated church in Toulouse, a sculpture of the French priest lying on a mortuary bed and depicted with an erection.
The artist justified the piece as a denunciation of the abuses and the silence that allegedly surrounded them.