uit in protest over the words "only women bleed" on a painting of Christ nailed to the cross. Organizers had hoped to avoid a repeat of the uproar last year over a statue of the Virgin Mary shrouded in a burqa and a hologram of Christ shifting into Osama bin Laden, which angered the Catholic Church and then-conservative prime minister John Howard.
But organizers of the Blake Prize for Religious Art on Wednesday said Sydney academic Christopher Allen had resigned from this year's judging panel over his objection to one entry, a painting of the crucifixion painted by artist Adam Cullen.
"We respect Dr Allen's strength of feeling about Adam Cullen's work, which is based in a deep appreciation of beauty in art," Blake Prize Chairman Rod Pattenden told Reuters.
"The Blake Prize however, embraces diversity in its entries and it is important to us that we remain open to the many styles through which artists engage with the subject area," he said.
Cullen's painting showed a cartoonish image of Christ on the cross and the words "only woman bleed," a line inspired by a song by the shock-rock singer Alice Cooper.
The painting, titled "Corpus Christi (Women Only Bleed)" and painted with acrylic and enamel on canvas, is a triptych inspired by early Christian art.
Pattenden said Allen, who has worked at the College de France in Paris and lectures at the National Art School in Sydney, disagreed with two other judges that Cullen's work showed an engagement with the complex symbolism of the crucifixion.
"It's just a Jew on the cross. All the other entries would be of a Jew on two bits of wood. It's a very left-wing, almost pseudo-femme, artwork.
How can he be offended?" Cullen told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
The Blake Prize for Religious Art was established in 1951 and is Australia's oldest prize dedicated to spirituality, religion and cultural diversity, carrying a A$20,000 (US$18,300) award.
Two entries last year angered both Howard, who called them "gratuitously offensive," and the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.
Allen last week told two other judges that Cullen's work had a "deliberate ugliness" used as a "gimmick."
The prize will be announced Sept. 4.
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