MARK RYDEN: Virginia MOCA invitation & ticket

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art partnered with Hi Fructose magazine to present Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose, an exhibition of important contemporary pop art, but the image used on this invitation of the Mark Ryden painting, “Rosie’s Tea Party” which shows a young girl dressed for her First Communion while cutting into a ham labeled “Mystici Corporis Christi,” which is Latin for “mystical body of Christ,” and features a bottle of wine portraying a picture of Jesus sitting on a nearby table. Two members of the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission were offended by the painting and sought to cut taxpayer funding for the museum because they feel the work is anti-Christian and anti-Catholic. The Catholic League sent a letter of censure, and great controversy ensued, making this invitation a limited edition trophy of this historic culture clash.