Adam Cullen turned some of Australia's most enduring cultural archetypes into images that are confronting, irreverent and impossible to ignore. A self-described enfant terrible, he burst onto the Australian art scene with a punk gesture: chaining a pig's head to his ankle for two weeks. The provocation was typical of an artist whose work relentlessly interrogated masculinity, violence, crime and the darker impulses of Australian life.

This rare original etching is an act of iconoclasm. In Christ, cast against the traditional imagery of sacrifice and valour, Cullen presents a malnourished, skeletal Jesus lying dead in a coffin. The work followed a series of traumatic misfortunes that led the artist to reject religion, and a deceased Christ sits squarely within the punk philosophy Cullen lived by.

This impression is from an edition of just ten, hand-signed by the artist.

Winner of the Archibald Prize in 2000 and a finalist on several other occasions, Cullen was the subject of a major retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2008. His work holds an important place in Australian contemporary art, distinguished by its punk sensibility, dark humour and fearless examination of national identity.

Christ is a compelling addition to a collection of Australian contemporary art, particularly for collectors interested in religious imagery and the way artists have navigated this enduring subject.

Adam CULLEN (1965 - 2012)
'Christ' 2001
Etching on paper
Edition of 10
Image Size: 6 x 15 cm
Dimensions: 31 x 23 cm
Signed: Editioned, titled, signed and dated in bottom margin.
Comes with Letter of Provenance
Another impression of this work is represented at the National Gallery of Australia, accession number:2007.1549.49
Condition: Excellent
(c) Adam Cullen / Copyright Agency