Controversial Playboy model Marisa Papen releases doll of herself as a nude Virgin Mary holding a black baby Jesus
Controversial Playboy model Marisa Papen is at it again. In her latest anti-religious stunt, she has released a doll of her as a naked Virgin Mary wearing shades and holding a black baby Jesus in her arms.
The Belgian artist gained notoriety after she was arrested for posing nude at the Wailing Wall in Israel and at the Vatican. She was imprisoned last year after she bared it all at the Karnak Temple Complex near the Egyptian city of Luxor, The Sun reports.
Papen received a major backlash after she revealed her genitals by lifting her burka inside Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia - a former Byzantine church and Ottoman mosque which is now a museum. In another controversial photo shoot, Marisa was seen in the nude dragging a large wooden crucifix across a street crossing in the Vatican with the magnificent St Peter's Basilica clearly visible in the backdrop. Then, Marisa and her Australian photographer Jesse Walker were apprehended by authorities once again when she posed nude while sitting on a pile of bibles at St. Peter's Square.
This is the first time Marisa has openly spoken about the reasons behind her unconventional stunts. She revealed the shoots are part of an art project she's working on with the Frank Rose Gallery in Los Angeles titled "FXCKRLGN". The gallery also sells Papen's new doll which depicts her as Mary holding a black baby Jesus, aside from her bold pictures.
That said, Papen's merchandise is already selling like hotcakes, with the eight-inch high 'Ave Marisa' doll priced at £62 ($80) and fine art prints from her controversial photo shoots ranging from £80 ($104) to £17,800 ($23,000). “I think anyone who has the capacity to understand art and its message can see why this whole concept is so special and next level," a spokesperson for the Frank Rose Gallery said. "There is a huge unpredictable risk tied to each and every frame.”
Marisa concluded in her early teenage years that "religion takes away individual power." She said, "You give your strength away to someone else when you don't know if that person – be it Allah or God – exists in reality."
Although she clarifies she "has nothing against religion" and realizes its significance in people's private lives, she believes it "does not do enough good for the world." Papen recalled an incident when she was on St. Peter's Square and the Pope appeared from the window to give a short speech and conduct the traditional Angelus prayer.
"One of the many beggars on the square caught my eye, a barefoot gypsy lady with a badly deformed posture," Marisa said. "I thought to myself, imagine if the Vatican was a place that actually helped people. Imagine if all these huge churches opened their doors for people in need."
The "expressionist" model claims she doesn't pay heed to her critics, especially those who "call me an attention seeker." According to her, the photos she puts out have an underlying message about "change" and not meant for popularity on social media. "If being popular was my goal, I don't think it would be such a wise decision to upset two-thirds of the world," she said.
Having said that, Marisa has now decided to shift her focus on the current state of our planet. "I have been a vegetarian for the last three years and the plan is to make a strong statement in 2019 about how we keep animals for our own pleasure and amusement," she said.
