The 30 Most Controversial Artworks Today

Controversy has long served as both a crucible and a catalyst in art history. Since the end of the Second World War, artists have increasingly pushed the boundaries of form, content, and context, challenging not only aesthetic conventions but also the moral, political, and institutional frameworks in which art is received. In doing so, they have often courted resistance—sometimes from critics, sometimes from the public, and sometimes from the very institutions that collect and exhibit their work. But controversy, in many cases, has proved essential. It compels us to reconsider our assumptions, to question where the line between art and offense is drawn, and to reflect on the values and anxieties of the societies in which these works emerge.

This article offers a selective walk-through of post-war and contemporary art history by way of its most debated moments. From confrontations with the body and the sacred to institutional critique and acts of radical appropriation, the thirty artworks presented here have, in their time, sparked public outrage, legal battles, censorship, and critical reappraisal. Some continue to provoke, others have become canonized, but each serves as a powerful reminder that art is not merely a mirror to the world—it is often a site of friction, rupture, and unresolved tension.

1. Erased de Kooning Drawing (1953) by Robert Rauschenberg

The only drawing in this list—if it is one in the first place—we start with Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing from 1953. Rauschenberg was born in 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas, and passed away in 2008 in Captiva, Florida, he is arguably best known for his paintings and graphic works incorporating popular culture and the everyday in his artistic practice, paving the way for Pop Art. However, in the early 1950s, Rauschenberg created a series of artworks defying the definition of art in the tradition of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and the imminent arrival of Conceptual Art. The idea was to see if it was possible to create an artwork produced entirely through erasure, resulting in an empty sheet of paper—apart from a few traces.

After erasing a number of his own drawings, Rauschenberg approached Willem de Kooning and asked for a drawing he could erase for this project. In the end, with the help of Jasper Johns (b. 1930), they framed and labeled the empty piece of dirt-stained drawing paper, which would become one of his most iconic and controversial works. Hate it or love it, this iconoclastic act stands apart for its ingenuity and ground-breaking avant-garde approach to art in the mid-20th century—before the true heyday of Conceptual Art.¹

2. Artist’s Shit (1961) by Piero Manzoni

Now, historically speaking, we arrive at the heyday of Conceptual Art with Piero Manzoni, born in 1933 in Soncino, Italy, and passed away in 1963 in Milan. In 1961, he created Merda d’Artista, which literally translates to Artist’s Shit. Manzoni filled 90 tin cans with 30 grams of his own excrements and sold them at the day price of gold—alluding to the artist literally shits gold. Manzoni’s work is, of course, an anti-establishment artwork. It is a mockery of the art world and the commodification of art.

Some say the tins are not filled with feces but with plaster. As they are made of steel, one cannot x-ray them, nor would it make sense to open them because the value of the artwork would be lost—considering its auction record at €275,000, I wouldn’t open it either. And in the end, shit or no shit, that’s not the point of the artwork; the statement and idea are. As a result, for some it is a great piece of art; for others, it is crap—literally.

3. The Orgies Mysteries Theatre (1962) by Hermann Nitsch

Hermann Nitsch, born in 1938 in Vienna and passed away in 2022 in Mistelbach, Austria, is a key figure of the often-controversial Viennese Actionist movement. Nitsch sought to dissolve the boundaries between art and life by staging ritualistic performances that incorporated animal carcasses, blood, nudity, and extreme physicality. The Orgies Mysteries Theatre was first presented in 1962 and would be a continuum throughout Nitsch’s career. He envisioned it as a modern form of Dionysian ritual, rooted in existential philosophy, psychoanalysis, and religious iconography to confront taboos around violence, sacrifice, and the sacred. One of the most controversial aspects consists of the ritualistic slaughter and disembowelment of animals, often using their blood and entrails as part of the performance.

These acts, intended to evoke ancient sacrificial rites and confront audiences with the raw realities of life and death, were met with fierce opposition, particularly from animal rights activists and the general public. In several instances, Nitsch faced legal consequences, including arrests and court trials, particularly in the late 1960s and 1970s, as authorities deemed his work obscene and in violation of animal cruelty laws. One particularly infamous moment occurred in a 1968 performance in Vienna, where the graphic use of animal carcasses and bodily fluids led to widespread public outrage and legal intervention. The performance was shut down by the police, and Nitsch was prosecuted, reinforcing his reputation as one of the most extreme and divisive figures in contemporary art.

4. Cut Piece (1964) by Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono, born in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan, lives and works between New York and Tokyo, is a pioneering artist, musician, and activist associated with Fluxus and known for her enduring commitment to peace and social justice. Cut Piece, first performed in 1964 at the Yamaichi Concert Hall in Kyoto and subsequently in other cities, stands as one of the earliest and most influential examples of performance art. In the piece, Ono sat silently on stage, inviting audience members to come forward and cut away pieces of her clothing with scissors.

The performance evolved with each iteration, as participants’ behavior ranged from tentative and respectful to increasingly invasive. Ono maintained a passive presence, allowing the viewers’ actions to define the progression of the work. Cut Piece was radical for its time, confronting themes of vulnerability, gender, objectification, and the politics of spectatorship. The work’s reception has remained controversial: some praised it as a powerful feminist statement, while others interpreted it as exploitative or dangerously open-ended. The tension between consent, control, and public interaction makes the piece a foundational moment in the history of performance art.

5. How To Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965) by Joseph Beuys

Born in 1921 in Krefeld and passed away in 1986 in Düsseldorf, German artist Joseph Beuys’ How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965) remains one of the most enigmatic and debated pieces in 20th-century conceptual art. The performance occurred at Galerie Schmela in Düsseldorf, where Beuys, his head covered in honey and gold leaf, moved through the space while cradling a dead hare and appearing to whisper explanations of the exhibited artworks to it. The leading figure of the Fluxus movement caused controversy both for its use of a dead animal and for its critique of conventional approaches to knowledge and meaning in art. Beuys’ symbolic gestures, particularly the honey and gold leaf, referenced transformation, healing, and alchemical processes, suggesting that understanding art required more than intellectual reasoning.

The act of addressing a lifeless creature raised existential questions and discussed the inefficacy of traditional art discourse. By engaging in a silent, intimate dialogue with the dead hare, Beuys subverted the authority of the art world and challenged the idea that art could be fully explained through language alone. While some viewed the work as an act of profound symbolism and poetic introspection, others criticized it as esoteric or needlessly provocative. Beuys was not afraid of controversy; think of other notable works within his practice, such as I Like America and America Likes Me (1974), in which Beuys spent three days confined in a gallery space with a coyote at René Block Gallery in New York or Action the Dead Mouse / Isolation Unit (1970) performed in London manipulating a dead mouse while wrapped in felt, making strange vocalizations, and interacting with a sheet of iron.

6. Art and Revolution Performance (1968) by Günter Brus

Günter Brus, born in 1938 in Ardning, Austria, working and residing in Graz, Austria, is a foundational figure in Viennese Actionism, a radical postwar movement that fused performance, body art, and taboo-breaking acts to confront post-fascist Austrian society. Brus originally trained as a painter but quickly abandoned traditional media in favor of violent, corporeal performances.

In 1968, Brus participated in the now infamous Art and Revolution performance at the University of Vienna, alongside fellow artists Otto Muehl, Peter Weibel, and Oswald Wiener. During the event, Brus defiled his body in a series of provocative gestures: he urinated, defecated, cut himself, and sang the Austrian national anthem while smeared in his own excrement. The performance was intended as a radical protest against the conservative, repressive climate of postwar Austria, linking state authority, national identity, and bodily discipline. The public reaction was swift and furious—Brus was arrested, fined, and eventually fled to Berlin to avoid imprisonment. In the eyes of critics and politicians alike, Art and Revolution was not art but an unforgivable act of public obscenity, igniting debates that reached far beyond the art world and into the heart of national identity.

7. TAP and TOUCH CINEMA (1968) by VALIE EXPORT

Born in 1940 in Linz, Austria, residing and working in Vienna, VALIE EXPORT’s TAP and TOUCH CINEMA (1968) consists of a feminist performance artwork that directly confronted issues of objectification, voyeurism, and the male gaze. The performance took place in public spaces, where EXPORT walked through the streets wearing a small, curtained box over her bare chest. Passersby were invited to reach inside the box and touch her breasts, though they were unable to see them. By transforming her body into a living “cinema screen,” EXPORT challenged cinematic representations of women, where female bodies are often objectified for visual pleasure. This reversal of control—where touch replaced sight and EXPORT remained an active participant rather than a passive object—sparked significant controversy.

The performance was particularly provocative within the context of the 1960s, an era marked by both sexual liberation and entrenched patriarchal structures. While some participants engaged with curiosity or discomfort, others saw the work as confrontational or even indecent, leading to criticism from more conservative audiences. Despite its controversy, TAP and TOUCH CINEMA remains a landmark in feminist and performance art, influencing later discussions on body politics and representation. By reclaiming agency through a physical and conceptual intervention, EXPORT had set a precedent for feminist artists exploring themes of autonomy, visibility, and resistance.

8. Manopsychotic Ballet (1970) by Otto Muehl

Otto Muehl, born in 1925 in Grodnau, Austria, and passed away in 2013 in Moncarapacho, his Manopsychotic Ballet (1970) is a provocative performance artwork that emerged from the radical practices of the Viennese Actionist movement. Known for his transgressive and confrontational approach to art, Muehl staged this performance as an anarchic, chaotic spectacle involving nudity, bodily fluids, and extreme physical interactions between performers. The work was controversial for its unfiltered display of the body and its embrace of violence, sexuality, and disorder as artistic tools. The performance was intended as a critique of repression and societal conditioning, but its raw intensity and lack of clear narrative left many unsettled.

Muehl and his collaborators engaged in aggressive physical gestures, mimicking sexual intercourse, extracting a tampon from one of the female performers and presenting it to the audience between his teeth, male performers urinating on the body of a female performer, and introducing a live chicken that possibly was slaughtered on stage. The scene ends with Otto Muehl defecating towards the camera lens—which was shot separately and did not take place during the life performance. Critics and audiences questioned whether Manopsychotic Ballet was a legitimate artistic expression or an act of pure provocation. The work’s extreme nature, coupled with Muehl’s rejection of conventional aesthetics, fueled debates about the ethical limits of performance art and the role of the artist in confronting taboos.

9. Shoot (1971) by Chris Burden

Born in 1946 in Boston and passed away in 2015 in California, Chris Burden’s Shoot (1971) is one of the most infamous performance artworks of the 20th century. Burden stood in a gallery space while a marksman—whom he had instructed—shot him in the left arm with a .22 caliber rifle from a short distance. The piece was recorded on film, capturing the moment when the bullet grazed his arm, causing a visible wound. By subjecting himself to real bodily harm, Burden challenged the limits of personal endurance, audience complicity, and the role of violence in both art and American culture. The work remains one of the most extreme examples of performance art, questioning the artist’s responsibility to their own body and the ethics of spectacle.

The controversy surrounding Shoot stemmed not only from its use of actual gunfire but also from the broader political and social context in which it was performed. The Vietnam War was ongoing, and the imagery of violence in the media had become a daily reality. Burden’s work mirrored the desensitization to brutality and the ways in which audiences consumed violence as entertainment. However, the act of willingly getting shot also raised ethical concerns—was this a radical artistic statement or an irresponsible act of self-harm? Many critics and viewers questioned whether Shoot constituted art at all or if it was merely an act of reckless masochism disguised as artistic exploration.

10. Seedbed (1972) by Vito Acconci

With Rauschenberg, we still had an object, but it became clear that the importance of the idea was gaining, which became the artwork itself with Conceptual Art and Piero Manzoni. As the definition of art had been radically revisited, art happenings and Fluxus artists emerged, resulting in the manifestation of Performance Art in the late 60s and 70s. Vito Acconci, born in 1940 in New York, where the artist passed away in 2017, was a pioneering performance artist with numerous notorious performance pieces.

Arguably, his most controversial performance was performed in 1972 at Sonnabend Gallery in New York, where the empty gallery space consisted of a low wood ramp. Below that ramp, Acconci was hidden out of sight, masturbating, basing his fantasies on the movements of the visitors above, and narrating those fantasies out loud, boosted by the speakers in the gallery space. Acconci masturbated eight hours per day for three weeks.

11. And For Today… Nothing (1972) by Stuart Brisley

Stuart Brisley, born in 1933 in Haslemere, England, residing and working in London, is known for his pioneering work in performance and installation art. Throughout the 1970s, Brisley emerged as one of the key figures in British body art, using long-duration performances to explore themes of endurance, power, and political oppression. Deeply influenced by Marxist theory and postwar European existentialism, Brisley’s practice consistently challenged the passive consumption of art and demanded active engagement from its audience.

In And For Today… Nothing, performed in 1972 at Gallery House in London, Brisley confined himself to a small, bleak bathroom space for ten consecutive days. Each day, he would inhabit the same bathtub filled with diluted pig’s intestines, standing or sitting in silence while viewers observed his physical and psychological deterioration. The performance drew on visceral imagery of confinement, filth, and bodily decay, prompting discomfort and revulsion in the audience. It was read by some as a metaphor for the dehumanizing effects of bureaucratic systems or the alienation of late capitalism. The work generated considerable controversy not only for its extreme aesthetic but also for its challenge to institutional norms surrounding hygiene, decorum, and the role of the artist. While some praised its raw political edge, others dismissed it as grotesque and incomprehensible, igniting debate about the limits of art and the function of suffering in performance.

12. Rhythm 0 (1974) by Marina Abramović

Born in 1946 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, residing and working in New York, Marina Abramović’s psychologically intense performance artworks cannot be omitted from this list. Although there are a number of performances worthy of inclusion, think of Rhythm 5 (1974), in which the artist lay in the center of a burning five-pointed star until she loses consciousness, or Rest Energy (1980), pointing a tensed and possibly deadly arrow to her heart. However, we decided to go for the breakthrough piece Rhythm 0 (1974): a six-hour performance staged in Studio Morra in Naples, in which Abramović stood passively while the audience was invited to use any of the 72 objects placed on a table, ranging from harmless items like a rose and a feather to potentially dangerous ones such as scissors, a whip, and a loaded gun.

As the performance progressed, the interactions between Abramović and the audience became increasingly aggressive. While some participants engaged with her gently, others escalated their actions to the point of cutting her clothes, drawing blood, and even placing a loaded gun against her head. By relinquishing control and making herself completely vulnerable to the audience’s will, Abramović tested the limits of human behavior, agency, and ethical responsibility in the context of art. The transformation from initial hesitation to acts of actual violence exposed the ease with which people can become perpetrators when authority is absent.

13. Interior Scroll (1975) by Carolee Schneemann

Carolee Schneemann, born in 1939 in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, and passed away in 2019 in New York, continues to unnerve up to this very day with her provocative and ground-breaking performance from 1975, documented in a suite of 13 gelatin prints and titled Interior Scroll. In the performance, Schneemann engaged her body as a site of artistic and feminist exploration. She began clothed but transitioned to a semi-nude state, painting her body and reciting from her book Cezanne, She Was A Great Painter. A pivotal moment involved her drawing a scroll from her vagina and reading aloud text that juxtaposed intuition and bodily processes with traditionally male notions of rationality and order.

Schneemann, originally trained as a painter, redefined the boundaries of art through her radical performances and films. Her Feminist Art, including Interior Scroll, challenges the separation of sexuality and art, asserting the body—particularly the female body—as a source of creative and intellectual power. This approach aligns with her broader vision of reclaiming the body as a site of sacred knowledge and uniting it with artistic expression. For many, this is mere shock art, or provocation for the sake of provocation, for others, it is an iconic masterpiece that continues to inspire throughout the 21st century.²

14. The Dinner Party (1979) by Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago, born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, is an American feminist artist, educator, and writer, widely recognized for her pioneering role in the feminist art movement. Known for her collaborative and community-driven approach to art-making, Chicago’s work often reclaims the contributions of women historically excluded from dominant cultural narratives. The Dinner Party, completed in 1979 and permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum, is considered one of the most iconic and controversial artworks of feminist art history. The installation takes the form of a triangular banquet table, with 39 elaborate place settings, each dedicated to a significant woman from Western history or mythology. Each setting features personalized ceramics and vulvar-shaped plate designs, placed on embroidered runners. An additional 999 names of women are inscribed on the floor tiles beneath the table.

While many viewed the work as a bold reclamation of female achievement and an indictment of patriarchal art history, it also sparked fierce criticism. Detractors questioned its essentialist symbolism, its use of craft traditionally associated with “women’s work,” and what some perceived as a reductive focus on genital imagery. Critics also debated its classification as fine art. Despite—or because of—its polarizing reception, The Dinner Party remains a landmark in discussions about gender, representation, and the politics of inclusion in art history.

15. Tilted Arc (1981) by Richard Serra

Richard Serra, born in 1938 in San Francisco, California, and passed away in 2024 in New York, was an American sculptor known for his monumental works in steel and his rigorous investigations into space and the physical experience of sculpture. One of Serra’s most disputed works, Tilted Arc (1981), was commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration and installed in Federal Plaza in New York City. The sculpture consisted of a 120-foot-long, 12-foot-high curved wall of raw steel that sliced across the plaza, physically and visually interrupting the public space.

Serra intended the work to be inseparable from its site, forcing viewers to engage with it through movement and perspective. However, the piece quickly became a source of controversy among federal employees and members of the public, who criticized it for obstructing pedestrian traffic, attracting graffiti, and creating an oppressive atmosphere. After heated debates and a high-profile public hearing, the work was removed in 1989, an act Serra condemned as a violation of artistic freedom and site-specific integrity. The removal of Tilted Arc has since become a landmark case in discussions about public art, censorship, and the rights of artists versus public institutions.

16. Piss Christ (1987) by Andres Serrano

Andres Serrano, born in 1950 in New York, where the artist has continued to work and reside, created in 1987 one of his most iconic and controversial pieces—which recently sold at auction for £130,000. Piss Christ is a Cibachrome photo print that ignited widespread controversy when it was exhibited in 1989. The photograph features a crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine, giving the religious symbol a monumental yet provocative quality. Part of Serrano’s Immersion series, the piece evokes a sense of finality and challenges both faith and art. While some Catholics view the work as blasphemous, it has faced criticism and vandalism during exhibitions across the United States and Europe.³

The artist responded that he meant neither blasphemy nor offense with the work—in fact, he has been a Catholic all his life and a follower of Christ. Instead, it aims to allude to the recent trend of commercializing or cheapening Christian icons in contemporary culture. Still, Serrano is best known for his highly saturated color photographs of controversial subjects—think of photographing corpses, feces, or the KKK—in which he aims to create absurd juxtapositions. When the artwork was exhibited in 1987 in a New York gallery, it was received well. However, only when it was exhibited in 1989 when people found out he received a grant from the taxpayer-funded NEA for the work, did public outrage dominate the narrative surrounding the artwork to this very day.

17. Self (1991) by Marc Quinn

Marc Quinn, born in 1964 in London, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a British contemporary artist known for his multidisciplinary practice spanning sculpture, installation, and painting, often probing themes of the body, mortality, identity, and biotechnology. Quinn is particularly known for exploring bodily materials and processes as sculptural media.

Self (1991) is the first in a series of self-portraits that Quinn has recreated every five years using an extraordinary and unsettling material—his own blood. The sculpture consists of a cast of the artist’s head, made from ten pints of his frozen blood, collected over several months and kept perpetually frozen in a specially designed refrigeration unit. The piece presents the artist’s literal physical essence in sculptural form. The work caused immediate controversy for its morbid intimacy, clinical presentation, and perceived sensationalism. Some questioned whether Self was an innovative meditation on human vulnerability or a macabre spectacle tailored for shock value. It also raised broader debates about the ethics of using bodily materials in art and the place of such work within public institutions. Despite the criticism, Self has been widely exhibited and has become one of Quinn’s most recognized—and contested—works.

18. The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) by Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst, born in 1965 in Bristol, residing and working between London and Devon, is one of the most prominent figures of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who rose to international fame in the 1990s. Known for his provocative use of materials and exploration of mortality, science, and religion, Hirst’s work often oscillates between spectacle and philosophical inquiry. In 1991, Hirst unveiled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a large glass vitrine containing a 14-foot tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde.

Commissioned by collector Charles Saatchi, the piece became an instant icon of contemporary art—and a lightning rod for criticism. Its confrontation with death, presented in clinically preserved grandeur, drew both fascination and outrage. Detractors questioned whether the work qualified as art or was merely a sensationalist display. Others criticized the use of a real animal, raising ethical concerns about animal rights and preservation. Over time, the original shark deteriorated and was replaced in 2006, further fueling debates about authenticity and the commodification of conceptual art.

19. 12 Square Meters (1994) by Zhang Huan

Zhang Huan, born in 1965 in Anyang, Henan Province, China, is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance, sculpture, installation, and painting. Emerging in the 1990s as part of Beijing’s avant-garde East Village artist community, Zhang became known for his physically intense performances that explored endurance, identity, and the human condition. He now lives and works in both Shanghai and New York, continuing to address themes of spirituality, memory, and cultural transformation.

12 Square Meters (1994) was performed in a public latrine in the Beijing East Village, a then-underground artist enclave. For this performance, Zhang sat motionless and nearly naked in a filthy public toilet, his body smeared with fish oil and honey, attracting swarms of flies. The performance lasted for about an hour, followed by Zhang walking into a nearby pond to wash himself. The work was a visceral expression of abjection and marginality, reflecting the harsh living conditions of artists in China at the time and critiquing social neglect and environmental degradation. It shocked viewers both for its confrontational imagery and its unfiltered engagement with bodily discomfort and urban squalor. Though widely praised in art circles for its uncompromising intensity, 12 Square Meters also faced backlash and censorship from authorities, highlighting the fraught relationship between avant-garde art and official culture in China during the 1990s.

20. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995) by Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, born in 1957 in Beijing, works and resides in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, and is a multidisciplinary artist and activist and one of the most famous artists of his generation. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn from 1995 is one of many works that sparked global controversy and debate by Weiwei. The artwork consists of three photographs that show the artist holding, dropping, and breaking an urn from the Han Dynasty dating back to approximately 200 BC, causing public outrage for the seemingly pointless destruction of two millennia-old cultural heritage. To make matters worse, Ai Weiwei broke two urns with the aim of capturing this iconoclastic performance with his camera’s burst mode.

The expensive urns were not broken in vain, as they continue to initiate discussion and reflection about our valuation of cultural heritage, tradition, and the past in general. One can also identify a sharp criticism typical of Weiwei’s practice towards his home country, drawing parallels to China’s Cultural Revolution and how there is a structurally imposed relationship between power and the valorization of objects. Ancient urns and vases would continue to play a prominent role in his creative endeavors, from destroying them to painting a Coca-Cola logo on top of them.⁴

21. The Holy Virgin Mary (1996) by Chris Ofili

Up next, we have the only painting on our list. Chris Ofili, born in 1968 in Manchester, lives and works in Trinidad, is best known for his atmospheric and enigmatic paintings portraying stylized characters drawing inspiration from various cultural sources to investigate desire, identity, and representation. For instance, in his iconically controversial depiction of The Holy Virgin Mary in 1996, using acrylic paint, oil paint, glitter, map pins, and paper collage elements from pornographic magazines to depict the angels flying in the presence of the Holy Virgin and elephant dung supporting the canvas but also sculpting her exposed breast.

An exuberant and majestic work typical of Ofili introduced unconventional materials and a “hip-hop” interpretation of Western art history’s most portrayed female figure. However, the juxtaposition of the virgin and the pornographic was not appreciated by everyone, as some argued it was sick, offensive, and blasphemous. Even though the Virgin Mary has been eroticized on numerous occasions throughout art history, the sexual potency of the collage pictures and the often misunderstood use of elephant dung—something Ofili was known for—the painting was vandalized by a visitor in 1999, smearing white paint on top of it. The work sold for $4.6 million at auction before being donated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.⁵

22. My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin, born in 1963 in Croydon, lives and works between London and Margate. She is currently lauded for her recent series of figure paintings, which draw inspiration from her life, body, desires, and grief. For Emin, the most beautiful thing is honesty, no matter how painful it is to look at. And there is plenty of pain in Tracey Emin’s life. This raw honesty and unfiltered approach to herself was not always presented on canvas. In fact, the British artist rose to fame with her often provocative ready-made sculptures, such as My Bed from 1998.

The artwork consists of a ready-made sculpture exhibiting her actual bed after a period of drinking, smoking, sex, eating, and more in the gallery or museum. People were shocked to see period-stained clothes, empty bottles of vodka, a used pregnancy test, lubricant, condoms, and cigarettes, but when Emin analyzed her bed, she saw a work of art. Conceptually, she exposes her unfiltered self to the art world, resulting in a shocking yet poetic work of art. The work became a media sensation and became a turning point for her budding career, even though some art critics hated it and called it an “endlessly solipsistic, self-regarding homage (…) Tracey, you are a bore.” Nevertheless, My Bed remains one of the most iconic pieces by the British artist, and ten years ago, it was sold at auction for a whopping $3.7 million. ⁶

23. Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off (2000) by Martin Creed

Martin Creed, born in 1968 in Wakefield, England, raised in Glasgow, and currently lives and works between London and Alicudi, Italy. The British artist is known for his minimal interventions and deadpan humor, Creed’s work often involves everyday materials and gestures, questioning the nature of art and the act of perception itself. In 2000, Creed created Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off, a deceptively simple installation consisting of an empty gallery room where the overhead lights switch on and off at five-second intervals.

The work, which won the Turner Prize in 2001, divided critics and audiences alike. To some, it exemplified a radical reduction of artistic gesture, paring art down to its barest formal elements—light, space, and time—while prompting viewers to reconsider the act of looking. Others, however, denounced the piece as a cynical provocation or even a joke, emblematic of what they saw as the vacuity of conceptual art. The controversy surrounding the Turner Prize win was especially intense, with public figures and tabloid newspapers deriding the work as meaningless and misusing public funds. Yet, the debates it incited also reaffirmed Creed’s intention to create art that invites attention, reaction, and re-evaluation.

24. 160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People (2000) by Santiago Serra

Santiago Sierra, born in 1966 in Madrid, Spain, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a contemporary artist tackling the exploitation of those who have no voice in our society; think of illegal immigrants, sex workers, drug addicts, and more. However, in his controversial piece titled 160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People (2000), many argued that Serra is complicit in exploiting people, albeit for art’s sake. The performance took place in a Spanish gallery where four heroin-addicted prostitutes were hired and compensated with a dose of heroin in exchange for their consent to be tattooed. The artist notes that these individuals typically charged between 2,000 and 3,000 pesetas (approximately 15 to 17 dollars) for performing oral sex, whereas the cost of a heroin dose was around 12,000 pesetas (about 67 dollars).

The work was criticized, particularly regarding the ethical implications of paying individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to alter their bodies permanently. Critics argued that the participants’ economic conditions compromised their ability to give fully autonomous consent, framing the act as exploitative rather than artistic. Others questioned whether the piece was an exercise in artistic provocation at the expense of vulnerable individuals. However, Sierra defended the work as a raw and unfiltered reflection of the realities of global labor systems, in which economic necessity often forces individuals to undertake degrading, painful, or dangerous work for minimal compensation. By bringing this uncomfortable reality into the gallery space, he forced audiences to confront issues of power imbalance and economic disparity that are too often ignored.

25. Ham Columns (2000) by Jan Fabre

Jan Fabre, born in 1958 in Antwerp, Belgium, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a multidisciplinary artist with more than one controversial event throughout his life and career. In 2000, during the Ghent open-air exhibition Over the Edges curated by the late Jan Hoet, among the many installations featured, one in particular dominated public discourse: Jan Fabre’s transformation of the columns of the University of Ghent’s Aula, which he covered with 8,000 slices of smoked ham, amounting to over 600 kilograms of meat, making them look like red marble. The work quickly became one of the most debated pieces in the exhibition, drawing both fascination and criticism. Fabre conceptualized the columns as the metaphorical legs of the university, representing reason and intellect. By covering them in ham, he sought to “skin” them, exposing their “flesh” as a way of making the underlying structures visible.

Although the meat used in the installation had been deemed unfit for consumption, the artwork sparked considerable controversy. Many critics condemned the piece as an unnecessary waste of food, arguing that dedicating such a large quantity of meat to an artistic statement was irresponsible, especially in a world increasingly aware of food scarcity and waste. Unfortunately, the controversy did not end here for Fabre. Twelve years later, Fabre was beaten up while jogging due to an incident when filming a new piece in Antwerp’s City Hall in which his team threw several screaming cats into the air, causing them to land hard on the stairs. To make matters worse, in 2022, Fabre has been convicted for acts of violence, harassment, and unwanted sexual behavior in the workplace by the court of Antwerp, although the artist and theatre director has consistently denied any involvement in criminal offenses.

26. Untitled (2003) by Andrea Fraser

Andrea Fraser, born in 1965 in Billings, Montana, currently living and working in Los Angeles, created one of the most provocative artworks of the 21st century, critically examining power structures within the art world. Untitled (2003) consists of a one-hour video documenting a sexual encounter between Fraser and an anonymous art collector, who had paid $20,000 to participate in the project. The video is presented by a bright monitor in the gallery space, without sound and unedited. The stationary camera resembles a surveillance camera. By framing this exchange as an artwork, Fraser explores the ways in which artists engage with systems of patronage, commodification, and institutional critique.

The controversy surrounding Untitled (2003) stems from its explicit nature and its deliberate conflation of art-making with transactional intimacy. While some critics praised the work as a radical critique of the commodification of both art and the artist’s body, others questioned whether it genuinely subverted these power structures or simply reproduced them. Fraser herself has stated that the piece is not about provocation or personal exposure, but rather a reflection on the ways in which economic transactions define value and influence artistic production.

27. Untitled (2004) by Maurizio Cattelan

Maurizio Cattelan, born in 1960 in Padua, Italy, resides and works in New York, is not afraid to shock or provoke. Think of works such as La Nona Ora (1999) consisting of a wax sculpture of the Pope lying on the floor being struck by a meteor, Him (2000) depicting a kneeled praying Hitler once more in wax, or the infamous banana with Comedian (2019). However, one work was so shocking that in less than 48 hours after the installation, an outraged citizen took it upon himself to destroy the sculpture in an act of spontaneous censorship. The installation Untitled (2004) consisted of three life-sized mannequins of children hanging with rope around their neck from the branches of Milan’s oldest tree, creating an unsettling juxtaposition between innocence and brutality.

The imagery of hanged children, placed within a historical site of remembrance, provoked a visceral response from both local residents, traumatizing children who lived in the neighborhood. Some interpreted the work as a profound critique of violence and its pervasive presence, while others condemned the work as unnecessarily provocative and inappropriate for a public setting, particularly given its location near a commemorative tree dedicated to fallen soldiers of World War I. Cattelan defends his work by stating there is more violence on TV than the artwork in question. “I actually think that reality is far more provocative than my art (…) If you think my work is provocative, it means that reality is extremely provocative, and we just don’t react to it.”

28. Art Farm (2004) by Wim Delvoye

Wim Delvoye, born in 1965 in Wervik, Belgium, lives and works between Ghent, Belgium, and Brighton, United Kingdom, has made more than one controversial artwork throughout his career—think of his Cloaca (2000-2010) series recreating the human digestive system and therefore creating feces. However, in the 90s, Delvoye started to experiment with tattoo art and pig skin, tattooing both dried skin and living pigs with Louis Vuitton logos, Walt Disney princesses, skulls, hearts, and more, all part of the collective memory and reflecting consumer society in various ways.

Inspired by human body decoration and how people mark animals, Delvoye wanted to make the pigs more human and create living artworks. He was interested in how the pig would increase in value and how they are protected from slaughter by being tattooed and becoming art. Genius for some, animal cruelty for others. In 2003, GAIA prevented Delvoye from exhibiting 23 pigs during the Watou art festival. But Delvoye was eager to make his project and vision a reality. As a result, in 2004, out of the reach of GAIA, he started his Art Farm in Beijing, China, where pigs were tattooed and taken care of as living artworks.

29. New Portraits (2015) by Richard Prince

Richard Prince, born in 1949 in the Panama Canal Zone and currently living and working in New York, has made a career out of appropriating photographs—and much more. However, in 2015, he presented a new series of appropriated photographs at Gagosian in London, causing a lot of agitation and controversy. Prince sourced portraits from Instagram profiles. By screen-saving images, adding his own comments, and printing the results on canvas, Prince transformed ephemeral social media posts into artworks. The series highlights the self-curated nature of online identities but also discusses the unclear distinction between public and private, original and derivative, in what he calls “social science fiction.”

His process, which merges analog and digital techniques, evokes questions about authorship, consent, and the commodification of personal imagery in the age of social media. For Prince, the appropriating situates itself in a “gray area” that reflects the evolving cultural and technological landscape and, in his words, stands as one of the most fulfilling endeavors of his career. For others, it was pure theft and a scandalous breach of intellectual property, privacy, authorship, and ownership.

30. Take the Money and Run (2021) by Jens Haaning

Jens Haaning, born in 1965 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the artist continues to work and reside, is a conceptual artist known for his socially engaged, often provocative works that critique power dynamics, labor structures, and institutional systems. Haaning frequently appropriates everyday objects and bureaucratic frameworks, presenting them in altered or subverted forms to highlight inequalities and challenge the status quo. In 2021, Haaning was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg to recreate two earlier works that displayed the average annual incomes of citizens in Denmark and Austria using physical currency embedded in frames. The museum lent the artist 534,000 Danish kroner (approximately $84,000 USD) to realize the project. Instead, Haaning returned two empty frames titled Take the Money and Run, declaring the act itself to be the artwork.

He argued that the piece was a commentary on exploitative labor conditions in the art world and that he had effectively performed the very subject the museum had asked him to illustrate—namely, the value of money and work. The museum displayed the empty frames but later demanded that the money be returned, prompting a legal dispute. Public opinion was sharply divided: some saw the gesture as a clever critique of institutional hypocrisy and artistic precarity, while others accused Haaning of breach of contract and opportunism. The case attracted international media attention and reignited questions about authorship, trust, and the boundaries of conceptual art.

Cover image: Chirs Burden, Shoot, 1971. Courtesy Gagosian / Chris Burden Estate (c)

Last Updated on April 24, 2025