Artist K Ryan Henisey Resurrects Hollywood Jesus with Public Art Grant – Press Release

Jesus returns with new pop art performances from award-winning artist and city of West Hollywood art grantee K. Ryan Henisey. Henisey’s performances culminate in a fine art exhibit April 2022.

Jesus returns. The iconic symbol once again walks the streets of West Hollywood with a new fine art project from award-winning artist K. Ryan Henisey. The artist’s Jesus 3.0 project reinterprets the Christ figure with nods to pop art, queer culture, and other performative works. Henisey currently appears in a series of walking performances on the streets of West Hollywood as WeHo Jesus. A culminating fine art exhibit is planned for April 2022 at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles.

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Award-winning artist and city of West Hollywood arts grantee K. Ryan Henisey presents Rainbow Jesus from ‘Jesus 3.0,’ a series of public, pop art performances. [Photo Credit K. Ryan Henisey & Socks Whitmore]

“Jesus 3.0 is a queered reading of Christ that focuses on the joy of summer while incorporating the topics of today through pop and performative art,” explains Henisey. “Each Jesus costume has a personality of its own, reflecting the beauty of West Hollywood—the creative city—and the core values we share as a community. Whether encouraging others to be ‘goodish’ or tackling serious subjects such as mental health, there is a wink-and-nod aspect to this art that inspires joy and hope.”

Appearing in kaftans and embellished robes, Henisey’s WeHo Jesus is a colorful take on the legendary figure. His Pina Colada and La Bamba Jesus costumes, for example, use brightly colored prints to invoke summer, while Black Lives Matter and Mental Health Awareness Jesus each strike more serious tones.

“A great deal of love and attention went into each Jesus,” continues Henisey. “Katie Bright designed each separate panel of her custom kaftan for Mental Health Awareness Jesus, for example, and I hand-painted the names on Black Lives Matter Jesus, recording unarmed black and brown persons killed by police in the United States from 2021 to 2013.”

The public art performances helmed by Henisey are a semi-collaborative fine art project, working closely with LGBTQIA+ and West Hollywood resident costumers, photographers, and artisans such as Katie Bright.

“There is so much joy behind Jesus 3.0,” says Bright, an accomplished artist and designer. “Ryan’s vision bridges the history of the city with who we are today. Mental Health Awareness Jesus, our collaboration for the project, uses my Mad World designs to reinterpret the classic Jesus ‘look’ with a bit of rock and roll.”

Jesus 3.0 is inspired by the works of the late artist Kevin Lee Light, who wandered West Hollywood and the surrounding areas dressed as Rainbow Jesus for about a decade before his death in 2017. Light is remembered for playing Jesus in music videos, and for film and television.

Henisey (@kryanhenisey) is one of five recipients of a 2021 City of West Hollywood public performance art grant. He is president of TAG Gallery in Los Angeles, founder of Pattern & Matrix providing creative, PR, and management services for artists and organizations, and editor and founder of Queer Quarterly Magazine. Henisey’s fine art work has shown in galleries and institutions throughout California, at the Garrotxa Museum in Spain, and recently debuted in China.

Jesus 3.0 appeared throughout the month of August within the city of West Hollywood. Each performance included Henisey dressed as Jesus walking the streets of the creative city for a minimum of two hours. Sightings in local shops and eateries were common. Photos with Jesus 3.0 continue to be encouraged. An exhibit featuring the art of Jesus 3.0 will display at TAG Gallery, April 2022.

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