Before The Libertines head out on another round of reunion tour dates this summer, frontman Pete Doherty will be heading to church — sort of. A statue of Doherty depicted as Christ on the cross will be on display at London’s St. Marylebone Parish Church from February 19th through March 17th.
Set to debut alongside other representations of the Passion of the Christ, the statue, cleverly titled “For Pete’s Sake”, was originally created by Doherty’s friend and artist Nick Reynolds back in 2008. According to Reynolds, he made the piece at a time when “I saw Pete being crucified by the media and that provided the basis of my inspiration to make this piece.” Above, you can see the actual Doherty undergoing plaster casting for the statue.
As for why a church would allow a former drug addict and renowned troublemaker to be depicted as their Lord and Savior, Reverend Canon Stephen Evans said that because Doherty has since found sobriety, he hopes the statue “might help visitors to the exhibition stop and reflect not only Christ’s Passion and Resurrection and what this means but also to stop and reflect on what in their own lives leads to death or to life.”
The show, called simply “Stations of the Cross”, was planned by Ben Moore to benefit the Missing Tom Fund, which raises money to support the search for Moore’s sibling who disappeared in 2003. Following the exhibition, the statue will go on sale for £33,000 (approximately $50,622 USD).
The Libertines, meanwhile, recently signed with Virgin EMI, with hopes of delivering a new record by the end of this year.
