A well known piece of art which uses aniconism is piss Christ by Andres Serrano, which features an painting of Jesus Christ which is submerged in a tank of urine, Serrano tried to imply that it was a metaphor for how people 'piss' on him, using his name in vain in a blasphemous mannerism, however it wasn't perceived by the public that way. To the general audience it was the artist himself being blasphemous and someone later tried to smash the tank with a hammer, leaving a big indentation which is now part of the art work itself.
This bring the question forward, what is considered ok to be the focus of an artists art? The limitations changes within different eras, and a lot of what was seen to be risky at its time is now considered the norm, so what will be the new wave of avant garde and how long until that becomes the next norm and average that the general public will not batter an eye out?
Other uses on aniconism in art would be with in religious paintings of some cultures, as it considered immoral to humanise their gods and prophets within drawings, paintings and sculptures. This is more thought of in islamic cultures, and because of this a lot of statues over time has been ripped down from followers of the religion and are very strict in the beliefs.
More examples of aniconism are below.
The destruction of buddhist statues because they resembled a prophet or good, and the depiction of gods and prophets shown in human form wasn't allowed within the Islamic religion.
This was shown again through the Charlie Hebdo case in the news lately, where a french magazine depicted the prophet Mohammed in a way that upset the followers of Islam and some had retaliated with violent action and killing twelve people and injuring another eleven.
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