Guest Post by Victor Pross
An ‘icon’ is an image, depiction, representation, pictogram or likeness that stands for an object by representing it by analogy. By extension, the word ‘icon’ is also used, as seen in popular culture, in the general sense of symbol--such as a name, face or edifice.
In the Christian religion, idolatry is considered a sin, being defined as worship of any cult image or object as opposed to the worship of God. The modern era worships gods of a different kind--celebrities. The modern cult of celebrity and popular culture is saturated with both icons and idols.
Who are the biggest worshippers? Stanch religionists, of course. I admire many of the individuals I capture in art, but I don’t worship them. There is a big difference between admiration and worship. Worship is like admiration wearing blinders. Admiration is quality-oriented, not person-oriented.
Said Albert Einstein: “It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few individuals for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular estimate of me and the reality is simply grotesque.”
This culture is a culture of worship, and it is celebrity that is worshiped. It is an epoch where celebrity is a modern mythos. This is prime fodder for satire.
Critics have responded to my art as though I was sui generis, a self-created eccentric without discernable origins. Very much the opposite is the truth. 
