I don’t know if billionaire Paul Allen is happy or nervous about a petition flying around South Lake Union’s neighborhood of Cascade Park. It seems the locals are lining up to sign a petition to have a 300-foot-tall (91.4-metre) bronze statue of him erected, but not in a good way. Led by Kapow! coffee shop, businesses in the area are none too happy with his development company, Vulcan Inc, who have lured trendy shops into the area making rent triple. Vulcan owns about one-third of the South Lake Union district. One local declared “If you’ve got buildings going up too tall for people to see the lake, a 300-foot statue is kind of speaking to that, isn’t it?”
Kapow! was also behind a campaign against Vulcan’s street car project, dubbing the trolley car “the slut”. They even sold “Ride the Slut” t-shirts. And what does Vulcan’s spokeswoman have to say about Kapow’s new venture “I think Kapow! has found themselves a wonderful way to make more money poking fun at Paul Allen than selling coffee.” (ouch!). Stay tuned, this is going to be one hell of a fight batman!

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“Just because Europe’s classical statues had small penises,” argued Mark Wignall, an Observer columnist, “does not mean Jamaica must follow suit.” So, I guess you have figured where this is going. Two naked 7ft high bronzes (Redemption Song) erected in Jamaica’s Emancipation Park have caused a debate in Kingston like no other. The main grievance is that the male statue is a tad too well endowed, which only ever seems to be a problem when related to a statue. The issue as I can figure, is that the statues are supposed to symbolize liberation in an independent Jamaica. Well you can’t get more liberated than that can you ?
And, thanks in part to Beyonce, the locals are a bit miffed that the statues appear to be too light skinned. For a country who prides itself on being laid back this public art has stirred a great deal of emotion. Remember the poor Bob Marley statue that had to be removed because it didn’t look life like enough!
At any rate the media are having a field day with it, one journo going so far as describing the sculpture as “a rape of our democracy”.

But don’t feel too sorry for the sculptor though, Laura Facey Cooper is use to criticism. A little while back she got herself in a little trouble when she created a near-naked and well-endowed carving of Christ. And on the question of too well endowed, Laura’s response is “it is in proportion to the rest of the sculpture. I certainly didn’t overplay it.”

All I can say is lucky no one has a tin of pink paint! (re: Pretty in Pink article)

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What is a Brisbane council to do when a vandal goes and paints the vagina on a woman statue pink? Remove it quick. The poor old council was already under fire for having the controversial statue (which depicts a naked woman lying in a fetal position with her genitals exposed) erected in a park near Brisbane. Antone Bruinsma’s Birth of Venus, which was commissioned by the former Caboolture Shire, was deemed “offensive to women” by the new amalgamated one. So I guess they were rather pleased that someone went and dolloped the privates in bright pink. It wouldn’t be a council member now would it ?
Evidently attempts to clean the paint off failed. Pity the fool that got that job!So the council made an executive decision to remove the sculpture completely from the park, as they believe it will be a sitting duck for future graffiti artists and vandals. Hmm the artist’s respond to the council throwing naked pink lady into storage “I feel it’s insulting to women to remove a vulva because of somebody’s attitude.”

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Jamaica is mourning one its most controversial sculptors, Christopher Gonzalez. He was the artist that nearly created a full scale riot, after unveiling his statue of Bob Marley. It is no mean feat getting the Rastafarian’s in a tizz over a memorial, but he succeeded. Hmm, it seems, when the government commissioned him in 1983 to create a monument to honor Jamaica’s favorite son, they were not quite expecting what they got. Instead of a lifelike bronze they got a whole lot of interpretation. The iconic dreadlocks falling from Marley’s head, all the way to the ground, where they became part of the earth, did not impress. Nor did the lack of likeness to their legend. The public were horrified and the backlash gave the Prime Minister, Edward Seaga, no choice but to order it removed by JDF soldiers no less. The statue was sent to the National Gallery to hide, whilst a new statue was commissioned by a more conventional artist, Alvin Marriott. Still, I bet Alvin sweated over his design.
If that little fiasco wasn’t enough for Gonzalez, he moved on to offend the Catholics. Did no one warn him NOT to make certain parts of Christ’s anatomy too well endowed. Ah, but wait, there is more, can’t offend just one denomination, Anglicans got a taste of Gonzalez too. He caused a stir when he depicted Christ as a Negroid in a commissioned work for St Jude’s Anglican Church. So rest in peace Christopher, your work here on earth has been done!

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Ok, so it isn’t really a about public art, but as there is a lack of controversial stories this week relating to public art, I thought I would add this. Evidently two employees have quit their job over the New Hampshire Historical Society’s decision to sell Hannah Duston Bobbleheads.

So who is Hannah Duston ? Well in 1697, Hannah Duston was ripped from her home in Haverhill, Massachusetts by Abenaki Indians to an island in the Merrimack River in Concord. After being supposedly abused by the Indians she is said to have escaped by scalping members of the tribe. Bobblehead/scalping, I can see the conflict ! Especially as Hannah Dunston bobblehead is holding a hatchet (ouch!). Hmm tad insensitive I agree and not really appropriate for a historical society. Maybe the society should have done a Bobblehead of her sister, Elizabeth, who was convicted and hung for killing her illegitimate twin babies. As a point of interest Hannah is believed to be the first woman honored in the United States with a statue and now, the first woman scalper to be honored with a Bobblehead.

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When you approve a statue of Jesus (with an erection) to be shown in your art gallery, you are bound to find yourself in some sort of trouble. But I bet the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead weren’t expecting to find themselves facing six months prison and a £5,000 fine. Hmm that seems the price you have to pay for outraging public decency. The culprit behind this sordid tale is controversial artist Terence Koh, who also included in the exhibition, statues of Mickey Mouse and ET with erections (they seemed to have avoided scrutiny). The main argument in the case seems to be “had the statue been of Muhammad rather than Christ, there would have been a far greater outcry”. I am surprised the artist didn’t include both !

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That Cowparade ! The largest public art collection in the world is in the news again. Last time a group of militant Norwegians held one of the cows hostage because they believed the Cowparade was not about art but advertising. That poor cow ended up decapitated! So now I hear that an arsonist in Budapest has set fire to the warehouse in Budafok, which has been storing past and present cows. From all reports the Rubiks Cow was amongst the victims. Organizers believe “A hate-ridden person took the law into their own hands with the result that the cows have been destroyed”. The organizers are convinced it was a diliberate act of sabotage but they are confident that the show will go on, even it is delayed for a few weeks. The Cowparade raises money for charity by auctioning off the cows after they have been painted by local artists and celebrities.

The Budapest Cowparade hasn’t been without its fair share of controversy, two years ago the Melting Lollipop cow was ceremoniously moved and dumped outside the ‘House of the Liberals’ after a group were highly offended at its original location. Evidently the Melting Lollipop cow was displayed with its butt pointing in the direction of the Szent István’s Basilica.

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