This just in

I'm fascinated by the concept behind a sculpture that was installed in the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland last month.
The reactions to the placement and content have been predictably controversial.
When I found out about "Him", the statue of Hitler at prayer, I wanted to know what was behind it.
Who conceived it?
Wat was he trying to say?
How did it end up in the Warsaw Ghetto?

 

I found that the artist Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist based in NYC is known as a satirist, and, as his entry in wikipedia points out, "his work seeks to highlight the incongruous nature of the world and our interventions within it no matter where they may lie."
This piece certainly does that.
Does a physical posture make a man good- or evil?
Are we certain Hitler didn't pray?
Is this a symbol of hypocrisy or repentance?
I found out that Poland's foremost rabbi who was consulted on the placement agreed that this was a worthy project because it made people question what they knew about the face of evil
But this isn't the only place the statue has been shown. It's been on display all over the world, including the Guggenheim in NYC.
"When people see this piece, they react with gasps, tears, disbelief. The impact is stunning," collector and Holocaust survivor Stefan Edlis told The Economist in 2009. "Politics aside, that is how you judge art.” 
For more info, check out:
http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=59818
http://www.towleroad.com/2012/12/should-maurizio-cattelans-hitler-pray-in-warsaw-ghetto.html#ixzz2GSVBLzu4

Confederates and marble soldiers

(Photo from online wall street journal)

There's an embarrasment of riches in the news today, public sculpture-wise.
The Pope is going to visit the Virgin of Charity statue in Cuba before he meets with the latest Castro.
Galway, Ireland, has stirred up a brouhaha with their propsoed Che Guevara Statue.
And the sporting statue survey is running apace.
More about those later...
Today's winner has drama, politics, history, and conspiracy theory all wrapped into one life sized marble confereate soldier.
A sleepy driver ran his truck into the 32 foot pillar with the soldier in the middle of of Reidsville, NC's central traffic circle. The solider, roused from its 101 year sleep, bounced off the pillar and smashed. Its head torpedoed the van itself, crushing the engine.
Replacing the statue has reignited the old flames of Dixie as the town fights about the place of commemorating the Confederacy in their public places. The Daughters of the Confederacy are willing to move the repaired piece to a cemetery. The Mayor is ready to back them so that no one will think the town is still fighting the 150 year old conflict.
But there are the conspiracy theorists who feel that the destruction is deliberate.
Learn more at:
  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577293590627745290.html?mod=googlenews_wsjg

Diagnosis on a 350 year old patient

(Photo from the Washington Post)

Scanning the news today, I hit the jackpot. The story from the Washington Post recounted the medical treatment of a 350 year old statue of Buddha that uncovered some startling internal discoveries.
What interested me more than the discovery itself, were the techniques that medicos from two sites in FL used in finding it.
And why.
The bodhi wasn't complaining of any malady.
A 2008 xray did show evidence of two masses in the body and head of the statue. The follow up CT, etc. took 3 years to schedule. (Hmmmmm).
Are x-rays of ancient statues routine? Mummies have them, but I wasn't aware of any protocol for other pieces of art. More to come on this fascinating topic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/buddha-goes-to-the-hospital-medical-scans-reveal-rare-documents-inside-17th-century-sculpture/2012/03/22/gIQADq96TS_story.html

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San Diego's Kissing Battle!

I can ignore it no more.
The ongoing battle to keep a permanent version of the statue "Unconditional Surrender" based on the WWII photo by a guy I know has heated up and involves politics, art, hurt feelings, and public office resignation. The best of the culture battles that are public art.

(Photo from Roadside America)

Seems that the statue, which has been on loan to the city since 2007 is an offense to the taste of many of the city's art committee members. It's 25 feet tall, brightly colored, and based on a picture (original photographer in hot contention) of sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day, celebrating the end of World War II.

The committee gave it the thumbs down in November when someone proposed a permanent version in bronze. But in a March 6 vote, the city did not agree. Calling it magical, they said if the backers can raise the necessary $1 million to build it, the city welcomes the new piece.

Exit 2 of the city's Public Arts Committee members. Another accused the city have having no taste.

But the battle is about more than just taste, it's about the role of art committees and arts commissions in general. It's been going on, actually, since the 19th centure when the US cities started forming them to deal with public art.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/mar/15/kiss-statue-leads-resignations-disappointment/

Cambodia vs. Sotheby's

 (Photo from the NY Times)

There's another repatriation tussle going on about a giant statue. It will be interesting to watch this one. But I'm most interested in the feet that remain in Cambodia...

http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=53948