MESSAGE
| DATE | 2006-03-30 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] touring Brooklyn
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Spears Sculpture on Display Next Month
Photos
AP Photo
AP Photo
Tue Mar 28, 7:23 PM ET
A life-size sculpture of a naked Britney Spears kneeling on a bearskin
rug as she gives birth will be on display next month at Brooklyn's Capla
Kesting Fine Art gallery.
The sculpture is to appear next to a display case filled with
anti-abortion materials. It was created by Daniel Edwards, who said he
never spoke to the 24-year-old pop star or met her, and fashioned her
face and figure from photographs.
"I admire her. This is an idealized figure," Edwards said Tuesday in a
phone interview from his home, which is near his studio in Moosup, Conn.
"Everyone is coming at me with anger and venom, but I depicted her as
she has depicted herself seductively. Suddenly, she's a mom."
Spears, who is married to her former backup dancer Kevin Federline, gave
birth to their son, Sean Preston, last year. He is the couple's first
child.
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The singer's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, didn't immediately
respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
When some bloggers heard about the exhibit "Monument to Pro-Life: The
Birth of Sean Preston" the gallery said it received about 3,000 e-mails
from around the world in just a week, split between anti-abortion and
abortion rights opinions.
"We also got calls from Tokyo, England, France. Some people are upset
that Britney is being used for this subject matter," said gallery
co-owner David Kesting. "Others who are pro-life thought this was
degrading to their movement. And some pro-choice people were upset that
this is a pro-life monument."
The gallery, located in Brooklyn's artsy Williamsburg neighborhood, said
it would hire extra security guards for the free exhibit, which will
open April 7 and run for two weeks.
Edwards, whose sculpture of Ted Williams' decapitated head which was
frozen in the hope that medical science could one day revive the
baseball great stirred up an artistic storm, said the sculpture of
Spears was a "new take on pro-life."
"Pro-lifers normally promote bloody images of abortion. This is the
image of birth," he said.
When Edwards was asked why he creates art that generates publicity by
selecting subjects hyped in the media, he said: "You're bombarded with
these stories. And there's a thread that winds back to the art. That's
not a bad thing. People are interested in these topics, and it works for
art as well."
Asked whether he's anti-abortion, Edwards said, "You nailed me. I'm not
saying that I am. I wouldn't march with either pro-life or pro-choice
advocates. This is not meant to be political."
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On the Net:
http://www.caplakesting.com
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