Posted on 06/06/2013 12:57:55 PM PDT by JoeProBono
PAULDEN, Ariz.,- An Arizona artist said county officials have ordered him to cover up or remove a metal statue of a gargoyle he created that features male genitalia.
David Smith said he spent years creating the 9-foot-tall metal statue he is displaying in his Paulden yard and he disagrees with Yavapai County Development Services Director Steve Mauk's statements that the artwork isn't compatible with the neighborhood, KTVK-TV, Phoenix, reported Thursday.
"What in this neighborhood fits in anywhere? You look around and everybody's individual and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting art work," Smith said.
He said the gargoyle's genitals were a necessary part of its creation.
"I built it a certain way and I like it like that," Smith said. "Everything has a sex so why would I do it any other way? I don't like Ken dolls or GI Joes. I think they're kind of silly."
Smith said officials have ordered him to remove the gargoyle or cover up the offending parts of its anatomy.
Smith said he will argue his case before the County Board of Supervisors in July.
Nuh-uh; not gonna do it. Nope.
If that was in my neighbourhood, I’d just chuckle at it. It wouldn’t offend me. I think it’s more puerile than obscene.
He should cover the whole thing. That’s just plain cartoonish.
Jeepers, just let him install it. The high school kids in the neighborhood will take care of the rest.
MOTHMAN
Not obscene but hideous. To each his own I guess...just glad I don’t live across the street from that.
My grandmother’s cousin had a small reproduction of Venus di Milo in her home. She had a velvet (red) scarf wrapped around her breasts. What we thought was especially amusing was that this cousin was totally blind.
If that’s a picture of his ‘hood we’re looking at — a bunch of shoebox houses and metal-building barndos scattered willy-nilly in the middle of the featureless desert — who cares what statuary he puts up?
In many of the European museums, especially in Italy, you will see a small hole where the peen should be. The sculptors typically created a removable peen, particularly on wine gods and satyr statuary, but not always. If it was a slow day at the Museum of Naples, for instance, and the guard wanted to amuse tourists, he might “install” the missing (erect) johnson via its little cylindrical tab into the peen socket.
Yawn. No different from the demon in the movie THE EXORCIST, except that demon had four wings.
>> a hoo-hoo and major league yaboos.
Just for my amusement... what term would *you* use for the gargoyle’s whatchamathingie and sackfullastuff? :-)
You should see some of the stuff found in Pompeii. Then there is those Hindu temples..
No problem.
Just have it b*ggering another male gargoyle, and he’s home free. May even get a subsidy for materials.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.