The Emperor Has No Balls
The statue in San Francisco
ArtistIndecline
Year2016 (2016)
Location
  • Cleveland
  • Los Angeles
  • New York
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle

The Emperor Has No Balls is a series of sculptures depicting Donald Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, by the activist art collective Indecline.

Description and history

The five statues were installed in Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle in 2016. Their collective installation was executed by 40 people; Rolling Stone described the precision with which the sculptures were erected: "At exactly 11 in each city – 8 a.m. on the West Coast – two people dressed as construction workers carried out a 6-foot-5, 80-pound object under a blue tarp, brushed away detritus from the ground, spread a thin layer of fast-acting, industrial-strength epoxy, held the object upright for a matter of seconds, and walked away, disappearing into the gathering crowds."[1]

The statues, made using clay and silicone, depicted the former president with abdominal obesity, an "old man saggy butt", varicose veins, a "constipated" expression, a micropenis and anorchia, and were titled The Emperor Has No Balls on engraved plates at the base; they were commissioned from Joshua "Ginger" Monroe, a Las Vegas artist who designs monsters for haunted houses and horror films.[2][3][4][5][6] The Cleveland statue was in the Coventry section of Cleveland Heights; it was taken down within an hour.[2][7] The New York statue, in Union Square, was removed early that afternoon; the New York City Parks Department made a statement that it "stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small".[8][6][7][9] A bystander bit a piece out of the hair of the San Francisco statue, which was in the Castro District;[10] it was removed early the next day,[11] at a cost of about $4,000 because of damage to the sidewalk.[7] The Seattle statue, which was in Capitol Hill, was claimed by a vintage store, No Parking on Pike,[12][13] and the Los Angeles statue, on Hollywood Boulevard, by a local art gallery, Wacko,[2] both before authorities could remove them.

The following month, two more naked Trump statues, commissioned by a New Jersey arts collective, were installed on the roof of a warehouse overlooking the New Jersey entrance to the Holland Tunnel, where Indecline also placed an inverted US flag, and on top of a billboard in the Wynwood section of Miami;[14] the Miami statue, which Indecline said was the same one originally placed in New York, was later moved by police request closer to the Wynwood Walls graffiti center.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Garber-Paul, Elisabeth (August 19, 2016). "Naked Trump Statues: Meet Anarchist Artists Behind 'Emperor Has No Balls'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Bort, Ryan (August 19, 2016). "We Talked to the Activists Responsible for Those Naked Donald Trump Statues". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ Holley, Peter (August 19, 2016). "These protesters wanted to humiliate 'Emperor' Trump. So they took off his clothes". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ Frank, Priscilla (August 18, 2016). "This Naked Donald Trump Statue Cannot Be Unseen". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ Sidahmed, Mazin (August 18, 2016). "Anarchist group installs nude Donald Trump statues in US cities". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Del Signore, John (August 19, 2016). "The Mysterious People Behind The Naked Trump Statues SPEAK". Gothamist. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Bamforth, Emily (August 19, 2016). "Owner has 30 days to claim naked Donald Trump statue from Cleveland Heights Police Department". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  8. ↑ Rajghatta, Chidanand (August 19, 2016). "Anarchist artist tests limits with nude statues of Donald Trump". The Times of India. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  9. ↑ Fishbein, Rebecca (August 18, 2016). "Here's How NYers React To A Life-Size Naked Donald Trump Statue In Union Square". Gothamist. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ Pershan, Caleb (August 18, 2016). "Photos: Scott Wiener And Other Locals Take (Semi-NSFW) Selfies With The Nude Trump Statue". SFist. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Hutchinson, Bill (August 19, 2016). "Naked Trump statue removed from Castro". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  12. ↑ Knauf, Ana Sofia (August 18, 2016). "There's a Horrifying Statue of Donald Trump in Capitol Hill". The Stranger. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  13. ↑ Woodard, Benjamin (August 19, 2016). "Watch: Naked Trump statue removed from Capitol Hill corner, relocated to nearby shop". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  14. ↑ Holley, Peter (September 14, 2016). "Naked Trump statues are back, now gazing at motorists near the Holland Tunnel". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Naked Donald Trump Statue Makes Appearance in Wynwood". WTVJ NBC. September 14, 2016. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  16. ↑ Harris, Alex (September 14, 2016). "Naked Donald Trump statue gets short exposure in Wynwood". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
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