Banksy has a new art reveal – and it’s a pretty sure bet McDonald’s won’t be lovin’ it.
The 16th installment of the elusive graffiti guru’s month-long New York “residency” is a massive fiberglass sculpture of iconic fast food mascot Ronald McDonald — getting his shoes shined by “a real life boy” – placed on a sidewalk outside a South Bronx outpost of the ubiquitous burger and fry chain.
“The sculpture will visit the sidewalk outside a different McDonald’s every lunchtime for the next week,” Banksy promised, announcing his latest work on his website.
This time around, the artist provided fans an audio explanation of the work, set to a carnivalesque background of an organ playing “Sidewalks of New York” and a rapt crowd offering up “oohs” and “aahs” as the narrator reads.
“What you see before you is a sculpture entitled `Shoeshine,’ dating from the summer of 2013, depicting the powerful figure of Ronald McDonald waiting impassively as his ridiculously oversized clown shoes are buffed to a fine shine, “ the narrator begins.
Noting that Ronald McDonald was adopted as the fast-food chain’s official mascot in 1966, he continues, “fiberglass versions of his likeness have been installed outside restaurants ever since — thus making Ronald arguably the most sculpted figure in history after Christ.”
“For this piece, the artist has reproduced Ronald McDonald in perfect detail, singlehandedly,” the reader says, wryly adding, “If, by ‘perfect detail’ you mean ‘roughly.’ And by ‘singlehandedly’ you mean ‘with two people helping.’”
“The result is a critique of the heavy labor required to sustain the polished image of a mega corporation. Is Ronald’s statuesque pose indicative of how corporations have become the historical figures of our era? Does this hero have feet of clay – and a massively large foot print to boot?”
“But, take a closer look and you may notice something familiar about this clown: His face is that of the Greek god Hermes, carved by Praxiteles in 340 BC,” the narrator confides, building to a crescendo.
“Is this a wry, oblique reference to Greek mythology? Or did the artist have such difficulty trying to sculpt the face he simply plopped on the nearest replica bust he could find?
“We will never know, ” he says in a reverent tone, before quietly whisipering, in conspiratorial aside: “It’s the second one.”
McDonald’s has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Yahoo Local News – New York Post
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=15802
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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