The "Fearless Girl" statue on Wall Street caught the nation's attention when it popped up across from the famous "Charging Bull" in early March, and a third sculpture was added to the scene over the weekend. New York artist Alex Gardega installed a statue of a small dog pissing on the girl's left foot titled the "Pissing Pug."
Gardega said the "Fearless Girl," which went up for International Women's Day, was a publicity stunt. "This is corporate nonsense," he told The New York Post. "It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull."
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He added, "That bull had integrity."
Gardega intended for the "Pissing Pug" to insult Kristen Visbal's "Fearless Girl," telling the Post, "I decided to build this dog and make it crappy to downgrade the statue, exactly how the girl is a downgrade on the bull."
Arturo Di Modica, the artist behind the "Charging Bull," isn't a fan of the statue of a little girl standing defiantly in front of his bull, either, and is suing the asset management company that funded the project, State Street Global Advisors, for trademark and copyright infringement.
State Street Global Advisors explained that the statue was a symbol of its dedication to gender diversity and called on other companies to include more women on their corporate boards. However, the bronze girl was criticized as corporate feminism, since State Street Global Advisors used it to present itself to the public as a pro-woman financial institution.
Even so, many women were not fans of a male artist portraying a dog pissing on a female artist's rendition of a little girl.
"Fearless Girl IS corporate BS. But its symbolism took off, inspiring thousands of girls. And you peed on it, but you're 'not anti-feminist'? one woman wrote on Twitter.
Fearless Girl IS corporate BS. But its symbolism took off, inspiring thousands of girls. And you peed on it, but you're "not anti-feminist"? pic.twitter.com/vjj5JpEm2K
— vacation ella (@brosandprose) May 30, 2017
The "Fearless Girl" is set to remain on Wall Street until February 2018, and the "Pissing Pug" has already been removed.
We reached out to Alex Gardega for comment and will update the story if we hear back.
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