Are you familiar with Plastic Jesus? Well, he’s an L.A.-based artist who specializes in sub-Banksy street art like this dumb thing, and this, and, man, also this, and now he has unveiled a new, grander-scale really dumb piece: a sculpture of a crucified Kanye West called “False Idol.” It’s currently stationed on Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in L.A., right by the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars will take place on Sunday.
At least we know it’s Kanye because Plastic Jesus, who once created a thought-provoking piece about the Kardashian family, explained that to The Hollywood Reporter; truthfully, the statue does not look very much like West at all:
Kanye West crucifix statue appears in Hollywood a block from the #Oscars Dolby Theatre https://t.co/v8FV2qB3PM pic.twitter.com/12IVtIB8ll
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 22, 2017
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The weird cut-but-slightly-emaciated body makes the likeness even more confusing, and the piece all the more ugly. When asked for comment by THR, Plastic J., who describes himself as a Kanye fan, had this to say about the inspiration for the work, which he claims is “intended to be as critical of us as consumers and the media as it is of Kanye himself”:
“He’s a genius at writing and producing but he’s not a God, and that’s where we put him. Until there’s an issue in his life or a hiccup in his career, then we crucify him…We’ve seen it before with people like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan. The same people who put him into a God-like place are the same yapping at his heels for a piece of flesh when something happens.”
Plastic Jesus thinks Kanye and Lindsay Lohan are similar cultural figures, and probably doesn’t like the song “I Am a God.” PJ also revealed that he collaborated with the artist Ginger–who is responsible for the pre-election scourge of naked, problematic Donald Trump statues in cities across America–on the piece, which makes sense.
The work is set to be included in Plastic Jesus’ upcoming L.A. exhibition with Billy Morrison, Anesthesia – The Art of Oblivion, this coming weekend.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=OwSpn4pmv9Q
