The Fearless Girl statue was erected in honor of International Women’s Day by ad agency McCann New York and investment firm State Street Global Advisors, facing across from Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue. The symbolism of the two statues has become ridiculously complicated, as the sculptor of the Bull, Arturo Di Modica, has protested that the Fearless Girl changed his piece’s intent without his permission.
Mayor Bill De Blasio extended the Fearless Girl’s tenure to almost a full year, as she has proven popular with tourists, much to Di Modica’s dismay. Though both statues are essentially an ode to capitalism, they can’t seem to work it out. The New York Post reported on Monday that a third “Upper West Side artist” Alex Gardega has inserted himself in this tangle with a tasteless and confusing “Pissing Pug” statue, of a small dog taking a whiz on the Fearless Girl.
Gardega has supposedly been “seething” over the placement of the Fearless Girl, though he’s neither met her maker nor Di Modica. He told the Post, “This is corporate nonsense,” adding, “It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull. That bull had integrity.”
The small bronze dog is of notably lower quality than either of its competitors. Gardega says, “I decided to build this dog and make it crappy to downgrade the statue, exactly how the girl is a downgrade on the bull.”
Sure.
Di Modica did not comment on the pug, despite his vocal dislike of the girl. Perhaps he realized that taking a piss on what has become, for better or worse, a symbol for women on Wall Street would be a bad look. NY1 reports that as of early Tuesday morning, the statue has been removed.