Butt-fugly Public Art of the Week-- September 27th

Brushstroke Group by Roy Lichtenstein

30 South 17th Street

More like Skidmark Group. Pic from philart.net.

                          What a pile of crap. Roy Lichtenstein should have stuck to painting. The sculpting business is not for him. Only after I found out the title for the piece (of crap) did I know what the fuck these colored air-skidmarks are supposed to be. Brushstrokes. Brushstrokes? What the fuck kind of brush would stroke that green-striped one? An Assbrush, that's what kind.
                            It all started with Sheldon Bonovitz, chairman of Duane Morris, LLP, the century-old Philadelphia-based law partnership. This guy wanted an outdoor sculpture to go into United Plaza, a patch of grass and concrete and shit outside of their offices. Since he's a trustee at both the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation, he knew he could get something good. The PMA hooked him up with the Lichtenstein Foundation, who was interested in throwing up a sculpture in Philadelphia.
                          They had Brushstroke Group sitting in storage, which was based on a small design made by Lichtenstein in 1996, shortly before he died. So wait, this thing is based on a small-ass little sketch/model that Roy made on his damn deathbed? The Foundation fabricated the piece in 2001, well after Lichtenstein passed.... so Roy never even saw the full-size piece? No wonder it's crap!
                          A company called Amaral Custom Fabrications took on the Herculean task of bringing this fucknugget to life. They used half-inch thick aluminum and painted it with aircraft paint that can resist extreme temperatures. Even after a nuclear holocaust, this thing will still be uglying-up whatever future civilization unearths it. That's a shame. What if this ends up being the only piece of art left to represent Philadelphia to the future?
                       On August 28, 2005, these four Technicolor Asscoats were installed.

Should have left that covering on them. Picture from the Inquirer.

                     Ever since, they've marred United Plaza and 17th Street with their presence. Most people just walk by and say, "What the fuck is that crap? Oh well, who cares?"
                     You want to know the worst part about this piece of fuck? The worst part? There's another one! A copy of Brushstroke Group was made shortly after the Philly one was installed. This time, they dropped it down at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. That Lichtenstein Foundation sure gets around. Like your mom.

The UMass Version.