SF's Castro onlookers think naked Donald Trump statue is brilliant. https://t.co/0VthiJKFEF pic.twitter.com/mz9iKZwsGC
— Lisa Fernandez (@ljfernandez) August 18, 2016
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has seemed inexplicably immune to all attacks - both self-imposed and from the outside - this election season. But anarchist arts collective INDECLINE hopes to make a statement with their latest public installations: a series of naked Donald Trump statues that appeared in parks and town squares in six different United States cities early Thursday morning.
The project is titled "The Emperor Has No Balls" and was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes" story. Earlier this year, INDECLINE covered stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of black Americans who have been killed by police.
There is a naked Trump statue in Union Square right now. pic.twitter.com/26bYxY4AwF
— New York City Patch (@NYC_Patch) August 18, 2016
And that's the end of naked Trump in Union Square (pic: @kozu_kozu_u) #NYC #NBC4NY pic.twitter.com/01eLxBDw0c
— Steven Bognar (@Bogs4NY) August 18, 2016
"Like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment,” a spokesperson for the group told The Washington Post on Thursday. "Looking back in history, that’s how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time — with statues.”
According to The Post, INDECLINE contracted a Las Vegas-based artist who goes by "Ginger" to design the statues. The naked Trump statues caused reactions in the cities in which they were placed, as well as online. See more pictures of the project below.
@realDonaldTrump statue erected in #LosAngeles. "The Emperor Has No Balls." @indecline_ #indecline #trump #streetart pic.twitter.com/c3lk3oWmAB
— Birdman (@birdmanphotos) August 18, 2016
The Emperor Has No Balls: Naked Donald Trump in Union Square today pic.twitter.com/tK8osK94Co
— Richard Hine (@richardhine) August 18, 2016