In the middle of Hollywood Boulevard, Harvey Weinstein can be seen clad in a silk robe and slippers lounging on a casting couch. He and it are made of gold — and he holds an Oscar award by his crotch.
“Casting couch”. This year’s Oscar statue . Collab with ginger. #metoo #hollywood #oscars2018 #AcademyAwards pic.twitter.com/nQwXMeiPn2
— Plastic Jesus (@plasticjesusart) March 1, 2018
The piece, entitled “Casting Couch,” is this year’s Oscar statue created by street artists Plastic Jesus (who does not give his name) and Joshua “Ginger” Monroe, who, if you recall, is known for his 2016 sculptures of President Trump in the nude. These life-size depictions of naked Trump were, as VICE pointed out, torn down, spray painted or completely destroyed within days of their installation.
Don’t remember them? Here’s a refresher:
s/o to whoever installed this Trump statue in Union Square last night pic.twitter.com/Cldd4qkgyI
— James Michael Nichols (@JMN) August 18, 2016
The last time the two collaborated they created this Kanye West crucifixion sculpture in 2017.
Details about this Kanye West crucifixion sculpture by artist Plastic Jesus coming up on @947FreshFM pic.twitter.com/1EsHTOczJd
— Britt Waters (@ItsBrittWaters) February 24, 2017
The Weinstein statue reportedly took 2 months to produce.
“The whole couch and the entire image it gives off was, to me, a visual representation of the practices and methods that are used in Hollywood with these big powerful people,” Ginger told The Hollywood Reporter. “They have money and power to give jobs and they use that for their own sexual gratification, and there’s no better way to visualize this than the way we did with the casting couch.”
“For many years, the exploitation of many hopefuls and established names in the industry was brushed under the carpet with their complaints of harassment and sexual abuse being ignored or worse,” Plastic Jesus said. “Hopefully, now in the light of recent allegations against many leading figures in Hollywood, the industry will clean up its act.”
The statue of the accused sexual predator, placed just blocks away from the Dolby Theatre where the 2018 Oscars will take place, is meant to be interacted with. And people are already starting to take pictures with the golden, life-size Weinstein.
“To be able to knock the monster down a peg and poke fun and ridicule it helps remove its power,” Plastic Jesus stated. “That’s how you take these powerful people down.”
