City sculptor Alex Gardega briefly protested the ‘Fearless Girl’ statue staring down the iconic ‘Charging Bull’ statue on Wall Street by placing a statue of his own next to Fearless Girl. The New York Post reported that Gardega placed his ‘Pissing Pug’ right by Fearless Girl’s leg Monday.
“It has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull. That bull had integrity,” he told the Post of Fearless Girl, adding, “I decided to build this dog and make it crappy to downgrade the statue, exactly how the girl is a downgrade on the bull.”
Gardega called Fearless Girl “corporate nonsense,” saying she was put opposite artist Arturo Di Modica’s statue as a publicity stunt by a Boston-based financial firm.
"I have a lot of empathy for the creator of the bull, Arturo," Gardega told NBC 4 New York early Tuesday. "I'm a pretty happy person, not seething or angry and certainly not anti-feminist. My piece is not without a sense of humor. There is plenty of room for Fearless Girl it just interferes with another artist’s work/vision."
The dog was removed hours later.
“I took it away personally,” Gardega told NBC. “I didn’t want to leave it to be taken and certainly had no rights to bolt it to the ground. Most people were amused or perplexed by it.”
The Bull’s sculptor Di Modica would not comment on “Pissing Pug” to the New York Post but is suing State Street Global Advisors, the mutual fund company that placed Fearless Girl opposite his work, for trademark and copyright infringement.
Many Democratic politicians have celebrated Fearless Girl as a feminist icon since her installment opposite the Bull, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who tweeted a picture of herself standing next to the statue in April.
Needless to say, Twitter had mixed reactions to Gardega’s “protest.”
Man perturbed by powerful women protests #FearlessGirl statue with peeing dog. We need to talk about male fragility.https://t.co/Sa5AbAHaqB
— Women's March (@womensmarch) May 30, 2017
This is Alex Gardega, the man who added 'pissing dog' next to 'Fearless Girl'
— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) May 30, 2017
This is a misogynistic display regardless of what he says. pic.twitter.com/kr7IgSbmpX
Good lord. The fake Fearless Girl withstood the rain. She can withstand fake pee from a fake statue dog. https://t.co/lh5dJX3o71
— Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) May 30, 2017
Alex Gardena is every white guy who can't stand that he has to compete with women and PoC in America. What a loser! https://t.co/fwzAimevO4
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) May 30, 2017
Imagine feeling so insecure by symbolism meant to inspire young women that you protest it with a statue of a urinating dog.#FearlessGirl
— Charles Clymer (@cmclymer) May 30, 2017