Santa Claus (sculpture)
Santa Claus, popularly known as the Buttplug Gnome, is a 2001 statue by artist Paul McCarthy in the Eendrachtsplein square of Rotterdam, The Netherlands.[1]
Originally made for the International Sculpture Collection with the intended location being outside the De Doelen concert hall, it has been located in various places – including the courtyard of the Boijmans Museum – but moved due to protests from local businesses.[2] Officially the work represents Santa Claus holding a Christmas tree in his hands but the artist has implied that it could also represent a buttplug, and that "...For me, the sculpture is also about the consumer community - as a commentary on material consumption in the Western world."[3] A red version was unveiled in May 2018 in Oslo, Norway. The unveiling was done by a man pulling off the cover, suspended by an overhead crane with hooks through his skin.[4]
References
- ^ Zebracki, Martin (2012-11-01). "Engaging geographies of public art: indwellers, the 'Butt Plug Gnome' and their locale". Social & Cultural Geography. 13 (7): 735–758. doi:10.1080/14649365.2012.723735. ISSN 1464-9365. S2CID 146520018.
- ^ "Sculpture International Rotterdam - Beelden - Santaclaus". 2008-10-06. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
- ^ Anders Grønneberg (2018-05-31). "Historien bak "analplugg-gnomen" begynte med en fleip". Dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2019-11-15.
- ^ "Direkte: Avduking av "analplugg-gnomen"" [Live: Uncovering the "anal plug gnome"]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
See also
- Tree, an installation by McCarthy
