For those of you thinking past Halloween, those who've stopped debating whether to go as Balloon Boy or Octomom, people who are moving on to decorating the house for Christmas, here's something that will certainly make your home stand out in the neighborhood's annual "Parade of Lights".
Photo: F. Eveleens
"Santa Claus with a Buttplug" by Paul McCarthy
It's a 20-foot tall Santa, and that's not an ice cream cone he's holding.
The sculpture, by American artist Paul McCarthy, is referred to as "Gnome butt-plug".
Any bets some NEA money was involved?
The sculpture has been around for a few years, starting at a museum in Rotterdam.
Here's a video of it arriving in 2008.
Go in about a minute and a half to see it pass by on a flatbed truck.
However, the Dutch, who reportedly paid $420,000 for the provocative lawn decoration, didn't know what to do with it once they learned it was actually a very bad Santa. Reports claim it ended up inside museum walls.
So, naturally, the statue came home to America, where gnomes holding butt plugs are nothing new. It has went on display last spring on the front lawn of the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, Connecticut.
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT HAS BEEN DISPLAYING A SANTA HOLDING A...THINGY? Money does not necessarily equal taste, though you could argue the rich do occasionally have a great sense of humor.
The art center is owned by modern art addict Peter Brant, who made his fortune manufacturing paper (not unlike the U.S. Treasury these days). But Brant is no Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin. His gallery displays multimillion dollar works from artists like his old pal Andy Warhol.
The current show—with the Santa/Gnome/Sex toy—runs through February, long after everyone else has taken down their Christmas decorations for the season.
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