Like her, it stood in defiance, albeit briefly.
But it was in defiance of “Fearless Girl’s” powerful stance for women’s equality in the corporate world that a pissing dog statue stood with one leg lifted to urinate on her.
Angry that the “Fearless Girl” is a semi-permanent sculpture-in-residence to stare down the famous Wall Street bull in the Financial District, New York sculptor Alex Gardega fought back by placing a work of his own at her feet on Monday for about three hours.
Gardega intentionally made his misshapen dog sculpture “crappy” to “downgrade” “Fearless Girl,” he told the New York Post, “exactly how the girl is a downgrade to the bull.” Some outlets report the statue is called the “Pissing Pug,” while others call it “Sketchy Dog.”
The girl, Gardega said, “has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull,” he said.
Countless city officials, both male and female, disagree and extended the “Fearless Girl” installation through February 2018 back in March, just weeks after she was put up to commemorate International Women’s Day.
“I have been profoundly struck by what this statue means to girls and women,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said when the extension was announced, adding that she “spoke to the moment and history” of women’s empowerment now more than ever as women’s rights feel threatened.
Despite her empowering message for women, Arturo Di Modica, sculptor of the “Charging Bull” the “Fearless Girl” stares down, is suing State Street Global Advisors, the Boston-based financial company that commissioned the statue from Kristen Visbal, for trademark and copyright infringement.
While State Street did not comment on the dog sculpture, a spokesperson did tell Metro that it continues “to be grateful to the countless people around the world who continue to responded so enthusiastically to what the ‘Fearless Girl’ represents — the power and potential of having more women in leadership. ‘Fearless Girl’ was created to stand as a reminder that having more women in leadership positions positively contributes to overall performance and strengthens our economy.”
But Gardega said their sculpture has a different meaning.
“‘Fearless Girl’ was not made by some individual artist making a statement,” Gardega told NBC News. “It was made by a billion dollar financial firm trying to promote an index fund. It is advertising/promotion in the guise of art. That was my only point.”
the worst part about the pissing pug statue is that that shit DOES NOT even look like a pug
— Rikky! Rikki! Rikkè! (@rwxoxo) May 30, 2017
@datnofact It’s a joke statue peeing on a corporate statue designed to get tourists to be re-interested in the Bull. They always complain. #PissingPug
— The Evangelist✖️ (@ThEVANGELIST666) May 30, 2017
@Amy_Siskind @cantdance2it Frankly I think the pissing pug would look better situated up the artist’s bum. Freedom of expression on my part.
— Jim (@JMODERATE) May 30, 2017
@adamslassiter @FortuneMagazine Raging Bull = Artist funded. Pissing Pug = Artist funded. Fearless Girl = Corporately funded.
— John L. Cole ?? (@TheDuke1787) May 30, 2017
The whole Charging Bull/Fearless Girl/Pissing Pug shit is ridiculous. Art has different interpretations and no one will agree on one message
— Regular Kyle (@AnotherBodega) May 30, 2017
