It Must Be Art

... If So Many People Get Hot Under The Collar
Brittney Spears didn't pose nude for sculptor Daniel Edwards. She didn't even know this was going on.
Now that the sculpture has been unveiled, it's a furore amongst the Wowser set.

US artist Daniel Edwards has described the aim of his sculpture in its title Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston.

"This is a new take on pro-life. Pro-lifers normally promote bloody images of abortion. This is the image of birth," said Edwards, quoted by AP.

Spears did not pose for the sculpture and is yet to comment on the subject.

A press release by the Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery in Brooklyn, which will display the sculpture next month, described the sculpture as showing Spears tugging on the ears of a bearskin rug "with water-retentive hands".

It said the sculpture "is purportedly an idealised depiction of Britney in delivery. Natural aspects of Spears's pregnancy, like lactiferous breasts and protruding naval, complement a posterior view that depicts widened hips for birthing and reveals the crowning of baby Sean's head".

The release said that the sculpture "celebrates the recent birth of Spears's baby boy, Sean, and applauds her decision of placing family before career".

"She was number one with Google last year, with good reason - people are inspired by the beauty of a pregnant woman," Edwards said in the release.

"A superstar at Britney's young age having a child is rare in today's celebrity culture," gallery co-director Lincoln Capla said.

"This dedication honours Britney for the rarity of her choice and bravery of her decision."

Edwards's exhibit also includes anti-abortion materials provided by the Manhattan Right To Life Committee.

The gallery denied the sculpture was developed from a rumoured bootleg Britney Spears birth video.

However AP reports that when some bloggers heard about the exhibit the gallery was inundated with about 3000 emails from around the world in just a week, offering angry opinions from all sides.

"We also got calls from Tokyo, England, France. Some people are upset that Britney is being used for this subject matter," gallery co-owner David Kesting told AP.

"Others who are pro-life thought this was degrading to their movement. And some pro-choice people were upset that this is a pro-life monument."


Edwards told AP the aim of his sculpture was to stir up debate about a difficult topic that "is greater than the issues presented by either pro-life or pro-choice advocates".

When asked whether he was absolutely against abortion, he told AP, "You nailed me. I'm not saying that I am. I wouldn't march with either pro-life or pro-choice advocates. This is not meant to be political."

You sort of wonder about a world that can work up such a steam about a sculpture featuring a nude pregnant woman. It's only art and pretty non-political art at that. It's not like it's protraying a pregnant Jesus. It's hardly blasphemous, it's only Brittney Spears, folks!

I think the work reveals a sure-handed technique from the sculptor which goes with the cool texture of the surface. The coolness in turn represents Brittney Spears as a Heideggerean shining surface of stardom/celebrity in maternity. She is authentic in her maternity itself in this moment that is portrayed.

Clearly, the bear skin rug with the bared teeth represents death and her pregnancy and imminent represents life, so the underlying synthesis is as old as a medieval painting. If anything the work seems like a hagiography of contemporary stardom.