Serves him right. This sculptor thought he could cash in on the Charlie Kirk frenzy, but it backfired on him — now he’s left holding the bag.
A New York sculptor has been left furious after spending $100,000 of his own money to build a lifesize statue of Charlie Kirk, only to find that no one wants to buy it.
Sergio Furnari, originally from Italy, had hoped the statue of the deceased far-right activist, which he intends to display in Times Square, would raise “millions” of dollars. Instead, he said he has been inundated by messages from people saying they intend to urinate on the sculpture.
Not only do they want to piss on it because Kirk’s reputation is in the toilet, but man, that is one ugly-ass statue.
“I wasn’t a fan of Charlie,” he said. “Like one thing that I couldn’t stand about him while he was alive [was] when he was talking about Palestine. [Kirk would say]: ‘Oh no, Palestine doesn’t exist.’ I thought: ‘Well, this guy must be out of his mind.’”
Instead, Furnari said he made the statue in an effort to “glorify and to exercise the first amendment, this freedom of speech” – although at points during the conversation, Furnari also said he made it to support Charlie Kirk’s wife; to “glorify democracy”; and to “commemorate a person”.
Sergio Furnari with his statue of Charlie Kirk. Photograph: Sergio Furnari
He later added: “Why am I making the statue? The same reason why Michelangelo did the Pietà, or Michelangelo did the David, or Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. Why? Just to commemorate a moment, you know, a person.”
Right, it’s all the same reason: to make money. He thought it would be lots of money, but it turns out to be negative numbers of money.
Until then, Furnari is left with a 6ft 4in statue of a renowned racist, which he has spent $100,000 making, and which no one wants to buy. Maybe it is cursed after all.
Nice summary. That should be how we remember Kirk — as a big ol’ racist.
How to make money on a Charlie Kirk statue? I wonder…
Get the neck fountain working. Make it sound like it’s singing that “We are Charlie Kirk” song. Fill the thing with arcade lights and gizmos that make exciting noises on contact. Have people pay for target practice.
Ha Ha!
The face is too big for the head size.
Let’s talk about wasting money.
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I will buy it for $5. I’d offer more, but I need to keep some money on hand to convert it into a lawn sprinkler.
“glorify and to exercise the first amendment, this freedom of speech” – the first and second amendments have been so damaging to America.
Mother Jones – Stupid-Looking Statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest Comes Down in Nashville (2021)
From September of last year: “Representative Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth said efforts should go further, with Kirk statues erected across universities statewide. He said on X that his first bill of the 90th legislative session will involve erecting a statue on the University of Texas-Austin campus.” — https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-statue-colleges-universities-texas-2131530
No wonder Furnari expected a market.
Speaking as someone who doesn’t believe in curses: that statue is absolutely cursed.
So Furnari was exploiting the exploiter. He’s missing a golden opportunity and he already has an audience for it: set it up in a private space…a bathroom if you will…and charge people to piss on it. A testament to free speech and capitalism at the same time.
His expression says he just shit his pants in the middle of his speech and he doesn’t know how to gracefully get off stage.
Needs a hole in the neck.
Why do Free Speech Enthusiasts always pick the worst examples as avatars for their argument?
Given hardcore conservatives typically couldn’t handle her unabashed atheism, I wonder what Kirk’s views on Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead were.
It’s sad to see perfectly good bronze going to waste!
Can’t help but feel a bit unsettled just looking at that as an object, even setting the subject’s history or sculptor’s demi-grift aside.
indianajones @13:
It’s a refuge of those who’d say the otherwise indefensible, like cranks and fascists. An avatar with higher standards would have merits it could argue instead.
RightWingWatch – The Alt-Right is not pro-free speech (2018)