The ball’s in the Brighton City Council’s court after the city’s arts commission recommended leaving the much-beleaguered Ugly Naked Guy statue at the entrance of the downtown Mill Pond after the council voted to move it.
What will happen next?
The statue of a misshapen and sexually ambiguous man, created by artist Jay Holland and officially known as “Decision Pending,” has become both a part of the fabric of Brighton’s downtown, as well as a lightning rod for controversy (which seems to describe a pretty successful piece of art, if you ask me).
There’s been much political huffing and puffing, with one former city council member maintaining the statue is insulting because of its proximity to a veteran’s memorial, another former council member mounting a petition drive to keep it, a majority of the current city council voting to move it, and the city’s arts commission digging in its heels, recommending that it stays right where it is.
A creative entrepreneur believes he’s come up with the perfect solution to the dust-up: Safe Art Tags, or SATs, as they’re also known.
The SATs come in a variety of sizes and are coated on the backside with an industrial adhesive to keep them firmly in place to cover up whatever parts of artwork governmental officials find offensive.
We’ve included two examples of how well the SATs work with some famous pieces of art: the statue of Venus De Milo, as well as a panel from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. And, of course, the Ugly Naked Guy, sporting a yellow SAT.
For more information, you can call 1 (800) 723-3278. That’s 1 (800) SAFEART.
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