Historic Statue or Modern Art? Town Divided Over Bizarre Restoration Gone Wild
The statue in question was originally unveiled in 1923 and has adorned part of the facade of a local bank ever since. But what was once an admittedly old carving in need of professional restoration is now something else entirely: a melted face with a lump for a nose, open mouth, and bizarrely placed eyes. Indeed, some are referring to the botched job as a “potato head.”
“It looks like the head of a cartoon character,” local artist Antonio Guzmán Capel wrote. He also published photos of the disaster online — which have since gone viral.
FacebookLocals and experts alike are flabbergasted as to why those in charge would hire amateurs.
With the statue rendered nearly unrecognizable, Capel’s post has drawn local anger and online ridicule. Capel told NDTV that it is not the artist who accepted a potentially lucrative job that is at fault, but rather those who commissioned that artist in the first place.
“I don’t understand why they allow it,” he said. “It doesn’t seem normal to me.”
Unfortunately for the commissioners, it isn’t just local townsfolk and virtual onlookers with no artistic expertise who are angered by the shoddy job. Having gone viral online, Spain’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators (ACRE) have chimed in as well, tweeting:
“THIS #IsNotARestoration. It’s a NON-professional intervention.”
According to CNN, Capel lives right across the street from this disfigured statue and he said that crowds have gathered there on a daily basis to gawk at the desecrated piece.
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