Kanye West may fancy himself a God, and he might be ensured a trip to heaven for making “Jesus Walks” but one artist thinks the man is a False Idol and wants everybody in Los Angeles to know it. An LA based artist named Plastic Jesus, has erected a statue of Kanye West as Jesus on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue for the incoming Oscars crowd to see in all it’s glory.
Decked out in a gold chain with a Jesus piece, and a pair of Pirate Black Yeezy 350 boosts, the statue stands on an alter that reads “False Idol” in Kanye’s trademark Old English font. Plastic Jesus is renown for the statue of an Oscar award on all fours, snorting a line of cocaine in 2015. He put together the Kanye piece in conjunction with a Las Vegas-based artist named Ginger who is responsible for the naked statues of Donald Trump that have surfaced in Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Cleveland and Los Angeles in August.
According to Plastic Jesus, the statue is a commentary on society as a whole as much as it’s about Kanye West. “He’s a genius at writing and producing but he’s not a God, and that’s where we put him. Until there’s an issue in his life or a hiccup in his career, then we crucify him,” the artist told The Hollywood Reporter.
He considers himself a fan of Yeezy, but clearly doesn’t like the way he’s hailed or tore down at a moment’s notice. “The same people who put him into a God-like place are the same yapping at his heels for a piece of flesh when something happens,” he said. “The piece is intended to be as critical of us as consumers and the media as it is of Kanye himself. We’ve created this idol from somebody who is clearly talented.”
Check out a few pictures of the statue below, and if you’re in the Los Angeles area it’ll be on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue until Plastic Jesus moves it to Gibson Brands in the former Tower Records space on Sunset Boulevard for his February 25 art show with Billy Morrison titled, “Anesthesia: The Art of Oblivion.” Find out more about the artist at his website.
