This was some very public art.
A statue of a completely naked Donald Trump drew a crowd to the south side of Union Square Park after mysteriously appearing Thursday morning.
The full-frontal sculpture of the Republican presidential candidate, which was glued to the cobblestones with epoxy, stood for two hours before being removed by the Parks Department around 1:20 p.m. The statue featured such realistic details as an orange comb-over, flesh-colored skin, veins and a protruding belly. It was one of five replicas installed in cities around the country.
INDECLINE, which called the statue "The Emperor Has No Balls" in a plaque at its base, released a statement Thursday saying, "Unlike the statues, it’s our hope that Donald Trump, our modern day Emperor of Fascism and Bigotry is never installed in the most powerful political and military position in the world."
"These fleeting installations represent this fleeting nightmare, and in the fall, it is our wish to look back and laugh at Donald Trump’s failed and delusional quest to obtain the presidency," they added.
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While the sculpture shocked some passersby, dozens stopped to make jokes, take selfies and flip their middle fingers at The Donald's image.
"It looks likes Brian Dennehy and Donald Trump had a love child and fed it only sodium for a month," said actor Jake Mann, 27, who had come to Union Square Park to catch virtual Pokémon on his smartphone.
"I caught a piece of New York City history instead," he said.
New School student Petra Jarrar, 19, came to visit the sculpture after seeing a live feed of it on Facebook.
"This is art at its finest," she said, remarking on the power of artists to reach younger generations with pointed criticism of political figures.
(DNAinfo/Kathleen Culliton)
INDECLINE describes itself as an "activist collective" and has also taken credit for such as stunts as creating the largest piece of illegal graffiti in the world, and spray painting an anti-Trump mural on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Copies of the statue also popped up in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Capitol Hill district in Seattle, and the Castro District in San Francisco Thursday.
The statue is not the first public art installation in New York City connected to the real estate magnate running for the country's highest office: a hut inspired by his golden mane took root in Red Hook in July.
The naked Trump statue was removed several hours after it appeared in Union Square Park by City Parks Department workers at around 1:20 p.m.
Hours later, Parks Department spokesman Sam Biederman issued a statement to clarify why the full-frontal replica had been removed.
"NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small."
