UPPER EAST SIDE — He's definitely eating his "Tweeties."
A life-sized statue of a bronze-faced President Donald Trump with his hand stuffed inside a faux-Wheaties box appeared on the edge of Central Park this week, courtesy of the artist behind a controversial parody piece that took aim at Lower Manhattan's "Fearless Girl" statue.
"Trumpsy" portrays the commander-in-chief as a street artist, dressed in a rumpled suit and wingtip shoes, selling sketches of everyone from Russian President Vladimir Putin to morning show host Mika Brzezinski.
Upper East Side Alex Gardega — who made headlines for his "Pissing Pug" statue featuring a dog urinating on the "Fearless Girl" — installed the piece Wednesday morning on a bench in front of Central Park at East 76th Street. (The pug also makes an appearance, lifting its leg at a pencil portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that "Trumpsy" is trying to sell for $10.)
"I thought to myself, 'If Trump was a street artist, what would he do?'" the 48-year-old artist told DNAinfo New York. "It's neither an anti-Trump or pro-Trump thing. The world is getting so dark and crazy, and on Facebook people are cursing. What if, in middle of all the chaos, there was a guy smiling, feeding pigeons and relaxing?"
The "Tweeties" he's feeding to a group of unfortunate pigeons below is meant as a comment on the media's obsession with his social media habits.
A fan poses with Trumpsy (Credit: Alex Gardega)Gardega chose the Central Park block because he wanted a "feeding-the-pigeons element" and knew that a ton of tourists walk there on their way to and from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
However, he removed the statue later in the day Wednesday so it wouldn't get destroyed or kicked, like the "Pissing Pug" did, but he has plans to bring it back it early next week.
He hopes people grasp the silliness of the sculpture — a point he thinks was missed with the "Pissing Pug."
"I've gotten hate mail from around the world [about the pug]," he explained. "People totally misunderstood the point. It was about how 'Fearless Girl' was corporate fake art. I wanted to make this one Disney-esque, fun and light. People just need to take a breather."
Gardega, who has has worked a professional artist for 25 years, is primarily a classical painter, glass artist and illustrator. He designed the glass elevator panels at the Chrysler Building and his work has been featured in the Museum of Berlin and the Museum of Natural History, he said.
He said his next piece will feature Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"I think he sleeps a little too much," the artist said.
