"Fountain", the work of Elsa Sahal. - Denis Amon

  • Fontaine , a sculpture by Elsa Sahal, has sparked controversy, particularly on social networks.
  • The work, which represents a female urinating sex, must be installed around August 5 in the middle of the fountain in Place Royale in Nantes.
  • The artist is surprised by this controversy and assumes "his feminist intention".

Not even installed yet, already decried. Fountain  of Elsa Sahal, representing a pissing vulva, arouses controversy on social networks. Some castigate "ugliness", but also and above all the irreverence of this 3 meter work, which should take place in the fountain of Place Royale in Nantes around August 5 as part of the Voyage to Nantes.

Originally, this work, created in 2012 and installed in the Tuileries Garden, opposite the Louvre, was not even planned for VAN 2020. "Place Royale, it must have been a huge rusty boat hull by Hugo Schiavi , says Jean Blaise, artistic director of Voyage à Nantes. But because of the confinement, the companies that were to produce this curiosity were shut down. We will see it in 2021. ”The thinking heads of the VAN then thought about“ an already existing work which could have a good royal place ”. Fountain  of Elsa Sahal, who has traveled a lot for several years, was immediately unanimous. "We absolutely did not say that we had to take a work that made buzz," annoys Jean Blaise. It is also the first time that there has been a controversy around this sculpture in pink enameled sandstone.

Elsa Sahal. - DP / 20 minutes

Elsa Sahal, trained at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, assumes "the feminist intention" of "this pissing figure, whose title is a snub to the urinal of Marcel Duchamp". "The idea of ​​this sculpture is to represent a little girl who defies established order by urinating standing like boys," she explains. The intrusion into this Place Royale is great because it will be surrounded by little boys who adorn the sculpture and who are also naked. She says she is "surprised by the timing of the controversy" because her sculpture has still not been installed.

Each year, works by VAN react

"I did not do it in a provocative approach, but rather in a humor approach," observes the artist, who regrets the magnifying mirror of social networks. It is a joyful and funny sculpture. There is nothing child pornography. You have to have a lot of imagination to detect that. By way of comparison, the famous Manneken Pis, a statue which represents a boy who urinates standing with sex in his hand, is part of the artistic history of Belgium.

The Manneken Pis. - Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

Jean Blaise obviously does not regret his choice. “Almost every edition, there are reactions to a work. When wolves had taken up their summer quarters in the moats of the Castle of the Dukes in 2009, this had provoked violent reactions from animal advocates. "In the public space, all the works are delivered to the judgments of all passers-by," concludes the artistic director of VAN. The artists disturb the public space in Nantes and that's good. "

Nantes

Nantes: Which perfume best represents the city? It will be up to you to vote

Nantes

Nantes: The giant boots of the Cantine du Voyage are successful

  • Feminism
  • Culture
  • Trip to Nantes
  • Work of art
  • Nantes