USA: Nearly-naked sculpture of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez in the works from sculptor in Connecticut

Record ID: 624781

  • Title: USA: Nearly-naked sculpture of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez in the works from sculptor in Connecticut
  • Date: 22nd August 2011
  • Summary: MOOSUP, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 19, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL EDWARDS, SCULPTOR, SAYING: "I'm actually a little surprised, I suppose that was probably part of the initial... that's certainly what the statement is about is how these teenagers grow up too fast in front of the media. So it is about that, but I guess we've seen it so often that
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVABHXZUL5MTDH461RQD1XY8UIH7
  • Story Text: Teenage mega-stars, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez soon will be bronzed, nude and available for all to see.
    Controversial Connecticut artist, Daniel Edwards, is creating a new sculpture of the teenage icons.
    "It's Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, and the title is 'Justin And Selena As One'. And basically it's a piece that's more or less about, I guess, teenage relationships, teenage romance," said Edwards.
    The romance between the Canadian Bieber, 17, and the Texas-born Gomez, 19, has been relentlessly detailed in the celebrity news tabloids.
    The sculpture, still a work in progress, will show the pair standing side by side. And that's not all the sculpture will show.
    "They are both pretty much nude, except that their pelvic region is covered. He's covered with a maple leaf. She's covered with the Texas Lone Star. And so, basically, one of the tricks to art is to kind of refer to something historical, and I picked Adam and Eve as kind of my motif," Edwards told Reuters.
    Once completed, the life-like sculpture will show Bieber's private parts covered with a Canadian Maple Leaf. Some of Gomez's naughty bits will be shielded by a Texas Lone Star.
    At the base of the sculpture that will stand about six feet tall, Edwards plans to add a Canadian goose mounted on a Texas armadillo.
    Edwards said he is a "little surprised" by the reaction he's received so far.
    "That's certainly what the statement is about is how these teenagers grow up too fast in front of the media. So it is about that, but I guess we've seen it so often that I didn't expect the public to react the way they have. And I think the fact that he's still 17, that was were a lot of the outrage seemed to be," he said.
    Because of the concerns about child pornography, Edwards said he will formally unveil the entire body of work next year when Bieber becomes an adult.
    Edwards added he just hopes Bieber and Gomez are still a couple by then.
    "I think probably I'll wait until he turns 18, just to kind of sidestep a little bit of the controversy. The piece is sculpted mostly now and I wanted to reveal it now while they are a couple because we don't know what will happen to him when he turns 18," he said.
    Edwards is no stranger to provocative celebrity art.
    His past sculptures include a naked Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug, Angelina Jolie breast-feeding her twins, a dead Paris Hilton wearing a tiara and clutching a mobile phone, and Suri Cruise's baby poop.
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