Gold Weinstein statue takes a dig at Hollywood’s dark side

Days before the 90th Academy Awards ceremony, a silk robeswaddled golden statue of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, holding an Oscar and sitting on a golden chaise couch was erected, on Thursday, near the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The statue, called Casting Couch, is a collaboration between street artists Plastic Jesus, popularly known for his yearly Oscar season installations that take aim at the dark side of show business, and Joshua “Ginger” Monroe, the artist behind the well-known naked Donald Trump statues. Clenched in Weinstein’s right hand is an Oscar sculpture, intentionally placed near his groin. According to the artists, the sculpture took almost two months to be crafted.

Jesus tweeted, “Harvey Weinstein became an icon in the entertainment industry. His power and influence was almost without compare. Whilst many thought casting couch was a thing of the past, it was clearly still a part of the Hollywood culture.”

The Hollywood Reporter quoted Ginger, who has said, “The whole couch and the entire image it gives off was, to me, a visual representation of the practices and methods that are used in Hollywood with these big, powerful people. To be able to knock the monster down a peg and poke fun and ridicule. it helps remove its power. As (author) Mark Twain once said, ‘Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand,” he added.

PHOTO: LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS Artist Plastic Jesus sits beside his statue of Harvey Weinstein, titled Casting Couch, on Hollywood Boulevard