Sculpture’s location a mystery
A man has been arrested after a bizarre incident where a heavy, well-loved sculpture was stolen from the lobby of a Wellington hotel.
But despite news of the arrest, the sculpture’s whereabouts are still a mystery.
On June 21 about 5.45am, it’s alleged that a man walked into the lobby of the QT Hotel on Cable St in the capital, and stole the Daniel Campion sculpture Reality Bites 1.0.
The sculpture itself is a clear resin block weighing between 15 kilograms and 20kg. Encased in it is a pistol shooting a bullet at a skull with hundreds and thousands on it.
The piece was a nod to and comment on artist Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull, and was extremely popular with hotel guests, said Chris Parkin, the owner of Reality Bites 1.0.
Parkin is the former owner of the hotel but retained its art collection, which is on display there.
He said Reality Bites 1.0 was the most-photographed piece at the hotel. The work was valued at $3500 and insured.
‘‘We’d been displaying art in the hotel since we moved in [about] 1993. We’ve never had a piece stolen or removed,’’ he said.
On the day of the incident, a man allegedly walked into the hotel while staff ‘‘happened to be momentarily out the back’’, before grabbing the sculpture and making off with it.
Parkin said that wouldn’t have been easy due to its weight.
A police spokeswoman said that a 31-year-old man had been charged with burglary after the report of the theft was made.
He was due to appear in Wellington District Court later this month.
Parkin said he could only presume someone would have allegedly stolen the piece to on-sell it. But despite news of someone being charged, he still wasn’t aware of the whereabouts of the piece yesterday.
Police were unable to say whether the sculpture had been retrieved or not.
‘‘It was one of the favourite pieces in the hotel ... [and a] personal favourite,’’ Parkin said.