Brassy bull vs. gutsy girl: There’s war on Wall Street
Creator of the New York City icon is seeing red over the gender-diversity upstart
Charging Bull is ready to rumble with Fearless Girl.
The sculptor who created the iconic Charging Bull statue in New York City’s financial district says the city and an investment company violated his rights by installing the newly popular Fearless Girl near his creation without permission for what amounts to a commercial ad campaign.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Manhattan, Arturo Di Modica, 76, said he installed the bull in front of the New York Stock Exchange in 1987 as a symbol of America’s resilience after the stock market crash that year. The city later relocated the sculpture to a small public park nearby.
“The bull represents strength,” Di Modica said. “The strength of America, the strength of the market.” In the years since, Charging
Bull has become one of the city ’s most popular attractions, drawing tourists from all over the world.
Fearless Girl, with hands confidently placed on hips, was installed in front of the bull on the eve of last month’s annual commemorations of International Women’s Day.
“What they did, it’s a negative. Now, the message is: ‘I’m here. What are you going to do?’ ” Charging Bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica, on the symbolism of the newly popular Fearless Girl and its placement near his creation
Boston-based State Street Global Advisors has said it commissioned the artwork as part of its call on behalf of the more than 3,500 companies that benefit from its clients’ investments to ensure that corporate governing boards feature diversity.
Created by artist Kristen Visbal, the new sculpture virtually overnight became a symbol of a lack of gender diversity and equality on Wall Street and in workplaces across the USA.
Now, along with flocking to Di Modica’s creation, tourists vie to take selfies with Fearless Girl and other photos that showcase the young beauty staring down the beast. A petition from change.org attracted thousands of signatures that asked for Fear
less Girl to remain permanently. By March 27, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed that
Fearless Girl would remain on Department of Transportation property as a part of a municipal art program through February 2018.
Many hailed the announcement. But not Di Modica. He argued that Fearless Girl was part of an advertising campaign that altered the artistic message behind Charging Bull without his permission. Additionally, his attorneys said the new sculpture infringed on a trademark and copyright held by Di Modica.
“What they did, it’s a negative,” Di Modica said. Now, Fearless Girl’s message is “I’m here. What are you going to do?” Attorneys for Di Modica said a plaque initially placed with
Fearless Girl demonstrated the commercial nature of the new installation. The plaque stated: “Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.” The “she” in the message referred to the financial trading symbol for a State Street Global Advisors exchange-traded fund.
By positioning one sculpture near the other, everything changes, to Di Modica’s detriment, said attorney Norman Siegel, former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“The statue of the young girl becomes the Fearless Girl only because of the Charging Bull: The work is incomplete without Mr. Di Modica’s Charging Bull, and as such it constitutes a derivative work,” Siegel and other attorneys wrote in a letter Tuesday to Ronald O’Hanley, president and CEO of the investment firm.
Similar letters went to de Blasio and McCann Worldwide, the company lawyers said developed an ad campaign for Fearless Girl.
State Street Global Advisors spokeswoman Anne McNally said the company was reviewing the letter from Di Modica’s attorneys. The company thanked New York City residents and “people around the world who have responded so enthusiastically to what the Fearless Girl represents — the power and potential of having more women in leadership.”
Representatives of the mayor’s office and ad company did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. But a tweet Wednesday mornnig from de Blasio’s official Twitter account said: “Men who don’t like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl.” Hours later, de Blasio tweeted: “We wouldn't move the Charging Bull statue if it offended someone. The Fearless Girl is staying put.”
Siegel said Di Modica seeks an “amicable” solution in which
Fearless Girl is moved and Charging Bull’s creator is paid damages. The attorney acknowledged, however, that the controversy could end up in court.
Siegel took pains to avoid criticizing Fearless Girl as a symbol of women’s rights. “None of us here today are not in any way opponents of gender rights,” he said.
Di Modica has long been zealous in protecting his taurine creation. In 2009, he sued publisher Random House and the authors of a book about the collapse of Lehman Brothers, alleging that an image of the bull on the book’s cover infringed on his copyright. The case was settled in 2010. Di Modica filed a similar case in 2006 against Walmart, the parent company of North Fork Bank and others. That case, which accused the companies of improperly using the bull image, also was settled.