Sculptor sparks uproar over ‘queen’s vagina’ at Versailles
Print Edition
BRITISH-INDIAN sculptor Anish Kapoor has ignited a controversy in France by installing a huge work he has called a “queen’s vagina” in the stately grounds of the Palace of Versailles.
The giant steel-and-rock abstract sculpture, resembling a funnel in the form of an orifice, is set up in the garden aimed directly at the royal chateau, which attracts 5 million tourists a year.
Kapoor, 61, has titled the work “Dirty Corner.” It is part of an exhibition of his work in the grounds of the 17th century palace that opens on Tuesday and runs until November.
The artist, who has long courted controversy, told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche a week ago that “Dirty Corner” was meant to be blatantly sexual — and regal.
It was, he said, “the vagina of a queen who is taking power.”
He didn’t say which queen he had in mind.
Some French media outlets expressed unease at the level of provocation unleashed by Kapoor.
The conservative daily Le Figaro saw the work as an effort “to use Versailles as an object of contrast between two types of art”: the contemporary style of Kapoor and the elegance of the French court.
Others came running to the artist’s defence. Les Inrocks, a youth pop culture magazine, said only a “fascist” circle of commentators was against the sculpture.
At a media conference last week, the artist seemed to step away from his description of the work on the lawns of Versailles as “the queen’s vagina.”
“I don’t remember saying it,” Kapoor told reporters, but he admitted that he had used the word “vaginas” to describe parts of the exhibition.
In any case, he said, “I don’t see why it’s problematic,” sexual organs being universal.
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