Mustang sculpture controversy rears up
1/28/2009 - 4:16pm
The official city of Denver photograph of Mustang, the sculpture by well-known, and now dead, artist Luis Jimenez.
For those of you who find that fiery-eyed blue Mustang sculpture at Denver International Airport disturbing, here's a website for you.
"Is anyone else as mortified and offended by DIA's 32 foot fiendish blue 'Mustang' statue as I am?" the creator asks while soliciting participants to offer submissions for the "Heinous Blue Mustang Haiku Challenge." The entries will be sent to the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs on Saturday. There's a lively discussion going on on the website, and it seems to be attracting a cult following. The statue has a reputation, in part because the creator, Luis Jimenez, was killed in 2006 when the torso piece swung out of control and fell on him in his studio.
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Blue Horse
Luis Jimenez is a great American artist. We are lucky to have one
of his sculptures. His artistic decisions should not have to be justified, but the criticisms of his Blue Mustang sculpture warrant defensive comments.
Some people object to the horse's red eyes - they say the red eyes look angry or demonic. First of all,I see "two red demonic eyes" every time I see the back of a car!(red tail lights) We could interpret the two red eyes as symbolic of the changes in transportation from horses to motorized vehicles. Secondly, wild horses have every right to be angry - look at what has happened to their habitat! They are slaughtered for dog food. Also, red is an appropriate choice for the eye color because radio/tv towers have red lights to warn pilots. This tall sculpture was designed for the airport.
Some people object to the blue color of the horse. Deep blue is the color of the Colorado sky (which is where airplanes fly),
and reflects the color of the distant mountains. This is not the first blue animal in western iconography - remember "Babe the Blue Ox" ? Should we "relocate" all books with Paul Bunyan stories?
Some people object to the horse's pose. The Blue Mustang's standing pose connotes power, strength, the will to "stand up and fight" for what's innately right. Mustangs are entitled to be
here. Mustangs were in Colorado long before Rachel Hutlin emerged. No one seems to object to the Denver Bronco's statue of a standing horse with its reproductive organ sticking out at Mile High Stadium.
Narrow-minded, unimaginative people who can't understand artistic/abstract references should be told - if public art becomes so bland that it would offend no one, then public art would be (ironically) terribly objectionable!