This Sculpture Was Just Too Sexy for the Louvre

By Andrew Daniels

I’ve never been to the Louvre, but based on my rudimentary knowledge of the world’s most legendary art museum—what I’ve pieced together from The Da Vinci Code, basically—it’s reasonable to say that, like most things in Paris, it’s pretty pretentious. And that’s fine! I think when you literally house the Mona Lisa, you’re allowed to be a bit of a dick sometimes, because I’d be on edge if I had to keep that thing at my place.

But the folks who run the Louvre evidently have no chill, because they just pulled a massive installation on the eve of its debut on account of it depicting, well, two buildings fucking.

The suggestive piece in question is “Domestikator,” from the Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout, whose other provocative works include the Asshole Barand Bikini Bar.

The piece was to sit in the Louvre’s Tuileries Gardens as part of a public art program beginning October 19, but the museum’s director, Jean-Luc Martinez, just pulled the plug because “it risks being misunderstood by visitors to the gardens.” Plus, the 40-foot-high sculpture sits mighty close to a playground, which could get dicey.

Predictably, the provocateurs behind the sculpture are pissed. “The piece itself, it’s not really very explicit,” the collective’s founder, Joep Van Lieshout, told the New York Times. “It’s a very abstracted shape. There are no genitals; it’s pretty innocent.” (After close inspection, I can indeed confirm that there’s nary a penis to be found. Just some good ol’ architectural doggystyle.)

“Domestikator” has been on display at the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum, Germany for the last three years, where it’s symbolized “the power of humanity over the world and its hypocritical approach to nature,” according to a spokesperson for the Carpenters Workshop, the gallery that reps Atelier Van Lieshout.

No word yet on its next resting spot, but I will gladly host it in my backyard, because Iappreciate good art.