UPDATED September 14 5:06 p.m.: First, they appeared in major U.S. cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle: not-so-flattering statues of presidential hopeful Donald Trump standing tall, proud and naked.
But now Wynwood has been added to that list, with one of Trump’s au natural facsimiles appearing Wednesday morning perched atop a neighborhood billboard. And as it turns out, developer Moishe Mana was reportedly behind it.
According to the Miami New Times, art collective INDECLINE — the same group that was responsible for the other Trump statues nationwide — took credit for this latest display in Wynwood.
The group said in a statement to the New Times that Mana Wynwood asked them to install the statue here, as well as one at the developer’s sprawling art campus in New Jersey.
A further-back view of the statue
“As an arts institution and privately-owned business, we feel responsible for bringing attention to Mr. Trump’s dangerous rhetoric,” Mana Group President Eugene Lemay said in a statement to The Real Deal. “We are doing what we can to communicate our values.”
Mana regularly slams the Trump campaign on his personal Facebook page and recently tried to goad the presidential candidate into revealing his tax returns by promising a $2 million donation to charity in exchange.
The Wynwood Trump statue sits atop a billboard jutting out of the neighborhood’s former RC Cola factory, which is managed by the SWARM event production company. According to the New Times, SWARM CEO Tony Albelo has no plans to take it down in the near future, despite not being involved in its placement.
However, other news outlets are reporting that Miami police officers have asked the property owner to remove because it’s a possible safety hazard. The plan is to move the statue closer to Wynwood’s famed Wynwood Walls gallery on Northwest Second Avenue, according to Local 10 News. [Miami New Times / Local 10 News] — Sean Stewart-Muniz