''David (inspired by Michelangelo)'' is a sculpture by Turkish conceptual artist

Serkan Özkaya Serkan Özkaya (born 1973) is a Turkish and American conceptual artist whose work deals with topics of Appropriation (art), appropriation and reproduction. He typically operates outside of traditional art spaces and often makes multiple versions o ...

. It is a reproduction of Michelangelo's ''David'' made of gold-painted foam, twice the size of the original, and based on a computer model by

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

professor

Marc Levoy Marc Stewart Levoy is a computer graphics researcher and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, a vice president and Fellow at Adobe Inc., and (until 2020) a Distinguished Engineer at Google. He ...

. It was originally created for the 9th International

Istanbul Biennial The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Istanbul Biennial p ...

in 2005, and took six people six months to build, but it collapsed during installation. The statue was restored and two copies were cast at a workshop in the Turkish city of

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

. One of them will be displayed at a park in Eskişehir. The other was acquired by the 21c Museum Hotel in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, and was transported, lying on its side on a truck trailer, into

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in March 2011 for a presentation at the Storefront for Art and Architecture before continuing on to its permanent location in Louisville."Louisville residents react to giant, gold David statue"
,

WHAS-TV WHAS-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on West Chestnut Street in Downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in rur ...

, May 2, 2012. The sculpture is a subject of a 2010 film by Danila Cahen, ''Friendly Enemies'', and of a 2011 book, ''Rise and Fall and Rise of David (inspired by Michelangelo)''.

References

External links

* Storefront for Art and Architecturebr>publication
regarding the sculpture's arrival in the U.S. 2005 sculptures Polystyrene sculptures Statues in Kentucky Outdoor sculptures in Louisville, Kentucky {{US-sculpture-stub