Charlie Smith
A STATUE of the Spanish king that the buyer ‘must burn’ has gone on sale for €200,000 in Madrid.
Whoever buys the 4.5m-tall royal effigy will be forced to sign a contract committing them to burn it within 12 months.
The piece, titled ‘Ninot’, is described as a ‘hyperrealistic’ depiction of King Felipe VI of Spain.
It is currently being displayed at the 38th Contemporary Art Fair at Ifema in the capital.
The towering statue features the Spanish monarch in a blue suit and gallery staff even periodically spray it with Hugo Boss ‘Dark Blue’ cologne.
An internal structure of polyurethane, cardboard and fabric inside the king’s body will reveal a skull protected by fireproof material, once it is set alight.
Once the burning is carried out, in a ‘in a private and legal place,’ the owner will only get to keep the rights to the video of the event.
Santiago Sierra and Eugenio Merino, both known for their controversial art, are behind Ninot.
Sierra said he intended to represent ‘what Trump lacks, his head,’ with Ninot, and joked that he hoped his critics ‘would not hit him’.
Previous edgy art by the pair includes a statue of General Franco in a Coca Cola fridge (Always Franco, Merino, 2012) and a video work of black and white people having anal sex (The Penetrated, Sierra, 2008).
