A life-size sculpture of a naked Britney Spears kneeling on a bearskin rug as
she gives birth will be on display next month at Brooklyn's Capla Kesting Fine
Art gallery.
The sculpture is
to appear next to a display case filled with anti-abortion materials. It was
created by Daniel Edwards, who said he never spoke to the 24-year-old pop star
or met her, and fashioned her face and figure from photographs.
"I admire her. This is an idealized figure," Edwards said Tuesday in a phone
interview from his home, which is near his studio in Moosup, Conn.
"Everyone is coming at me with anger and venom, but I depicted her as she
has depicted herself - seductively. Suddenly, she's a mom."
Spears, who is married to her former backup dancer Kevin Federline, gave
birth to their son, Sean Preston, last year. He is the couple's first child.
The singer's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment from The Associated Press.
When some bloggers heard about the exhibit -"Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth
of Sean Preston" ¡ª the gallery said it received about 3,000 e-mails from around
the world in just a week, split between anti-abortion and abortion rights
opinions.
"We also got calls from Tokyo, England, France. Some people are upset that
Britney is being used for this subject matter," said gallery co-owner David
Kesting. "Others who are pro-life thought this was degrading to their movement.
And some pro-choice people were upset that this is a pro-life monument."
The gallery, located in Brooklyn's artsy Williamsburg neighborhood, said it
would hire extra security guards for the free exhibit, which will open April 7
and run for two weeks.