An art exhibit featuring a realistic, half-size sculpture of President Donald Trump sporting an orange jumpsuit while strapped to a cross-shaped execution gurney is on display in Switzerland this month.
The sculpture by British artist Mason Storm, titled “Saint or Sinner?,” depicts Trump tied to the cross with his eyes closed and head tilted to the right, as if he just underwent a lethal injection.
The work, which was displayed earlier this year in Vienna, Austria, has been featured by the Gleis 4 gallery in Basel since Saturday and will be shown in the northern Swiss city until mid-November, according to the Agence France Presse.
The sculpture was reportedly originally slated to be installed in September at the gallery’s more public space in Basel’s central train station, but concerns about backlash led to its installation along the Basler Kunstmeile, a pedestrian walkway in the city center.
Storm, an anonymous London-based artist who hides his identity behind masks and balaclavas he designs, posted about the work on his Instagram, which describes him as “the artist people love to love and love to hate, international Bon viveur pusher of pigment and a doer of deeds.”
Storm suggested the message of his Trump piece was intentionally ambiguous and encouraged the public to make their own decision about what it depicts.
“Half life size Donny Trump, probably the most decisive politicians of the modern era, or past for that matter. Despised by some beloved by others, so is he a saint on a cross or a sinner on the lethal injection gurney? You decide,” he wrote.
Konrad Breznik, who owns the Basel gallery displaying the sculpture, told the AFP that he found the work frightening.
“It is scary realistic,” he said. “When we installed it, we came that close, and you would see every wrinkle and the skin is so realistic, it’s really scary.”
Breznik also claimed that he believes Trump would appreciate the sculpture, which has reportedly already drawn the attention of thousands of passersby.
“I do absolutely think that Mr. Trump might see himself very well in the role of a modern Jesus,” he told AFP. “I’m pretty sure he is very much convinced that he is doing the right thing.”
A Norwegian woman named Marit, who spoke to AFP after seeing the sculpture, said she saw it as “a sign that we have democracy … that we are allowed to show things like this.”
“I don’t think so, no,” she added when asked if she believed such a work could be displayed in the United States.
The sculpture depicting an apparently executed Trump comes after he has fielded two near-assassination attempts.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
