Clown in a Tutu
Venice, California
Venice, California is a town of contradictions. Watching a disheveled man you swear is homeless get into a $70,000 car and drive off is simply one of a thousand unsettling details. On the beach there are two freak shows -- one you pay admission for, and one you get to see for free -- by walking down the ocean promenade.
Main Street in Venice offers the whimsical Binoculars building, and the you-call-that-whimsical, I'll-show-you-whimsical Clown in a Dress. It's a ballerina in a tutu on one toe, wearing over-sized white gloves and a red-nosed clown head with hat. Sculptor Jonathan Borofsky's creation is three stories tall, standing on a large crate above the entrance to a CVS Pharmacy.
Perhaps it's in the tradition of the martini-tipping pink elephant? "I'm seeing things -- time for more medicine."
CVS is likely a relatively new tenant. The clown was created in 1988 with aluminum, steel and painted fiberglass. Borofsky's intent was to capture the festive street performer mashed up with a "formal classical ballet dancer." There's an electric motor that once made the right leg execute a slow kick, but it wasn't performing when we came by.
