Hollywood Goddess Gazebo
Hollywood, California
Spectacles abound in Hollywood -- just try driving by Graumann's Chinese Theater during a movie premiere. One permanent fixture for the tourists at any hour is a sculptured quartet of statues in a gazebo marking the west end of Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Gaudy (even by Hollywood standards) silver statues of four screen legend actresses support a stumpy Eiffel Tower-like gazebo with their heads. The tower grillwork is labeled with stacked "HOLLYWOOD" lettering on each side.
The four silver stars, shapely figures filling gowns fit for an Academy Awards ceremony, are: Dolores Del Rio, Dorothy Dandridge, Mae West, and Anna May Wong. Their blank eyes and bodies-as-pillars perhaps are a tribute to classical Greek sculpture, such as the porch roof-supporting Erechtheion statues at the Acropolis.
But more likely it's a tribute to award statuettes.
Some LA residents consider this particular piece of public art "hideous;" for instance, the guy who pointed it out to us -- Scott Michaels of Dearly Departed Tours. Scott knows and loves his kitschy Hollywood landmarks, but this one makes his eye twitch violently.
