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Spears sculpture on display next month

(AP)
2006-03-29 10:32

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" — 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.