Zuck erected a sculpture of his wife. Here’s what the Bay Area art world says about it

Do you ever feel like you don’t understand art? That’s OK. We’re not sure Mark Zuckerberg does either. 

Last week via Instagram, the platform’s owner proudly revealed a seven-foot-tall turquoise and chrome sculpture in the likeness of his wife, Priscilla Chan, placed in his backyard. 

“​​Bringing back the Roman tradition of making sculptures of your wife,” Zuckerberg announced to his 14.5 million followers. 

The sculpture is by Daniel Arsham, a New York-based sculptor who makes everything from giant Pokemon cards to NFTs of Porsches. His work has been featured at some of the most acclaimed museums and galleries in the world. (Last month, he was also accused of violating federal law for firing an employee who supported a workers union, according to a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board. But that’s another story.)

So what of his latest work for the Zuckerberg-Chan family? Is it kitschy? Elegant? Ironic? Inspired? The Standard asked several esteemed Bay Area curators, gallery owners, critics and professors for their takes on the billionaire’s commission. 

And below, we ask our readers: What do you think?

It’s tempting to dismiss the sculpture as Las Vegas kitsch, an Avatar-inspired character, or some kind of riff on the green patina of the Statue of Liberty. But it is what it is — an expensive Zuckerberg-commissioned bauble by a vetted artist. It’s interesting to consider it as an insight into the tech guy’s taste and psyche. 

Daniel Arsham is one of those big guy artists, a kind of younger, lesser-known Jeff Koons. He has done design collaborations with luxury brands — including Tiffany, which might be another reference for Priscilla’s blue skin — on utilitarian objects. He even did a stylish rentable cabin on the grounds of Kohler, a home appliance company, and big and expensive pieces riffing on antiquity and pop culture.

In terms of this sculpture’s artistic success, I point to what it says about its subject. Does it reveal anything about Chan’s role, her personality, her heroism? I’m guessing it’s more of a private thing between husband and wife, as it doesn’t communicate much in a general way. And it’s a safe bet that it won’t be among the top bid items whenever the Chan-Zuckerberg estate hits auction.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw images of the Arsham sculpture was “Wow, that fabrication looks amazing.” I don’t know what the materials are, but it looks like polished steel and some sort of patinated metal or bronze. Because we produce a lot of large-scale sculptures, I am always immediately curious about fabrication, and this looks really strong.

My wife and I always decide on art together, so I could not get away with surprising her with a sculpture portrait. And even if I did so, she probably would not let me install it. However, this gesture tells me about their relationship. And, for people who are in the public like they are — attempting to be very private — I think it’s a rare inside look at a kind of humor within a relationship that we don’t know much about. 

It’s an amusing thing. It’s putting your wife on a pedestal — literally making her larger-than-life. And so you feel a kind of adoration, right? Which is quite sweet at the core.

It’s an interesting intersection of the technology scene and the art scene. Tech is the money class of San Francisco and historically, that tech class has not supported the arts at a deep level. And that’s the move they’re going to make to support the arts? 

Wow, that is quite the statue. I might use it in class.

While the habit of displaying statues of family members in one’s home or garden — where one might otherwise find statues of philosophers, politicians or playwrights — is more Roman than Greek, the dramatic style of the drapery enveloping the figure and the way it billows behind her like wings comes straight from Hellenistic Greek art, especially the Winged Victory from Samothrace.

Personally, the Hellenistic style is my favorite, and I think the statue is beautiful. It shows a woman as powerful and strong, yet delicate, as she gently alights on the ground.

Aside from the blue color, which is sort of that artist’s aesthetic, there’s really nothing that feels particularly unique about the work. It’s a decent likeness of Zuckerberg’s wife, but I think any competent sculptor could accomplish that in that way, which begs the question: Why not choose some other artist who is actually local to the area? 

There’s been such a long history that I hear from local artists feeling in opposition to tech and tech money, and I don’t know if that would be the case if Zuckerberg had commissioned a local artist. 

A great example is when the San Francisco Arts Commission commissioned all-new work for the Muni extension, they commissioned all local artists — even though it was a national call that people could apply to. They went with almost all local artists, and the women who did the work for the station in Chinatown were local craftspeople and weren’t really famous artists at all. This kind of investment is perfectly possible. 

I had a laugh-out-loud moment when Zuckerberg said he’s “bringing back a Roman tradition,” which is a hacky, desperate reach for an art historical reference. Especially in this political climate, the idea of citing Roman tradition seems a little dicey. It very much felt to me that that was maybe the one art historical reference he could pull out of his pocket. 

The patronage of the arts in the Renaissance fell to the nobility — if you want to think of these tech billionaires as nobility. The Medici family supported local arts in Florence at the time. You know they [weren’t] going to Paris to spread their money around. They [were] supporting art in their city and actually [saw] the importance of supporting a robust sense of culture. And it seems to me that Zuckerberg just wants to create a space of total unreality.

It just brings me back to the idea that a real opportunity was missed.