Exclusive | Artist receives hate and boycott calls over huge $48K MAGA hat sculpture
They’ve lost their marbles!
Trump haters bombarded an artist with vitriol and called on an NYC gallery to drop her work over her 30-pound, $48,000 marble Make America Great Again sculpture.
Sculptor Robin Antar, who creates hyper-realistic works resembling everyday items like Hellmann’s mayo and Oreos, created waves with the massive piece, “MAGA Hat,” inspired by the cap President-elect Trump made an iconic political symbol.
The 2016 piece — inspired by the first hat Trump wore on the campaign trail — is now generating more reaction as Trump gets ready to take office for the second time.
“The gallery that deals with my work in the city tells me, ‘Our most prestigious clients threatened to boycott the gallery because they think you’re a Trump supporter,’” Antar told The Post, referring to Pop International Galleries in SoHo. “That’s not what my work is about. My work is about capturing American history.”
Others slammed her for not “openly denouncing” Trump.
One person commented on an Instagram video about the piece, “Love your work, hate the Donald.”
She’s deleted some of the nastiest comments.
Despite criticism and hundreds of lost followers, Antar says her interpretation of the hat is there to stay.
“Art isn’t always comfortable, but it’s necessary — it speaks to the times we live in, and I am committed to contributing to that dialogue,” she said.
Potential buyers have expressed interest in the piece, Antar said, but she hasn’t sold it yet.
The piece is part of a collection called “What’s Going on in America Now,” which includes a massive marble and granite Constitution twisted into knots, symbolizing the ideological divides in American politics.
Also in the works is a piece that will be auctioned off and its proceeds donated to the Israel Defense Forces.
Antar has been carving stone since 1974, two years after she discovered she was blind in one eye. Once dubbed the “Andy Warhol of Brooklyn,” she still works out of her studio there and lives in New Jersey.