Ship this thing out of here!
Hamptonites are panning a towering new 60-foot sculpture made of a dozen steel shipping containers as a “grotesque” and “hideous” monstrosity – and hope a court will banish the “junkyard mess” from their posh enclave.
Los Angeles artist Matt Johnson’s massive outdoor sculpture, “Meditating Figure,” went up along with two other large-scale works at a Montauk art gallery called The Ranch on June 27. The 26-acre site on what was once protected farmland is private property.
“They’re grotesque and ugly and out of place on Old Montauk Highway,” moaned East Hampton resident Mitchel Agoos, who added that the “monstrosity” of each 40-foot-long container reminds him of the East 42nd street building that’s on the brink of collapse.
“It detracts from the gorgeous landscape. I wouldn’t want this near me – it’s dreck.”
The behemoth is “unsightly,” blasted Dr. Jennifer Jablow of Southampton. “Most of the sculptures out here enhance the area’s nature – not fight it.”
“We live out here for the beauty of the nature, and this feels very rough,” she said.
The gallery defends the cheeky piece as a socioeconomic metaphor – a “deity built by capital and consumption; a reality of the daily contemporary experience.” It described a ”contemplative giant” sitting cross-legged in the lotus position with arms resting on his knees.
But the East Hampton Town board, which oversees the hamlet of Montauk, felt anything but namaste Tuesday when it voted 4 to 1 to take legal action against the posh gallery after it allegedly ignored multiple charges, including failures to obtain a building permit and certificate of occupancy, spokesman Patrick Derenze confirmed to The Post.
Town attorney Jake Turner argued that the structure – “melding large pieces of metal together” – required safety checks. “If we don’t take action then we are compromising the safety of the residents.”
The lawyer argued that even private property has to be up to code.
“It’s not a matter of what is being displayed, but how it’s being displayed … and make sure it’s legal.”
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But Ranch owner and art dealer Max Levai painted the town’s case as flimsy.
“If I’d like to display sculptures on my property for my enjoyment, that’s my right,” he defiantly declared when contacted by The Post. “And if they’re not structures, they don’t need to be permitted.”
Approval for a building permit can take up to five months, while the exhibit, called “LA Monumental,” is slated to run through Nov. 15.
Levai said the town hasn’t notified him of any legal action. “I want this resolved and for everybody to be happy,” he said.
Montauk was cultivated by pop artist icon Andy Warhol as an artist’s colony half a century ago. “But this exhibit really stretches the definition of ‘art,’” said Water Mill resident Adam Weiss.
“They call it art? It’s a friggin’ junkyard mess,” blasted a local critic on Facebook. “Looks like the LIE during Friday rush hour,” wrote another.
Johnson told The Post he “wanted to position the sculpture so it could be seen by people traveling the road from the lighthouse.
The “juxtaposition of the horses nearby is particularly poignant as it was not so long ago that a horse and carriage served people’s need for transporting goods as these containers now do,” said the artist, adding that he’s staying out of the legal battle.
“I’m just an artist trying to make interesting work.”
Not all Hamptonites want the piece shipped out, either.
“This isn’t a controversial sculpture – it’s just ballbusters,” artist Richard Sichel said of the artwork attack dogs. “It looks like one of the Transformers – it’s really quite fun. Art is always a statement.”
