Has anyone got this (RW?) email about an artist getting sued for a statue?

[LoZoccolo]

An artist by the name of Christof Riley is being sued by members of the small San Diego community of Mountain Carmel Bernardo for a statue that he erected in the city's recreational park.

Gail Mardley, a member of the city's school board, and one of those suing Riley explained that the city hired Riley to create a patriotic exhibit that the town could be proud of, "but instead we got pornography?" says Mardley, "He lied to us. He told us that the statue would be a memorial to life after 9/11. Are you kidding me? His porn has no place in our community, and he will be sued for his actions".

The community has placed a lawsuit of $1,012.11 per person that saw the statue on October 22nd when it was revealed. According to Mardley, 107 people attended the dedication, so Riley is looking at a possible $108,295.77.

Christof Riley, who is fighting the suit, told reporters, "I was hired to do a job, and I did it well. Now they don't want to pay me, and are suing me on top of that. This is disgusting. My statue will go down in art history as a patriotic masterpiece that depicts how people can trust one another and the Muslim world after the horrible attacks on September 11, 2001. Remember, the attacks may have been in New York and D.C., but we in San Diego need to be healed of the wounds as well, and my statue is symbolic of how Americans should forgive all Muslims and not try to beat them up and kill them at every turning corner."




I don't have a place to host the photographs, but they're...interesting, to say the least. It's a statue of this guy sitting down, and this girl is on her knees with her head in the guy's lap, but you can see up her skirt and she isn't wearing any panties. The guy's got like a newspaper or magazine in one hand and some paperback books next to him. I told you it was interesting. But if you got the email, you've seen them. I did a Google on some of the names in the story and got nothing anywhere about it, so I think this is a hoax, and probably the most bizzare one I've seen make the rounds through email.

This guy sent it to me, and he's sent some wingnut stuff to me and a bunch of other people on a mailing list I'm on, and I'm tempted to email everyone on the list the day it gets out on Snopes.

[WoodrowFan]

1. it's got to be a hoax.

I got nowhere googling the names. If they were a real artist AND a real school board member their names would show up.

Maybe you should try selling a bridge to the guy who sent it too you, sounds like he's gullible enough..


BTW, send it to snopes, let them debunk it. :evilgrin:

[LoZoccolo]

3. I tried doing a little debunking myself.

There's like two signs visible in the background between the four pictures, and they both look kind-of northern European, though I can't really even make out the letters.

[WildClarySage]

2. Must be a hoax

if the city paid an artist that much, they would have some type of contract specifing content and approval of preliminary sketches, models, etc.

[Wickerman]

4. Oddly, there is a photographer in Canada

named Christof Riley. Maybe his photo of the patriotic bum pissed off someone and they set out to destroy him.

http://www.bigstockphoto.com/imgview.php?mode=2&img=8maoDnKtmJ_bum_25

http://www.bigstockphoto.com/core.php?infoac=8maoDnKtmJ&you=1

[LoZoccolo]

6. No contact info though, dang!

I'd like to find out if he knows anything about who might have spread this thing around.

[Journeyman]

5. That's pretty much been my vision of life since 2001. . .

sitting around, reading books, panty-free girl with her head in my lap. . . yeah, that's a better vision than the hell we've been living, so what's the complaint? I figure Christof is giving us a vision of how pleasant life should be, instead of focusing on its unpleasant realities. Oh, that, and it's probably an internet hoax. There's nothing to be found when you Google this story, and to date I've never heard of a right wing email that had even a modicum of truth to it.