Back in August we were alerted to the fact that UK artist Marc Quinn was working on an upgraded version of the Kate Moss statue, called Sphynx, that he created back in 2006. When news came out that Quinn would be casting his Kate Moss statue in 18 carat gold we were not allowed to see the finished product (but we were shown a glimpse). At last, the final product can be revealed … behold, Marc Quinn’s latest “masterpiece” Siren:

She has graced countless magazine covers and inspired numerous artists to copy her image. But now Kate Moss has received the ultimate accolade after being immortalised in gold and displayed at the British Museum. And with daily share price drama as well as collapsing house prices this gold sculpture would provide as safe a haven as any for canny, and extremely wealthy, investors. Dubbed a ‘modern day Aphrodite’ the supermodel’s statue, unveiled on Wednesday, cost more than £1.5million to make – of which £1million was the price of the 18 carat gold. Artist Marc Quinn, who named the work ‘Siren’, said he expected to sell it for more than £10million. The piece is hollow and at 50kg is understood to weigh the same as the diminutive Miss Moss herself. It will be displayed from Saturday until January as part of the Statuephilia exhibition in the Nereid Gallery among statues of classical Greek goddesses including Aphrodite. Miss Moss’ pose is a little less conventional however. Mr Quinn elected to immortalise her in provocative yoga pose with her legs behind her head wearing only skimpy underwear. He said: “When I showed Kate the statue she told me she loved it. She really liked the idea and she modelled for me for a day or so.” But he added: “She didn’t pose for me like that. For Kate, she thinks it lifts her into a mythic level. I think she very much loved it because she understands the difference between her image and her self. The sculpture is really about whether we make images or they make us. It’s about trying to live up to impossible dreams and immortality.” The artist claimed that his piece questioned the notion of value in society in the light of the credit crunch. “With the financial crash at the minute. It is a really interesting time to do this. Why should gold be worth lots and steel not?” he said. “It’s because we have agreed it represents something special in our society.” The work is the largest gold statue made by man since ancient Egyptian times. Mr Quinn, who once made a bust of himself using eight pints of his own blood – has created statues of Kate before: Sphynx, a white painted bronze figure of Kate in another yoga pose, and an early version of Siren, also in white. Mr Quinn said of using Moss as a subject: “I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who’s the ideal beauty of the moment. But even Kate Moss doesn’t live up to the image.”

Uhhh, yeah. I didn’t really understand the point of this piece back in 2006 and I really don’t get it now … but hey, it’s art, right? I’m actually very surprised to learn that this golden statue of Kate Moss is “the largest gold statue made by man since ancient Egyptian times”. I’m not entirely sure that I believe it but … again, who knows. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and while I may not necessarily be beholding a lot of beauty in this garish art piece myself that doesn’t mean that others can’t behold the beauty for themselves. What do y’all think … do we like?

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Remember THIS statue of Kate Moss? Well, I guess it was time for an upgrade:

She’s been immortalized in bronze, painted in oils and photographed all over the world. Now Kate Moss – fashion icon, mother and long time paparazzi favourite – has been paid the kind of compliment normally reserved for Egyptian queens and mythological goddesses. She has been sculpted in gold. A new statue of the controversial model is to unveiled at the British museum for an exhibition in October. The 34-year-old will join some of the nation’s other great treasures, including a centuries old statue of a naked Aphrodite, on loan from the Queen. This is the first teasing glimpse of the £1.5million likeness of Kate, one of a series by Marc Quinn, the artist responsible for the ‘Alison Lapper Pregnant’ sculpture that adorned the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square for 20 months. The museum released only a detail of the Kate Moss work in the hope that the full image could remain private until its unveiling. The statue, entitled ‘Siren’, depicts her in a yoga contortion. If it follows the theme of his previous Kate Moss works, it will place her feet somewhere near her ears and leave various other bits of her leotard-clad body inelegantly exposed to public gaze. The statue is said to be the largest of its kind since ancient Egyptian times. It is fashioned from solid gold. But because the statue is hollow, it weighs only 50 kilograms (110 lb) – possibly a little more than the waif-like subject on which it is modeled.

Um … why Kate Moss? Why not, say, Bea Arthur? Seriously. Anyone?

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