NEAL AUCTION       

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Orleans, Louisiana

 

Neal Auction to offer “#POKÉMONUMENT [aka Pikachu]”

Within its Important Fall Estates Auction

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Proceeds from the sale to benefit the Lower Garden District Parks & Fountains Fund, New Orleans, LA

 

Neal Auction Company is pleased to announce its forthcoming sale of “#POKÉMONUMENT,” an installation piece which mysteriously appeared during the late evening or early morning hours of July 30/31 this year in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District’s Coliseum Square finger park at Terpsichore Street. The bronzed fiberglass statue, which depicts the Pokémon figure Pikachu, has generated international attention and has become a social media sensation. Dubbed “guerilla art,” “stealth sculpture,” and a “monument to pop culture,” visitors have come from around the world to view the beloved figure. The statue has also been met with controversy and vandalism. In order to prevent further damage to the work, the artists have decided upon its removal and sale at public auction, with all the proceeds benefitting the Lower Garden District Parks & Fountains Fund.

 

The Artists: Anonymous. “#Pokémonument was never conceived to be a permanent installation. We would like to use that positive momentum [the statue has garnered] to bring about a larger, more permanent change for our community. We have donated #Pokémonument to the Coliseum Square Association to be auctioned off to help fund the restoration of the fountains in the park.”

 

The Coliseum Square Association’s Lower Garden District Parks & Fountains Fund: The Coliseum Square Association is the recipient of the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s (GNOF) Freeman Endowment Challenge grant of $25,000 to establish an endowment benefitting the parks and fountains of New Orleans’ Lower Garden District. In order to meet the challenge, the Coliseum Square Association must raise $50,000 by December 31, 2016. GNOF will match that with $25,000, creating a total endowment of $75,000. More at www.coliseumsquare.org and www.gnof.org

 

Karon Reese, Vice President of the Coliseum Square Association: "New Orleans is full of happy surprises. When we discovered #Pokémonument in a non-functioning fountain in our park one summer morning, the neighborhood enjoyed the pleasant surprise of a beautiful, new, whimsical sculpture. We watched as people from New Orleans and all over the world came to see Pikachu. We read delightful articles in the press and enjoyed the photos of people proudly posing with Pikachu. However, the artists' desire to donate Pikachu to the neighborhood, without making a penny themselves, has probably been the biggest and happiest surprise of all. As Coliseum Square Association works to bring back the non-functioning fountains and improve the green spaces in the Lower Garden District, we gladly accept the artists' gift toward this effort. The whole city of New Orleans will have benefited from the mysterious gift that appeared in our park. A happy surprise, indeed!"

 

Neal Auction Company: Neal Auction Company has achieved international recognition as the South’s preeminent antique and fine art auction gallery. Neal Auction Company has a thirty-three year history of achieving record prices for paintings, furniture, sculpture, silver and decorative arts. More at www.nealauction.com

 

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Press Contact | Bettine Field Carroll 

Neal Auction Company 

4038 Magazine Street | New Orleans, LA  70115

T. 504.899.5329 | E. estates@nealauction.com