Charging Bull sculptor says Fearless Girl distorts his art. Hes fighting back.
Source: Washington Post
With hopes of dispensing the “perfect antidote” to the stock market crash of 1987, Italian-born sculptor Arturo Di Modica spent two years welding a 7,000 pound bronze bull statue designed to capture the resilience of the American people.
Under the cover of night and without a permit, he installed his massive “Charging Bull” directly before the New York Stock Exchange, a gift New Yorkers loved but New York City initially hated. Authorities removed it, but later reinstalled it under pressure at a small public park in the financial district.
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Then last month, on International Women’s Day, a new statue of a symbolically brave “Fearless Girl” stole its spotlight — and, Di Modica says, fundamentally corrupted the artistic integrity of his “Charging Bull.”
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The artist will hold a news conference Wednesday with attorney Norman Siegel, the former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, to explain his plans to challenge the city officials who let “Fearless Girl” happen without asking his permission.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/12/charging-bull-sculptor-says-fearless-girl-distorts-his-art-hes-fighting-back/
A little historical context:
History
Construction and installation
The bull was cast by the Bedi-Makky Art Foundry in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Di Modica spent some $360,000 to create, cast, and install the sculpture following the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people".[2] The sculpture was the artist's idea, not the city's. In an act of guerrilla art, Bedi Makky Art Foundry, along with Di Modica, trucked it to Lower Manhattan and on December 15, 1989, installed it beneath a 60-foot (18 m) Christmas tree in the middle of Broad Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange as a Christmas gift to the people of New York. That day, crowds came to look at the bull, with hundreds stopping to admire and analyze the gift as Di Modica handed out copies of a flier about his artwork.[2]
The police seized the sculpture and placed it into an impound lot. The ensuing public outcry led the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to re-install it two blocks south of the Exchange in the plaza at Bowling Green with a ceremony on December 21, 1989. It faces up towards Broadway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull#Construction_and_installation
The Charging Bull was installed on Wall Street without permission, was impounded for a while before being relocated. It has been at its present location with a technically temporary permit since 1989. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull#Ownership)
The Fearless Girl was installed with permission: "The sculpture's installation is temporary; it was initially expected to stay in place at least several weeks,[8] given a New York City Hall permit for one week that was later extended to 30 days.[9] On March 27, it was announced that the statue would remain in place through February, 2018." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_Girl#History
Frankly in my opinion, the Fearless Girl gives the Charging Bull even more relevance for today. While the Bull stands for American Power, the Girl stands for the power of the individual in American society, no matter how small they are, standing up to the most powerful forces in the land.
If Di Modica does not like the juxtaposition of the Fearless Girl to his statue, he is perfectly within his rights to remove the Charging Bull and to reinstall it wherever he likes. I'm sure people would be happy to give him some suggestions.
= new reply since forum marked as read
A 2007 newspaper account agreed that a "peculiar ritual" of handling the "shining orbs" of the statue's scrotum seems to have developed into a tradition. One visitor, from Mississippi, told the Tribeca Trib she did it "for good luck", and because "there's a kind of primal response when you see something like that. You just have to engage it."[3] The enthusiastic reaction to the sculpture continues into the darker hours. "I've seen people do some crazy things to that bull", said a souvenir vendor, "At night sometimes, when people have been drinking, I’ve seen them do stuff to that bull that you couldn’t print in a newspaper."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull#Use_as_a_tourist_attraction
Di Modica should reconsider challenging a legally permitted sculpture versus his dubiously allowed statue. The artist that created the Fearless Girl said this: “The bull is beautiful, it’s a stunning piece of art,” Visbal told the Post. “But the world changes and we are now running with this bull.” (From the article linked in the OP)
But why buy the cow when the milk is free, to quote an old saying. 
Di Modica didn't sue over that - probably because there were no deep pockets to go after.
Cue the music...
