Edge Rewrite
location Source code View original
// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a2749cb1fc354f87

Jump to content

Sergio Furnari

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sergio Furnari
Born1969 (age 56–57)
Sicily, Italy
OccupationArtist
Known forSculpture, Painting, Ceramic Art
Websitehttps://www.sergiofurnari.com/

Sergio Furnari (born 1969) is an Italian-American artist and sculptor based in New York.[1]

Career

[edit]
Furnari's statue of construction workers in January 2007

Furnari was born in Caltagirone, Sicily. His work has been displayed in exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times.[2][3][4] Furnari migrated to New York in 1991.[4] He has built sculptures of a number of public figures, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Donald Trump.[5]

Furnari is best known for his statue of construction workers, which he built after 9/11 based on the 1923 photograph Lunch atop a Skyscraper by Charles C Ebbets. One of his sculptured workers was stolen in January 2007 and found later in July.[6][7][8]

He displayed a statue in honor of COVID-19 healthcare workers in multiple places in Washington, D.C., in 2021.[9] It was built in collaboration with Z-Burger owner Peter Tabibian.[10] Furnari built another sculpture of a heart in honor of COVID-19 healthcare workers and placed it at the Grand Army Plaza, New York, in the same year. The monument was later removed for lacking a permit, which Furnari conceded.[11]

He stated that he intended to have YouTuber creator Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) attend the display of Ronaldo's metal statue in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2025. He said that "If he would have seen my statue, I can assure you he would have come out of his office." Donaldson did not attend the display, and the police was called twice to ask him to move the statue. Some locals appreciated the sculpture, while another person warned him that "the sheriff should be here any minute". He said that he had not contacted local authorities before arriving at the city, stating that "I do this all the time".[12]

Statues of Charlie Kirk

[edit]

Furnari built a statue in honor of deceased conservative activist Charlie Kirk in 2026, which is scheduled to be displayed in Times Square on September 10th. His work cost him $100,000, plus an additional sum of over $1,000 that he received on Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo. He said that he had expected to raise "millions" of dollars for the project (including an initial sum of over $150,000 from crowdfunding) with the support of wealthy donors. Furnari broke his foot during the sculpturing and spent much of the money on steel and resin.[13][14]

Furnari has stated that he "wasn’t a fan of Charlie", adding that "one thing that I couldn’t stand about him while he was alive [was] when he was talking about Palestine. [Kirk would say]: ‘Oh no, Palestine doesn’t exist.’ I thought: 'Well, this guy must be out of his mind.'". He said the statue was intended to "glorify and to exercise the first amendment, this freedom of speech".[14] According to Furnari, he "has been inundated by messages from people saying they intend to urinate on the sculpture".[15]

He lamented not receiving as much funding as he expected for the project, stating that "nobody is really coming up with support, especially financial support. So far I’ve spent all my money on this."[14] According to the project's fundraising page, Furnari had "sold his own apartment to fund this project" and "Sadily[,] none of the politicians/entrepreneurs/supporters have contacted him."[16] He said that "Things financially are a total, absolute nightmare. [...] People are cheap, man."[17] He stated to The Guardian, referring to the statue: "Is it cursed? Maybe. I don’t know."[18]

Furnari had previously built another statue of Kirk and displayed it in Indiana, where it was vandalized.[5] As of July 2026, he had not managed to sell it.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "The Life Size Lunchtime on a Skyscraper by Sergio Furnari is Real and Everywhere! – Ciao Arte". 2021-12-06. Archived from the original on July 24, 2026. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  2. ↑ "Lotus Arts Gallery". lotusartsgallery.com. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  3. ↑ "Media – SERGIO FURNARI". Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  4. 1 2 Ruhling, Nancy A. (2025-03-08). "How a Sculptor Spends His Sundays". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  5. 1 2 Martinez, Amethyst. "What NYC artist says about upcoming Times Square Charlie Kirk statue". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on July 17, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  6. ↑ Lee, Jennifer 8 (2007-07-10). "Stolen Ironworker Sculpture Turns Up in Queens". City Room. Retrieved 2026-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "Artist laments theft of US icon". 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2026-07-31.
  8. ↑ Lee, Jennifer 8 (2007-01-18). "A Mobile Work of Art Is Missing an Ironworker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-31.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Lewis, Kevin (2021-01-01). "Artist using sculpture of doctor to raise awareness for hand-sanitizing bracelet prototype". WJLA. Archived from the original on July 23, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Italian artist and Z-Burger owner create a statue honoring health care workers - The Eagle". www.theeagleonline.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  11. ↑ Press, Associated (2021-10-30). "'They broke my heart': sculptor laments Central Park Covid monument removal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 4, 2025. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  12. ↑ Writer, Kim Grizzard Staff (2025-01-24). "Traveling soccer sculpture scores with Ronaldo fans but misses goal of meeting MrBeast". Reflector. Archived from the original on July 23, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  13. ↑ Villarreal, Daniel. "Charlie Kirk statue to be unveiled in NYC. People say it'll be "destroyed & vandalized" in seconds". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on July 16, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  14. 1 2 3 Gabbatt, Adam (2026-07-20). "New York sculptor spent $100,000 to make a Charlie Kirk statue no one wants to buy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on July 21, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  15. ↑ "Sculptor Is Mad No One Wants To Buy His LIfe-Size Charlie Kirk Statue He Blew $100k On". HuffPost. 2026-07-21. Archived from the original on July 23, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  16. ↑ "New York artist who made statue of Charlie Kirk claims no one will buy it - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  17. 1 2 Sommerlad, Joe (2026-07-21). "Sculptor spent $100,000 making lifesize Charlie Kirk statue but has no takers". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 21, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  18. ↑ "Sculptor Is Mad No One Wants To Buy His LIfe-Size Charlie Kirk Statue He Blew $100k On". HuffPost. 2026-07-21. Archived from the original on July 23, 2026. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sergio_Furnari&oldid=1367060881"