Meet The Young Man Behind Essien's Viral Statue

Photo culled from ghpage.com

This is not the first time a monument raised to honour a football star has received heavy criticisms and trolls on social media.

But former Chelsea footballer, Michael Essien’s latest statue erected in his home country may pass out as the worst if reactions on social media is anything to go by.

Critics say the statue has zero resemblance to the former Chelsea midfielder as his head is not in proportion with his body and the upper part of his body seems quite heavier than his lower part.

Last year, Cristiano Ronaldo’s poor statue erected by Emanuel Santos, became a subject of ridicule as people pointed it looked like someone else.

Another clear case is that of Argentina retired footballer, Diego Maradona whose monument raised questions and was likened to Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle.

The above are simply cases of ‘honours’ gone wrong as the idea behind the art is to honour these iconic footballers but then it strikes a bad cord with critics.

Essien’s case which is the latest is reviving conversations around the art of sculpture and what they really stand for.

The Ghanaian sculpture behind Essien’s statue, Dominic Ebo Bismarck remains unfazed amidst the uproar.

“Artwork must be criticized and I’m ever ready to accept criticisms. I am ok with it as most are coming from a layman’s point of view,”Bismarck said in an interview with modernghana.com.

What is surprising though is that he raised the statue in 2010 but its gaining popularity now because a blogger shared it on social media.

What also baffles him is that he didn’t ascribe Essien’s name on the statue or anywhere near it but people are able to relate the statue with Essien.

“After the project, I intentionally didn’t write Essien’s name on it but people often fall on the statue for directions,”

He admits that he financed the project all by himself to celebrate his (Michael Essien) achievements as an international footballer but never got the opportunity to donate it to him.

“Sculpture and portraiture is about the likeness of the person especially the face but it doesn’t have to look exactly the same. Once people are able to notice the person in the art, then you have done a good job,” he explained.

About Dominc
He is a BFA painting and sculpture graduate from KNUST and CEO of YUNRICH Designs. He has been a sculpture since 2010. He has done projects for Asantehene, Asamoah Gyan among others.