The Peeing Pug!

First, there was the Wall Street bull statue, better known as Charging Bull:

(hat tip to Wikipedia for the pic)

Then there was the Fearless Girl statue, which was built as an ad for a feminist index fund:

(hat tip to The Mary Sue for the pic)

And now, we have the Peeing Pug:

According to CNN:

Fearless Girl and the Charging Bull were joined briefly on Monday morning by a third statue, a urinating dog.

The roughly-hewn pug, made partially out of papier mache, was relieving himself at Fearless Girl's feet.

The creator of "Peeing Pug," New York City artist Alex Gardega, wanted to draw attention to the fact that the Fearless Girl was commissioned by asset-manager State Street Global Advisors. The artist removed the statue after a few hours because "people were kicking it," and broke the pug's leg. The artist has since fixed the injury.

The Fearless Girl statue by artist Kristen Visbal was unveiled on March 7 and has been incredibly well received. Fans have flocked to her side to snap photos, and she's received tons of press coverage -- nearly all of which notes that the statue is backed by State Street.

The problem with the Fearless Girl statue is its placement, in direct opposition to the Charging Bull. Is this a feminist statement or an anti-Wall Street statement? Or a combination of both?

The Peeing Pug artist Alex Gardega says it best:

Gardega adds that his dog was also meant to make a point on behalf of sculptor Arturo di Modica, who created the Charging Bull statue that stands opposite of Fearless Girl.

Di Modica argues that Fearless Girl is infringing on his copyright. Gardega doesn't know Di Modica personally, but was bothered by Fearless Girl's proximity to the Charging Bull.

"It's kind of like sticking something... in front of Michelangelo's David," he said. By having his pug pee on Fearless Girl, he was "showing what it was like to invade [the bull's] space."

...Ultimately, [Gardega] worries that the Fearless Girl will be seen as comparable to the Wall Street bull, which was funded by Di Modica himself. "I would totally be pro [Fearless Girl] if it was done by some punk-rock artist," Gardega said. "That's not the case at all."

Gardega understands that Fearless Girl is important to people. "I did notice it made people happy, which is a good thing," he said. But he disagrees with the message he thinks Fearless Girl is sending. "I'm pro-feminist," he said, "but that's kind of corporate baloney feminism."

Regardless of how you interpret the Fearless Girl, it was created as an advertisement for a Wall Street product, which runs contrary to the placement of the statue. It is in no way against Wall Street, and in fact promotes it via politically correct messaging, or "corporate baloney feminism" as Gardega calls it.

That said, I find the interpretation of Fearless Girl to be far more worthwhile than its crass origin. But I also appreciate Peeing Pug for the same reason: Art should enlighten, and Peeing Pug reminds us that Fearless Girl lacks the virtue of artistic intent, regardless of how we personally interpret it.