(CNN) — Is it a face with a hand or a hand with a face?
Created by New Zealand-born artist Ronnie van Hout, the sculpture, named “Quasi,” is described by the gallery as a “hybrid face-hand” and a “partial self-portrait” and is based on scans of the artist’s own body parts.
The statue’s name also references Quasimodo, the protagonist of Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.”
The statue was installed on the gallery’s roof on Monday.
From Twitter
“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No—Quasi has landed! This morning, Ronnie van Hout’s Quasi was installed on our roof. Quasi is a joint project with Wellington Sculpture Trust, with support from Wellington City Council, Wellington Community Trust, and Richard Burrell,” the gallery tweeted to announce the statue’s arrival.
Naturally, not everyone was as enthusiastic.
One Twitter user described “Quasi” as “the ugliest and most disturbing” piece of art she had ever seen, while another suggested the hand had not come in peace.
In the article, the critic accused the statue of “inappropriately and belligerently” pointing at pedestrians on the street below.
The statue will continue its surveillance of Civic Square for three years.
Wellington’s giant hand statue disturbs some locals in New Zealand
