Daniel Edwards

Daniel Edwards (born 1965 in La Porte, Indiana) is an American contemporary artist whose pieces address celebrity and popular culture in ways that have often stirred controversy. The release of the pieces is generally accompanied by press releases. He includes the idea of promotion and associative fame in his own marketing of his art.

His works include a sculpture of the disembodied head of Ted Williams, a life-sized statue of Britney Spears giving birth while nude on her hands and knees on a bearskin rug, a bust of Senator Hillary Clinton, and a 25-foot (7.6 m) bust of Fidel Castro.

Edwards titled the piece "Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston," explaining that it symbolized Spears' decision to put childbirth ahead of her career.Britney Spears actually had a caesarean section.

In an Associated Press interview, Edwards asserted that he incorporates celebrity stories because:

"You're bombarded with these stories. And there's a thread that winds back to the art. That's not a bad thing. People are interested in sex, and it works for art as well."

Edwards conceded, however, that he "wouldn't march with either pro-life or pro-choice advocates".

A number of the images shown in the media are casts of the sculpture rather than the original. Casts can be distinguished by the joins around the forearms and shins and by their paler color.

The life-size bust of Senator Hillary Clinton is titled "Presidential Bust of Hillary Rodham Clinton". The sculpture depicts her wearing a low-cut floral dress.

On 28 August 2006, Edwards unveiled a sculpture titled "Suri's bronzed baby poop", purported to be the actual first bowel movement of the baby of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The sculpture was to be auctioned on eBay, and Edwards was commissioned to produce a limited-edition plaster replica. Sources disagreed on whether the bronze sculpture actually contained Suri's excrement: some reported that it did, while others reported the story as being a hoax.

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