David Mach's Sumo Sculpture in Marseille Euromed

What do you think about this sumo sculpture by David Mach?

David Mach's Sumo Sculpture - Marseille

When walking through Marseille's Euromed busniss district you cannot not notice the surprising sculpture of two giant sumo wrestlers lifting up a blue container.

Standing in the middle of Place Jean Mireur, a 700m² green square located between the tracks of the new trolley line and the Archives Départementales building, "It takes two to tango" artwork by Scottish artist David Mach has been displayed in the Euromed area since September 2011 and will stay there until the end of this year.

The donors of this funny sumo sculpture, CMA CGM Container Shipping Company, were so worried about street artists painting graffitis on the Japanese wrestler's buttocks that they initially planned to enclose the sculpture in a security fence, but then they changed their mind and decided to apply anti-graffiti coating on the two wrestlers statues.

Heavily influenced by Pop Art and consumerism, David Mach has been internationally famous since the beginning of the 80's for his monumental, ephemeral sculptures made from surplus manufactured products, such as the car tires used in his spectacular replica of Athens Parthenon on Edinburgh docks, the newspapers used for the "Whirl" installation featured at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, or the wire coat hangers used to create his huge gorilla, tigers and Mickey Mouse's face. Before the 2011/2012 exhibit in Marseille, "It takes two to tango" temporary installation was displayed in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, then in 1997 in Sydney, Autralia.