'Pee On Me' Artist Was Creator Of Gowanus Canal Trump Sculpture

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — The mystery artist who set up an angry sculpture of President Donald Trump in the Gowanus Canal last week has been unveiled — and it isn't their first time using art to get a dig at the president.

Phil Gable, the same artist who set up Trump statues inviting dogs to pee on them last year, was the one who set up the inflatable commander-in-chief.

The Park Slope artist said he decided on the Gowanus Canal as his next Trump-related art destination because its toxic waters — the waterway is known for its build-up of sewage sludge — seemed like the perfect spot for the "Dear Leader."

"It just seemed like a fun way to comment on the hypocrisy of Dear Leader's 'drain the swamp' bulls--- and also on his general toxicity — not only in the things that he says, but in all of the cruel things he's done to so many people who need and deserve our country's help," Gable told Patch.

"It's sort of a fun way to represent his general monstrousness," he continued. "A toxic canal filled with garbage really does seem like Dear Leader's natural habitat."

The presidential statue was anchored under the Carroll Street Bridge the Friday before Gowanus Open Studios, the neighborhood's popular art event, and first spotted Sunday morning by a reader of local blog Pardon Me For Asking.

Gable started working on the float a few months back, starting with a mannequin and a mask. Over time, he started adding lightweight items like life vests, packing materials or a pool float to "bulk him up," Gable said.

As for when the Gowanus Trump will be taken out, Gable said that all depends on whether his real-life inspiration is removed as well.

"If Dear Leader is removed from office, then it won't be an issue because I suspect that every likeness of him in the world will simultaneously combust," Gable said. "But if he isn't removed, then I think the energy from the White House will connect to the effigy, reach down to the black mayonnaise, and then Swamp Trump will morph into something much bigger – sort of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters. So I'm definitely hoping for the former."

Like Gable's "Trump stumps," which were set up around Park Slope with "Pee on Me" signs, the Gowanus statue got mixed reactions from neighbors.

The artist said that most people he's heard from have enjoyed the statue and, like him, found it to be a cathartic expression of the country's political climate. But there were some he saw commenting online that he should be "arrested" for disrespecting the office of the president.

"If those people would stop and think for a few seconds, I think they would conclude that they actually like the First Amendment and that they really don't want to live in a country where people get arrested for making fun of the government," he said. "But the vast majority of what I've heard has just been people enjoying it for what it is, and that's the best part."

This article has been updated from its original version to include comments from Gable.