It's not often you see an undergarment fashioned out of recycled twisted metal into a beautiful sculpture that's sturdy enough for children to climb on like monkey bars. But if you happened to be in the West Village Saturday afternoon in the plaza between Mi Cocina and Magnolia Theatre, you would have seen a pink-laden celebration with the huge (13-by-14-feet, to be exact) metal brassier as the centerpiece.
The unveiling of the bra, by local sculptor George Tobolowsky and former Cowboys cheerleader, HGTV Design Star contestant, and breast cancer survivor, Leslie Ezelle, drew attention to the Dallas County affiliate of the Susan G. Komen foundation.
"This is all about breast cancer, and destruction, and the rebuilding back," Tobolowsky told Mixmaster of the bra with the pointy "Madonna look."
"He let me work on it," added Ezelle, who drew a sketch that inspired the sculpture. The initial drawing had the bra standing vertically , but Tobolowsky said, "A 2,000-pound bra ... needs to be on the ground."
Did he ever imagine himself fashioning a giant bra from recycled metal? "Maybe when I was younger, but not at my age," the artist said. Ezelle hopes they can build a platform for the bra that reads "You Can't Strap a Good Woman Down."
"I don't do pink; I don't do breast cancer," said Ezelle, who shared her hatred for pink in a Q&A with Merritt. The cancer survivor and interior designer said she would like to have her own reality show, "the real modern family," she said, referencing life with her partner, four children, plenty of pets, and a massive renovation of their home. The premise would be something like "living through construction and not killing your partner," she said. It would showcase her penchant for interior design in the midst of her busy life.
The cast of upcoming reality show, The A List: Dallas, showed up and mingled at the event. They even joined many more in the crowd as they wrote messages on pink bras and threw them onto a nearby tree, adorning it uniquely as nearby diners watched.
On October 3, the bra will be relocated to City Hall, where the mayor and city staff will have the same view currently enjoyed by Mi Cocina patrons and West Village passers-by.
