By Millie Roberts, ABC<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe new Joy is made of a sturdier material, has a haircut and holds a different pose, but otherwise remains true to the original.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ supplied \/ Matthew Crawford\n<\/p>\n
Leaning against a red frame, cigarette in hand, a divisive sculpture captured Sydney’s attention over a whirlwind 18 months.<\/p>\n
Joy, believed to be the world’s first statue of a sex worker, was erected in the inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst in 1995.<\/p>\n
It was the same year New South Wales became the first jurisdiction to largely decriminalise sex work after years of activism from the industry.<\/p>\n
Artist Loui May (n\u00e9e Fraser) drew inspiration from the “ladies in the doorway” she would see on her way to art school as a teenager.<\/p>\n
She said the artwork, which she made out of cement and marble dust when she was in her 40s, paid tribute to sex workers in the area.<\/p>\n
“As soon as I saw the [vacant] plinth, that vision of those women came to me,” May told ABC News.<\/p>\n
“As an artist that’s interested in public sculpture, I felt it was really important to do something that represented modern life.<\/p>\n
“I thought that these women were very important to the area historically and I just felt they needed to be recognised.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nLoui May told the ABC she wanted Joy to represent “modern life”.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Elloise Farrow-Smith\n<\/p>\n
Joy’s name had a double meaning, May said – it related to how “joyous” the women were and the services they provided.<\/p>\n
But not everyone was a fan and the temporary artwork was removed in 1997 before being given to Macquarie University, where it has remained since.<\/p>\n
Three decades on a bronze replica has been unveiled on the same plinth after the community rallied for Joy to come home.<\/p>\n
Tourist destination and ‘target practice’<\/p>\n
May said there was “mixed reaction” to the original Joy and, according to the City of Sydney, it was considered “contentious” under the former South Sydney Council.<\/p>\n
Some residents, including at a nearby retirement home, opposed the statue and petitioned for it to be taken down.<\/p>\n
“At the time a journalist asked me, did I think it was appropriate and my reaction was, ‘Do we need any more Captain Cooks or Queen Victorias?’ – no, we don’t,” May said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe artist and her original sculpture in the late ’90s.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Supplied \/ Loui May\n<\/p>\n
May said an inebriated man went at Joy with a pipe “as target practice” and a mother who thought the statue resembled her daughter attacked it with a hammer.<\/p>\n
“There were quite a few people that were angry about it … but mostly people just loved her, which was fantastic,” the artist said.<\/p>\n
May said tourists would snap pictures, nearby businesses were relaxed about it being there, and local sex workers “adopted” the sculpture.<\/p>\n
“Public art, I believe, should depict life … real people in our society,” she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nDozens of people showed up to the bronze statue’s public unveiling on Saturday.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Fletcher Yeung\n<\/p>\n
Community’s homecoming push<\/p>\n
After hearing about its impact in the city, founding member of the Australian Prostitutes’ Collective Julie Bates AO spent years pushing for Joy’s return.<\/p>\n
She said Darlinghurst was the “birthplace of the contemporary sex workers’ movement” that formed in the latter part of the 20th century.<\/p>\n
“[Joy is] far more than a statue – she’s representative of the intrinsic humanity of sex workers and our role in advancing social justice and law reform,” the advocate said.<\/p>\n
Bates and historian Catherine Freyne started the campaign to bring Joy home and a public petition garnered nearly 400 signatures in 2023.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nJulie Bates AO said Darlinghurst was the birthplace of contemporary sex work advocacy.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Liam Patrick\n<\/p>\n
The City of Sydney said 80 percent of respondents backed Joy coming back during community consultation.<\/p>\n
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the reinstallation contributed to the council’s work in “rebalancing” public art and “providing more representations of women and other traditionally marginalised groups”.<\/p>\n
The replica will now be a permanent feature on the corner of Yurong and Stanley Streets.<\/p>\n
May said it was a “sculptor’s dream come true” that Joy would live on in a new way.<\/p>\n
“She’s timeless – sex workers have been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be here,” she said.<\/p>\n
“They’re just part of our society.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nMay said she was inspired by the sex workers she used to see in the area.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ Liam Patrick\n<\/p>\n
One statue’s second life<\/p>\n
Macquarie University declined to return the original statue but happily loaned it so a replica could be made.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said it was “pleased to support the City of Sydney’s initiative” and worked “closely with the artist, conservators and foundry to help facilitate the delicate process”.<\/p>\n
Matthew Crawford, a casting technician who helped oversee the $165,000 reconstruction earlier this year, said all hands were on deck for the process.<\/p>\n
Silicone was layered over the borrowed piece to create a mould, before a wax copy was made and personally approved by May.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nMatthew Crawford says the process took months to complete.
\nPhoto: ABC \/ supplied \/ Matthew Crawford\n<\/p>\n
A ceramic shell was then placed around it before everything was heated to melt away the wax, leaving a gap for silicon bronze to be slowly poured into.<\/p>\n
Whether the 2025 version would include a cigarette was discussed, but ultimately rejected due to modern attitudes around smoking.<\/p>\n
Crawford said the original material was more vulnerable but the new statue promised longevity.<\/p>\n
“Bronze is extremely durable, so it’ll outlive us all,” he said.<\/p>\n
The replica was unveiled on Saturday.<\/p>\n
– ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Millie Roberts, ABC The new Joy is made of a sturdier material, has a haircut and holds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,48,47,501,156,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":["post-125384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}