A local sculptor is claiming his work has been plagiarized by one of the artists commissioned to create a piece for Guadalajara city hall’s polemic Arte Publica project.
Tlaquepaque artist Jorge Frausto Arias says Jose Fors’ piece, Arbol Adentro (featured in last week’s Reporter) is an exact copy of an idea that he first produced back in 1994, titled “Cerebro.” Frausto said he patented his idea – featuring a human head, minus a cranium, out of which sprouts a tree – eight years ago and that there is “no difference” between his and Fors’ concept.
Frausto said he has perfected his idea over the years, creating variations on the original work, and has photographs of the pieces exhibited in various art spaces in the past two decades. Fors is being paid 4.5 million pesos for “Arbo Adentro,” which is being cast in bronze.