The saga of "Erin" -- the nude, giant-posteriored female character that artist Daniel Fila first spray-painted onto a wall on Biscayne Boulevard at NE 37th Street in 2003 -- has been rife with plot twists.
First, a pushy conservative artist, presumably offended by the giant cheeks marking Miamians' commute, whitewashed the figure. Fila responded by repainting the woman and turning her around so she faced the viewer with a shocked expression. "The idea was to have her be mortified, like, 'I didn't know anybody was watching me!'" Fila tells Riptide. He gave her a massive-shouldered male companion -- bearing the artist's own face -- and renamed the mural Adam and Eve. The woman's face was based on that of a girl named Erin, a former college "crush" of Fila's. When the real-life Erin -- last name Wozniak -- caught wind of the tribute, she wasn't flattered. In fact, the photographer accused the aerosol artist of stealing from her own self-portrait -- and condemned his work as a "grossly oversexualized naked figure."
Boo. Thus obliged, Fila replaced the woman's face -- with Shakira's, of course.
Just in time for Art Basel, the artist has again altered the mural. Erin has become a brunette and now holds a big-headed baby near her bosom. Her new face is modeled loosely after his girlfriend's, Fila says.
Boo. Thus obliged, Fila replaced the woman's face -- with Shakira's, of course.
Just in time for Art Basel, the artist has again altered the mural. Erin has become a brunette and now holds a big-headed baby near her bosom. Her new face is modeled loosely after his girlfriend's, Fila says.
So is the new baby his? "I guess so," Fila responds ponderously. "There's nobody else in the picture."
