Bronze bottoms prompt bothered brows on Strip

Art Nadler

Wednesday, May 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

It looked like some sort of Hollywood affair.

The front of the Riviera hotel-casino was crammed Tuesday with people eagerly awaiting the unveiling of what's without a doubt one of the community's most controversial pieces of public art.

Seven statuesque showgirls sauntered out dressed in sequinned red evening gowns. They lined up near a covered item attached to the front of the hotel. On a cue from a hotel executive, they dropped the drape.

There, in all its glory, stood life-size bronze nude backsides of the "Crazy Girls" showgirls in their trademark "No Ifs Ands Or ..." pose.

"We at the Riviera think showgirls are synonymous with the glamorous side of Las Vegas," said Bob Vannucci, vice president of marketing. "We feel this is as much a part of Las Vegas history as the million dollars on display at Binion's."

But not everyone is heralding the Riviera's contribution to the city's public art collection. Several members of the National Organization for Women were on the sidewalk Tuesday protesting.

"Now that I looked at it, it's as sexual as I thought it would be," said Anne Golonka of NOW. "It's kind of soft pornography because these statues are faceless."

Golonka is concerned that women and children walking on the sidewalk will be exposed to the bare buttocks. She wants the hotel to move the 11-by-6-foot, 1,540-pound bronze inside.

"They just cleared all the hardcore (smut peddlers) off the Strip," she said. "The hotel just felt this was great publicity."

Golonka is upset that the women's faces aren't shown, and that their sexuality is being exploited. Bettina Best, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator from the "Legends in Concert" show at the Imperial Palace Hotel, agreed.

"Whatever they do inside is up to them, but outside there are kids," Best said. "They are advertising this as patting the women on the butts for good luck. This actually induces sexual harassment because some people can't separate fantasy from reality."

The Crazy Girls, to no surprise, take exception to these views. Having spent two days last summer in 100-degree temperatures in a warehouse posing, they've come to appreciate the artistry of sculptor Michael Conine.

"I think it's exciting to go down in history," Kim Barranco said of her bronze image. "It's more definite than a poster."

"We are proud to be immortalized on the Strip," Karen Raider added. "We all have day jobs, and some have children. Every girl here is more than just body parts."

Conine, from Santa Fe, N.M., said the project was one of the most challenging he has ever undertaken. Each girl had to pose for three 20-minute sessions until full backside plaster body casts were made in three sections. Then they had to pose with the other women again to cast the arm-in-arm sections.

Twenty-two plaster pieces were cast, weighing a total of 400 pounds. The casts were then shipped to the Shidoni Foundry in Tesuque, N.M.

"Nudity has been in art since the beginning," Conine said. "Using the female nude in art is nothing new."

But Golonka said Conine's sculpture is not like fine art. She said the statue of David in Caesars Palace is a good example. It doesn't flaunt his sexuality, she said, and doesn't portray him in a controversial pose like the Crazy Girls.