NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – For nearly 20 years, there’s been an ongoing feud between New Orleans artists, Simon Hardeveld and Dr. Bob. This weekend at Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo, it appears that feud is heating up over Dr. Bob claiming that Simon is copying his work.
At Bayou Boogaloo, this sculpture depicting Simon has riled up art lovers in our city. The sculpture reads: “Simon Says: Buy The REAL Thing, Buy Dr. Bob Art.” The sculpture is supposed to be of Simon.
WGNO News called both Simon and Dr. Bob to hear their sides of the story about the sculpture seen at Bayou Boogaloo.
Simon said, “I think this is ridiculous and crazy. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. I really don’t care. He’s started it. The only reason I did my version of the ‘Be Nice or Leave’ sign was to get Dr. Bob upset because he claims that I copy him.”
An assistant of Dr. Bob called and told us, “Dr. Bob didn’t design that sculpture seen at Bayou Boogaloo. One of Dr. Bob’s friends did and put it out there. Bob understands that he can’t copyright a saying like, ‘Be Nice or Leave’, but he resents the fact that Simon recreated his art. Bob invented it, not Simon.”
Both artists have similar styles which are iconic to New Orleans. Simon designed our “News with a Twist” set, and we have Dr. Bob’s art hanging in our WGNO kitchen set.
What do you think? Share your thoughts on WGNO’s Facebook page: