A statue of Beyoncé is currently standing in formation at an art exhibition, which is available to view online.

The Curfew Sirens is the latest work by Brazilian sculptor Matheus Rocha Pitta featuring a bust of Queen B in the likelihood of legendary African queen, Nefertiti.

The artist’s work consists of several sculptures which are a social commentary on the relationship we have with social media. By focusing selfie sticks with cement phones on the individual sculptures, Pitta aims to highlight how people ought to take a closer look at the demands that social media and the internet place on us.

One of the overriding questions he hopes for us to consider is around the idea of freedom and whether or not we are truly free or if social media indirectly dictate our ways.

It took Pitta two months to sculpt Beyoncé’s face, and he admits the sculpture is his favourite of all the sirens. He even visited Neues Museum in Berlin to view the original Nefertiti bust.

“Sculpting Beyoncé was particularly challenging because of the hat. I wanted it to be as beautiful as the original. I’m sure I failed, but I still like it!”

Named The First Siren, the statue of Beyoncé as Nefertiti is the central piece in the eight piece collection.

“What I love about the Beyoncé image is that she appropriated herself as Nefertiti, the Egyptian queen, and rescued this heritage of the ancient world to project it at the current political arena. She made Nefertiti available for the masses and centred it around icons of black history, such as Malcolm X and Nina Simone,” he states.

All the sirens are images taken from either newspapers,magazines, books or album covers. Instead of reproducing the image, the original copy was used with the incorporation of a unique technique.

“As a sculptor, I developed a technique of using paper and cement which I learned from cheap graves in Brazil. In this particular work of art, this technique went further in the sense of converting a two-dimensional image into a 3D statue. It is somewhat complicated and at the same time an amateur technique. You would laugh at me if I showed you how I did it!”, says the sculptor.

Through his art, Pitta aims to undo messages, orders and commandments. He hopes for people to understand that violence and language are bonded. According to him, the sirens are not there to see, hear, or say anything but rather to resist.

With various measures implemented as a result of the coronavirus, and social distancing being the name of the game, you can still enjoy the exhibition from the comfort of your own home by visiting here.