Couldn’t Resist (8 Photos)

Hands on the art. Sometimes the art grabs back.

Some art is impossible to leave alone: a lucky belly, a marble girl who seems to be listening, a seat on the bench next to a statue. In the second half of these eight photos, the art returns the favor.

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👮 One Rub for Luck — By András Illyés in Budapest, Hungary 🇭🇺

The rest of the policeman is dark bronze, from his helmet to the sword at his side. His belly is the one bright spot, polished by visitors’ hands. This visitor adds another rub, smiles past the camera and looks very pleased with the deal.

💡 Luck Fact: The statue was unveiled in 2008 at Zrínyi utca 4 in Budapest’s District V. Rubbing the belly is said to bring luck and a return trip to Budapest.

More: When You Jump Into the Frame to Play With the Statues (20 Photos)

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🤫 Can You Keep a Secret? — By Randolph Rogers

The marble girl has a hand cupped to her ear, so the visitor leans in with a hand at her mouth and whispers. The statue tilts her head and looks ready to hear every word. It is hard to stand next to someone listening that closely and say nothing.

💡 Story Fact: Nydia is the blind flower seller from an 1834 novel set in Pompeii. Rogers shows the moment during the eruption when she calls out and listens for an answer, as the Harvard Art Museums explain. The sculpture was copied 167 times, in two sizes.

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🍿 Want Some?

He has a soda in one hand and holds the popcorn box out to his bronze neighbor on the bench. The statue keeps its hands resting on its knee and its eyes on the street. A wreath with a red bow hangs on the fence behind them. Some people are hard to share with.

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👶 Same Move, Real Baby

The bronze mother sits on her bench and throws her child high above her head. The real mother next to her copies the move with her own baby, arms straight up and back arched the same way. Both children are in the air; only one of them is made of bronze.

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👕 Come Here a Second

Now the art reaches back. The painted statue grabs a fistful of navy T-shirt and pulls it forward, its face pressed right against his ear. He looks down and holds very still. This time the statue is the one with something to whisper.

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🖐️ Not Even Superman

A grinning bronze rider on a unicycle sticks one arm straight out at head height. The man walking past in a Superman T-shirt gets the open palm square in the face, flip-flops still mid-step. The statue looks delighted. Not even Superman saw that one coming.

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⚾ Wrong Place to Stand

The bronze batter is in the middle of a full swing, front foot planted and the bat level. The boy in the white T-shirt stepped right into its path. Eyes squeezed shut and mouth wide open, he takes the hit with perfect timing. The banners behind them carry the Twins’ TC logo.

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🕶️ Not So Fast — By CHEONE

The painted man in sunglasses only needs two fingers. He pinches the back of a real passerby’s white T-shirt and stretches it across the turquoise pillar, while the passerby leans forward and reaches ahead as if trying to get away. The wall is winning.

💡 Artist Fact: CHEONE is Cosimo Caiffa, born in Gallipoli in southern Italy in 1979. He trained in classical painting at home, took up spray paint after moving to Germany, and has been based in Milan for about two decades.

More: Amazing 3D Murals by CHEONE

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