If this were middle school, Katharina Fritsch’s nickname would be “blue cock girl.”

Before you jump to conclusions, we’ll explain. She would be called this because her most iconic work is an over 20 foot tall cobalt blue chicken. Why, you may ask, did she make such a sculpture? Well, because she wanted people to see it and be uncomfortable talking about the big blue cock in front of them. Immature? Maybe. Funny? Definitely. Of course, she has other works and represented England in the Venice Biennial long before the chicken was ever birthed from her beautiful mind but you know how people are. They love a good penis joke.

Fritsch was born in Essen, West Germany on Valentine’s Day in 1956. She started her education as a history and art history major at University of Munster but quickly transferred to  Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. At first she thought she’d study painting but made the jump to sculpture, when she couldn’t stop making small versions of buildings and stuff she would find in her childhood home. Soon she was making giant madonnas, rats, shells, skulls, snakes, and elephants. Each sculpture is both giant and entirely one mildly off-putting color.

She does sometimes make humans and when she does she has Frank as her muse. Frank, to Katharina, is the definition of an average male body that she can morph into anything that she wants. It seems like the perfect muse-ship but Frank almost died for Katharina’s art. She explains, “he wasn't getting enough air because he had too much plaster on his skin and we had impregnated his clothes as well. Inside the layer of plaster Frank was turning blue and suddenly his head lolled forward. I thought we should take the plaster form off him, but the technician didn't want to ruin it. I insisted and we barely saved Frank.” Luckily Frank did not die and Katharina did not go to jail for murder. I doubt she would have made as cool art from a cell.