How’s this for an entrance! And until late 2019 this standout Popeye sculpture took pride of place in Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas until 2019 (at which time it was moved to Encore Boston Harbor). This iconic stainless steal Popeye sculpture is the creation of renowned pop culture artist Jeff Koons. The sculpture was bought by former Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn in 2014 for a cool $28 million . Koons has made multiple Popeye sculptures and said he was misprinted by the iconic cartoon characters representation of strength.

Now this isn’t a funny play on words, the ‘wheel of misfortune’ is very much an actual thing in the real world! Nine years ago a team of graffiti artists with a cheeky sense of humour painted a Wheel of Fortune style wheel at an abandoned mining site just outside of Sin City itself, Las Vegas.

The idea behind the Wheel of misfortune is that most of the spaces on the wheel are $000, while others include such messages as “Lose a Job” and “Bank Owned”.  Clearly not the most upbeat of art pieces, at the same time it is of course a possibility if you outstay your welcome in Vegas.

Over the years the art piece has started to look rather weathered, but for some that just adds to its appeal. It’s a sizeable piece at 250 feet wide. It was originally painted in one of the mining thickener pits and proved to be an ideal canvas for a roulette wheel style creation.

The Wheel of Fortune is located just behind Laker Plaza, a mere few hundred feet away from the entrance to Las Vegas. Though on private property (and in fact possibly contaminated land!)  visiting the Wheel of Misfortune has, and continues to be on the to-do list of many Vegas visitors.

Courtesy of ‘Music Genius’ Playing Cards