Artist says he feels humiliated by Unesco after he put underwear on his naked sculptures

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Stéphane Simon's "In Memory of Me" series was intended to draw attention to the culture of taking selfies.

(CNN) - The United Nations cultural agency, Unesco, has been criticized for covering the genitals of a series of nude sculptures with underwear.

The works of the French sculptor Stéphane Simon, showing nude figures of classic style taking selfies, were exhibited in Paris during the UNESCO European Heritage Day event in September.

But the officials decided to cover the offensive parts of the works of art with underwear, to Simon's surprise and the ridiculous of the art commentators.

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Simon told CNN that the clothes were "disgusting" and said the experience left him "humiliated."

"I felt ashamed, so deeply sad to see all these years of work and research broken," said the artist. "For two days the visitors gathered to ask me: 'But why did you do that?' But it was not my choice. ”

The works of art, part of a project called "In Memory of Me", were designed to draw attention to the culture of selfies in recent years.

"I should have spent two days explaining the fascinating link" between the practice of taking selfies and the history of classical Greek, Simon added.

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Simon said that he had raised the issue of nudity during planning meetings with Unesco before the event, but that he was not asked to cover the work until a few days before the sculptures were exhibited and added that he did not have time to amend the parts properly.

Unesco has not responded to CNN's request for comments, but the British newspaper Times quoted a spokesman who said: "We did not want to censor the artist and we understand that he felt hurt."

Simon added to CNN that the organization has recognized that it was a "mistake made by an employee."

UNESCO