'Is this actually real?': Wellingtonians slam 'nightmare' hand sculpture

A new work of art is now on display in Wellington - and locals aren't loving it.

The sculpture has gone viral on social media over the last few hours, with Wellingtonians slamming it as "creepy".

"Quasi" is a work of art by Ronnie van Hout that has moved from its old abode on the roof ot the Christchurch Art Gallery to now sit on top of Wellington's City Gallery.

The sculpture, a five-metre tall polystyrene and resin sculpture of a hand standing on two fingers, with a face in the palm, is not proving popular among Wellingtonians.

"With Quasi, Ronnie van Hout elevates the hand of the artist to monumental status in the regenerating city. Based on scans of his own body parts, van Hout describes Quasi as 'the artist's hand made giant'," a description on the Christchurch Art Gallery website reads.

"A surreal piece of visual fun, it plays with the idea of the artist's hand as the source of his or her genius. Quasi is full of pop-culture references, like the crawling, disembodied hand of old comedy-horror films, or Victor Hugo's lonely outcast Quasimodo on the roof of Notre Dame."

One thing Wellingtonians agree with: it does remind them of horror films.

On local Facebook groups, it's being described as "ugly" and "hideous", with locals saying the sculpture is the stuff of nightmares.

"Is this actually real?!" one person asked.

"It looks dumb, dumb, dumb. It'll make Welly the laughing stock of the country with a monstrosity like this on top of a building," someone else said.

"Looks like Donald Trump. Take it down," one Wellingtonian suggested.

Others criticised the money spent to get it up on the Wellington roof - reportedly $74,000.

"I think the biggest issue I have with it is the amount of money they spent on it could have seriously helped any number of charities in Wellington and done some practical good. It's money wasted," one person said.

Despite the criticism, Quasi isn't going anywhere - not for the next three years.