Performance artist Mark McGowan gets prepared to be kicked by New Yorker Amy Brown on Thursday. (Reuters)

New York, Feb. 23 (Reuters): New Yorkers got to kick President George W. Bush’s butt yesterday, sort of.

British performance artist Mark McGowan kicked off his bid to crawl for 72 hours across Manhattan dressed as the President, offering the opportunity to kick his backside.

The controversial artist from London began his odyssey from New York’s Lincoln Center wearing a rubber George Bush mask, a business suit, knee pads, work gloves and a sign stuck to his cushioned posterior reading simply:“Kick My Ass.”

Though few ordinary New Yorkers, other than fellow artists, cameramen and photographers, were present for the launch on a wet workday afternoon, some people gave him a kick. “It felt real good to kick Bush,” said Casmirr Sharp, 52, of New York’s Queens borough.“He really deserves more than a kick.”

McGowan said he hopes his performance proves therapeutic to the city’s denizens. But he insisted his work was no publicity stunt but art: “It’s definitely an art form. A lot of the things I do are a bit silly but they always have a political edge to them.”