yes this is true, just put the name of the artist... you be fine. Photogragher (dont remember who) went around talking pictures of someone elses pictures and submitted that. She put the name of the photographer in artists statement, no problem.
I agree. To tell you the truth, when I first looked at the picture, I looked straight at the green shrubs (or whatever they are) mainly because it seems like the only color that doesn't blend in with the statue and the walls, but I don't know, it might just be me.
The statue is beautiful by the way. Keep shooting 8)
One thing that I think is that this shot is art and not "look at the cool statue" the statue is part of the shot but I look at the shot as a whole where the shrubs and the building are just as important to the whole shot. I take shots like this all the time, I like looking at somthing in a new way.