PUBIC ART
Contemporary Public Art Isn’t Just Bad; It’s Obscene
“Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty because it lasts,” declared the famously hideous Serge Gainsbourg.
Let’s hope not.
This week, a massive sculpture honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. was erected in Boston. Literally. Inspired by an old snapshot of Dr. King hugging his long-suffering wife, the $10 million dollar bronze behemoth depicts two pairs of disembodied, headless, faceless, bodiless arms, hugging nothing.
As with so much public art—or shall we say, pubic art—these days, “The Embrace” is obscenely, even pornographically, suggestive from almost every angle. It’s unclear if this was done intentionally. Perhaps it’s a nod to Dr. King’s not-quite-I-have-a-dreamy history with women.
Yes, Dr. King was renown for his skilled oral delivery, but this is a little on the nose:
