MLK Sculpture:

[3113]

Full article here

Decades after it was first proposed, 12 years after fundraising started and only months before construction is set to begin, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial is mired in controversy -- with some artists and art historians saying that Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin's rendering of the late civil rights leader resembles the type of art more commonly used to commemorate totalitarian dictators. On those grounds, the little-known U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose approval is required before the project can proceed, proposed last month that the sculpture be reworked.

"In general, the Commission members found that the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries," read a letter from commission secretary Thomas Luebke....It's unclear why the Commission chose to voice its concerns now, since it approves the project as a whole, and has looked at earlier versions and models of the statue in the past.

Critics of the statue seem to fear that the Chinese sculptor

intentionally fashioning King as he would Mao Tse-tung....the worry seems to be about what is known as socialist realism. The latter is a label generally applied to Soviet-era art intended to honor and uplift the working class and the ideals of socialism, but evocative of oppression and intimidation to many Americans. The commission cited in particular the King statue's "stiffly frontal image, static in pose." Others cite the folded arms (though they're modeled after a famous Bob Fitch photograph of King), the boxy suit, the steely stare.

Whadda think? "Steely stare" or, as one person who likes the sculpture thinks "thoughtful and strong"?

http://media.npr.org/programs/newsnotes/features/2007/07/Side%20Profile%20of%20Sculpted%20Stone%20of%20Hope.jpg

 

[3113]

Oops. Sorry. Title is supposed to be MLK Sculpture: Steely or Thoughtful?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I suppose they think that since he was for equal rights for all his image should be soft and simpering? Baloney. It's like John Wayne's self-chosen epitaph: "Era fuerte, feo y formal". MKL deserves it, too.

 

[TE999]

I see what the commission is upset about.

That looks more like Lenin than MLK.

Just sayin'.

 

[3113]

That looks more like Lenin than MLK.

Hey, I'm all up for a comparison contrast:

Lenin:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/lenine.jpg

King:

http://media.npr.org/programs/newsnotes/features/2007/07/Side%20Profile%20of%20Sculpted%20Stone%20of%20Hope.jpg

I dunno. I think the crossed arms makes MLK look more hip-hop than Lenin.

 

[tickledkitty]

I like it. I don't think if he were alive today he'd be looking jolly. He's the rock, the foundation, of the Civil Rights Movement, so I think the statue is completely appropriate. His feet are planted far apart, and his arms are folded, almost as if he's bracing himself for the weight of it and defending the movement and himself. Not dictatorial. Strong. Eternal.

Yeah, I like it very much. It's a wonderful likeness.

 

[Guest]

I think he looks powerful (whether or not he looks like Lenin).

When a work of art is created it will never please everyone.

 

[galaxygoddess]

I'm not body langauge expert, nor a statue expert, but the way his arms are crossed make me think he was closed and guarded.

completely taking the person out of the sculpture and pretending it's just some random guy no one really knows...

I see a man who it determined, but that he's guarded. like he's trying to protect himself or even ward off any on comers.

BUT if I compare it to my grandaddy, a man who gave his everything for everyone who was open and honest and welcoming, I'd say he has the stance of someone listening to something very important and troubling. When he would stand like this, he was in deep thought and making note of everything someone told him.

but it's the general public who doesn't know this man, who doesn't know what his stance means, or doesn't interpret it the way I do, he almost looks cold and resentful.



That's just my take.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

I like the solidity of it but I think I would rather he had his arms and hands open as if to embrace humanity and as a giver. I think of crossed arms as a defensive posture.

 

[Oblimo]

He looks like he's sprouting whole from the living rock to righteously kick ass and chew bubblegum...and someone just told him they don't serve "his kind" bubblegum.

 

[TE999]

Hey, I'm all up for a comparison contrast:

Lenin:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/lenine.jpg

King:

http://media.npr.org/programs/newsnotes/features/2007/07/Side%20Profile%20of%20Sculpted%20Stone%20of%20Hope.jpg

I dunno. I think the crossed arms makes MLK look more hip-hop than Lenin.

Agreed. Also his mustache is trimmed and his suit fits better.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Agreed. Also his mustache is trimmed and his suit fits better.

He's American. Our suits always fit better than the Russians.

 

[3113]

He looks like he's sprouting whole from the living rock to righteously kick ass and chew bubblegum...and someone just told him they don't serve "his kind" bubblegum.

He does look ready to "bust a cap" in someone.

 

[Pure]

i kinda like the toughness of it. the crossed arms are not really crossed, it's more like a fight manager on his break.

it's just a wee bit tinged with "socialist realism", brawny babes on tractors staring resolutely into the future. the right wing are not entirely hallucinating. king's resoluteness and actions, as most of us know, led to his surveillance by the FBI for years.

 

[3113]

it's just a wee bit tinged with "socialist realism", brawny babes on tractors staring resolutely into the future.

I think if one is going to accuse a sculpture of going that way it ought to have something more than a guy in a suit with his arms crossed. It *should* have a tractor in the background. Some hard working proletariats with red kerchiefs on their heads and farm tools in their hands. Like this:

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/socrealism/serca250.jpg

Where's the bushel of wheat? Where's Stalin's mustache?

 

[Pure]

for instance

http://www.mariesworldtour.com/entries/06_June/lithuania/vilnius9.jpg

http://www.isil.org/resources/fnn/2003summer/stalin-bust.jpg

http://us.123rf.com/168nwm/ppl58/ppl580708/ppl58070800437.jpg

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

I think if one is going to accuse a sculpture of going that way it ought to have something more than a guy in a suit with his arms crossed. It *should* have a tractor in the background. Some hard working proletariats with red kerchiefs on their heads and farm tools in their hands. Like this:

http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/socrealism/serca250.jpg

Where's the bushel of wheat? Where's Stalin's mustache?

What does that guy have over his shoulder? It looks like a machine gun.

 

[Stella_Omega]

What does that guy have over his shoulder? It looks like a machine gun.

I think it's a jackhammer/mining drill/riveter/all-purpose article of manliness.

 

[SweetPrettyAss]

I think it's a jackhammer/mining drill/riveter/all-purpose article of manliness.

It could be a drill bit for oil drilling. It might be a riveter. It looks too small to be a jack hammer. I see them sometimes when people are doing road work, and they look to big too carry like that.

 

[rgraham666]

Haven't been in one for a while, but Harvey's a local burger chain, has been using 'Socialist Realism' art for its decorating scheme.

Haven't heard any complaints.

I'm of the mind that this is an style dispute rather than a political one. I do wonder why the Commission chose a Chinese sculptor rather than an American one.

 

[Guest]

Haven't been in one for a while, but Harvey's a local burger chain, has been using 'Socialist Realism' art for its decorating scheme.

Haven't heard any complaints.

I'm of the mind that this is an style dispute rather than a political one. I do wonder why the Commission chose a Chinese sculptor rather than an American one.

Outsourcing.

 

[rgraham666]

That was my thought.

There was a column today in my local paper by a commentator that I quite like. He says that the U.S. is likely to become like Canada. A branch plant economy where most industry is owned by corporations in other countries.

 

[SemiColon]

I think Canada is much more civilized than America. Perhaps we need an influx of change however we can get it. The Americans who are the giants of industry here need to be replaced by someone, in my opinion, although I quite agree that it would be nice if we could find better Americans to do the job.


We do have plenty of artists here that could have done a better job. I don't like it, personally. It screams "Angry Black Man" to me.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Yep, it's the wrong metaphor for solid and determined. It also depicts rigid and monolithic and hard and closed and stuck.

What you want is a visual metaphor that isnt ambiguous.

 

[tickledkitty]

We do have plenty of artists here that could have done a better job. I don't like it, personally. It screams "Angry Black Man" to me.

Wasn't he, in fact, an angry black man? With good reason, of course.