Hank Willis Thomas, the conceptual artist behind "The Embrace," a monument commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's relationship, joins "CNN This Morning" to discuss the criticism the statue has received. #CNN #News
New monument honoring MLK elicits crude criticism. Hear artist’s response
Its really is an eye sore. Has to be better mlk statues out there
Trump deserves a foundation stone .
😂😂😂
I think it’s safe to assume MLK deserves to be honored and remembered as a FULL person. His features and face undeniably identifiable. Not this. Concept… beautiful, execution… lacking more. Please consider completing the statue adding his head.
@Tabby Reed lol… you probably still think that it was the democrats that ended slavery
@Bill Barr No, I know back then the parties were quite different.
You can deny the switch happened all you want but do me a favor.
Ask a bunch of KKK members, Neo-Nazis and the like who they voted for in the last few elections. The answer may surprise you but it shouldn’t.
@Tabby Reed i just asked a bunch at they all voted for obama, hillary and biden
@Bill Barr Sure they did and my real name is princess tutu.
@Tabby Reed yep, they said they all voted for obama twice.
The statue is a beautiful idea, but the issue is how he could have executed the visualization. The statue didnt look like a hug or anything that ive seen. Youd have to be told what it is to see it and understand its meaning. I love the idea, just the statue not so much.
@Eduardo Oliveira Only if he can be depicted with handcuffs on?
*SOMEBODY CALL LARRY FLYNTS PEOPLE!!! 🤣*
Ridiculous idea. Ridiculous amount of money.
Ridiculously looking piece of crap
@Bee A. hhhjpp]ppppp]ppppppppppp]p]p]ppp=
Excatly. If you have to be told what it is then it’s a failure. MLK is such a great man and his legacy as well as the woman who stood with him deserve so much more.
The artist was hired to specifically make a MLK statue so it shouldn’t feel like a mental Rubik’s cube to us to figure out. My goodness. And paid 10 million for it. I cannot believe 10 mil. 😒
@Candle Bright or invest in land labor and resources as Baba James Small puts it.. I’m well aware
@Jay Mass
THE TRUMP OPERATION WARP SPEED COVID VACCINE IS NOT GOOD FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD
@Eduardo Oliveira
None of the vaccines are good. What does any of this have to do with this statue and conversation? Get some help wack job.
It’s a status of Don Lemon trying to pull his head out of his a$$
Well they hired the artist that does exactly this style of sculptures, so why would they be surprised?
i like the idea, but without his face, it’s impossible to know just from looking what the heck this is supposed to be.
This statue does invoke conversation. The problem is, it doesn’t invoke any conversation about MKL and his legacy. The only conversation is how stupid it looks.
*SOMEBODY CALL LARRY FLYNTS PEOPLE!! 🤣*
It’s just grotesque
Troll Account
@Lea Garner it looks like a massive schlong
his mama must have told him, ‘you fucked up bro ‘
Cause this ain’t it 😢
Art is meant to inspire emotion that transcends language. This piece speaks to me but it makes me in the sick in the same way a Francis Bacon or Lucian Freud painting would. I don’t believe the artist intention was to spark this response. Maybe it was? Either way, the artist is a failure in the sense that he managed to memorial himself instead of MLK.
The problem here is is that unless you are not familiar with the actual picture, you can’t conceptualize what this is. I mean the average person would not know what to make of this,
The “value” of a piece of art is up to the beholders, not to the artist and most definitely not to pretentious talking heads
It’s sad that the artist missed the opportunity to honor King’s wife, who doesn’t receive enough credit, by not showing her face.
Most people’s don’t get art so Why not just make the whole body so everyone can understand 👊🏿👊🏾👊🏽👊🏼👊🏻👊
@Movie Theater Why do you think it is that “most people’s don’t get art”?
@Lea Garner art isn’t understood by the average human this belong in a art gallery for people who admire art to this crazy degree
You make something to honor her then since he failed so miserably.
For humanity purposes I understand you can’t invite a guest on a show and then verbally beat him up, but the 20 foot doggie dodo is awful. However hearing the internet comments had me laughing so hard 🤣 I was crying. He was successful in bringing the world to tears over MLK I can say that much.
For many viewers art can be either a hit or miss. Unfortunately I think that this one was a miss. The size, medium, design components, location for this version I think missed the mark. As often happens, art can be over-thought, and this one with the focus on arms is, and would be misinterpreted and confusing. Sorry!
I’M SORRY THAT WAS A MISS FOR OUR PEOPLE SMH THAT’S LOOKS MIND BOGGLING
“I love this. Because it makes you think more deeply.”
No, it doesn’t.
That’s art ….:)
With things like drugs you want it to affect everyone the same, but a sculpture isn’t a drug made to make you feel a certain way. It’s a suggestion of a viewpoint of something that we have in common.
That’s what she said
It looks like hands holding poop from one angle, a explicit romantic act from another view, and decapitated bodies from another view. The beautiful images of their smiles their gorgeous features and the happiness in their expression seen in the picture this is based on. To leave all that out is absurd and a huge disappointment. Our kids are going to look at that & say wtf & who is it? Their faces their smiles the triumph in their struggle all cut off just like their faces. Sad.
Brilliant comment! I absolutely feel you!
The problem is that they hired a conceptual artist instead of a traditional one.
They are not obviously trollls. They are honest commenters who say what they see. The emperor has no clothes!
This whole thing including the unveiling is like a Simpsons cartoon.
I also an “artist”. “Conceptual” art is considered more important than it’s execution, HOWEVER, when art is made for public displays and to honor someone, the conceptuality has to be tempered with it’s purpose. I know the artist that made the Arthur Ashe statue in Richmond, Virginia and he had the same issue, he admits now he was too laser focused on it’s visceral effect than it’s true intent.