Hank Willis Thomas’ sculpture, “The Embrace” has everyone talking, mainly about a lot of confusion surrounding the statue’s structure from different angles.
The 20-foot-tall, 19-ton bronze monument in Boston Common, represents Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King hugging after King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
The structure only displays the pair’s upper body with their arms wrapped around each other. From various angles many suggest the sculpture looks similar to a sexual act.
Thomas defended criticism over the statute stating he doesn’t plan on changing the statue. He added Boston residents were the ones who helped bring his creation to life.
“This is a piece that was selected by the people of Boston. This is not Hank just came and put something. Thousands of people worked on this, thousands of people actually put it together and no one saw this, I would say, perverse perspective,” he said.
Coretta Scott King’s family doesn’t appreciate the statue. Scott King’s cousin Seneca believes at some angles it does resemble a penis.
“If you can look at it from all angles, and it’s probably two people hugging each other, it’s four hands. It’s not the missing heads that’s the atrocity that other people clamp onto that; it’s a stump that looked like a penis. That’s a joke,” Seneca said.
Martin Luther King III has a different perspective about the monument from his cousin. He said he was happy to see the love between his parents depicted in a piece of art.
“I think the artist did a great job. I’m satisfied. Yeah, it didn’t have my mom and dad’s images, but it represents something that brings people together. And in this time, day and age, when there’s so much division, we need symbols that talk about bringing us together,” he said.
Sources: https://hollywoodunlocked.com/, https://www.cbsnews.com/
