Update: Artist Behind ‘MLK’ Statue Says He Has No Plans To Modify Sculpture After Coretta Scott King’s Cousin Claimed The Design Looks Like A Penis

Update: Artist Behind ‘MLK’ Statue Says He Has No Plans To Modify Sculpture After Coretta Scott King’s Cousin Claimed The Design Looks Like A Penis

Update: (Jan. 17, 2023): It looks like the ‘MLK’ sculpture is here to stay!

As you more than likely know, ‘The Embrace’ Martin Luther King Jr. Boston memorial statue has received mixed reviews since its unveiling on Jan. 13.

Even though some have praised the figure for what it stands for, many have questioned why the sculpture looks the way it does. Most recently, Seneca Scott, cousin of Coretta Scott King,  slammed the $10 million statue by claiming it “looked like a penis” from certain angles.

During a recent interview, the artist responsible for the now-viral figure addressed the criticism surrounding his work. The Brooklyn-based conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas said there are no plans to modify or change the statue. When asked if he’d alter the figure if asked, he replied,

“This is a piece that was selected by the people of Boston. This is not, ‘Hank just came and put something [together].’ Thousands of people worked on this. Thousands of people actually put it together.”

He continued,

“And, no one saw this, I would say, perverse perspective…to bring that to the King’s legacy and to dictate the making of art and the celebration of them is really strange to me.”

#HankThomas, the artist behind the 'Embrace' statue, says he has no intention of changing it. The artistic creator was widely criticized for his adaptation of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King hugging. (?: @cnn) pic.twitter.com/vA2uz4xYB1

— theJasmineBRAND (@thejasminebrand) January 18, 2023

Original story: (Jan. 17, 2023): A new monument dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King has sparked controversy and criticism.

One person who has a major problem with the statue is Seneca Scott, a community organizer in Oakland, California, and cousin of Coretta Scott King. Scott has slammed the $10 million statue titled ‘The Embrace’ by stating that it “looked like a penis” from certain angles.

Seneca Scott spoke to several news outlets to criticize the sculpture which was just unveiled in Boston on Friday (Jan. 13). Scott told CNN the statue was insulting to his family.

“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.”