Making my way back through pictures I took during my weekend trip to Sarasota, and I ran across this piece of statuary that stands looming over a marina.
There were other examples of public art, ranging from metal pieces of junk to some imitation Greco-Roman marble figures on St. Armand’s Key. But this is the one that grabbed me.
Yeah, I realized it’s pretty much the opposite of original. And yeah, it’s even COLORIZED from the original iconic photo, which is 
tacky. And no, it’s not nearly as good as the original Eisenstaedt photo, not even close — it lacks the energy, the immediacy, the urgent reality.
But this is still my kind of public art. Straightforward, representational, big (if I were to stand under it I’d have been short of the nurse’s knee, but I didn’t want to stand under it because I didn’t want anybody to think I was some kinda perv looking up a statue’s skirt), and bold.
And finally, it represents a moment of unalloyed, unadulterated national joy, in the most life-affirming of ways (a snapshot, one might say, of the Baby Boom getting started). That should be the point of public art, after all — not some private message of the artist’s, but something of immediate, powerful meaning — meaning that doesn’t require interpretation; you don’t even need to slow down your car — to the entire community.
Nice going there, Sarasota.
Sort of a cleaner Jeff Koons
Warning NSFW!
http://www.art-forum.org/z_Koons/gallery.htm
Uh, no… not really…
Sure–technicolor realist statues engaging in romantic activities….archetypes…
He was married to the Italian Member of Parliament who was also a porn star La Cicciolina–I believe she is the one depicted in the blonde wigs, as a sort of Eve figure….
No, the Eisenstaedt photo is romantic, and clean, and real, and all-American. It’s ennobling to look at. Those other pictures are phony, tawdry, Eurotrash softcore porn.
I’m not even sure I used it right, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to try using “Eurotrash” in a sentence.
Yeah, I think La Cicciolina and MR. Koons are trashy, but he’s an American. Oh, goody.
That’s why I called it “cleaner”–but it isn’t romantic–I don’t believe the man knew the woman–he just grabbed her and plantedone on her–kind of an assault under any other circs.
Kathryn,
You’re too much! 🙂