Statue to honour Wollstonecraft

[MedusasBadHairDay]

www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/10/mary-wollstonecraft-finally-honoured-with-statue-after-200-years

It's a naked woman..

Currently reading A Vindication of the Rights of Woman for an OU course, and - unless the tone changes dramatically in the second half of it - I'm not seeing how an idealised nude is the right statue to convey anything about her?

Or Blue Peter with a load of old milk bottle tops and a barbie.

Wanted to find a picture that showed it in its setting, honestly Mary is an afterthought. tiny, insignificant pimple plonked on top of what looks like my dogs beef bones after a good chewing.

@Butterer

It kind of looks like someone melted and twisted up the world cup.

It looks like an accident

Maggie Hambling is an acquired taste to put it mildly. A Victorian woman (or man) would not have been nude in public.

OP YANBU

Hang on it’s on north London? Why did I think it was behind parliament on the green by the Thames?

I wanted to give it an hour or two and see if my initial impression improved on a second viewing because it's Maggi Hambling and she took a kicking over her shells on Aldeborough beach and female artists always get flak. But no. A lump of silvery who-knows-what and out of it a tiny generic naked women with pert bosoms. It's an insult to Mary Wollenstoncraft and I'm terribly sad. At least it's only Newington Green and not somewhere more prominent.

Such flagrant sexism and from a lesbian who's faced sexism in the art world. Makes this woman despair.

Sarah Ditum:

I hope for a partner piece to redeem it. Imagine: a pudenda-esque form supporting a dinky allegorical man with perfect silver cock and balls, to honour Wollstonecraft’s fellow philosopher and husband William Godwin.

unherd.com/thepost/what-did-wollstonecraft-do-to-deserve-this/

Why naked?
It's sensationalism not artistic provocation. Very disappointing.
Women have a tough enough time being taken seriously, so a statue to commemorate a woman of considerable intellectual weight - is a tiny naked woman. Hmm.
Would an equivalent statue be considered for any male person of note? Any? I seriously doubt it.

@Butterer

I always like sitting next to Alan Turing when I go to Manchester. I would most likely feel differently about doing that if he had his wang out.

Post of the year.

Just why?
I mean really how did anybody think that was a good feminist representation of a female icon.

Public sculpture is a different kettle of fish to gallery sculpture. The patronage and audience is different.

Yes, exactly.

I'm a bit annoyed that the artist is being pushed out to defend her work when I'm not sure that's the point. What I really want to know is who decided to take money raised for a commemorative statue and spend it on a piece of conceptual art instead. I'd like to understand a little better why this was chosen over the other design, given the other design looks exactly the sort of thing you'd expect if you'd been raising money for a statue to commemorate a famous person and the design they went with doesn't.

I've also tried to find another example of a statue (as opposed to a building, bridge etc) that is dedicated to a famous person without being of them but haven't had any luck. Does anyone know of any precedence of this because I'm finding it rather odd and wonder how people who donated feel about it.

Good point Prestel

Prestel, that's why I wonder if the people who chose it felt they had to choose a female artist.

And undoubtedly there would have been a comment on it.

Also, I know when you're in the art world (as in, those who spent time thinking and deciding) how easy it is to start to lose yourself so much in the world of concepts and ideas that you lose sight of primary aims.

(Strong memories of an art school seminar where one peer of mine stopped mid analysis and apologised for not having a clue what he was on about. Cue relieved laughter...)

The choice of imagery and the quote used on the plinth is just reinforcing the misogynistic idea that it's somehow "empowering" for a women to objectify herself for the titillation of men.

How sad too that even death is not enough to protect women from their body being treated like property to be objectified and disrespected.

As somebody pointed out on Twitter it looks a lot like the end of Terminator 2.

Now someone ought to throw it in the river that I would clap for.

There is a sculpture of Darwin naked, they did not make him a pimple on a beef bone.

@Shedbuilder

I wanted to give it an hour or two and see if my initial impression improved on a second viewing because it's Maggi Hambling and she took a kicking over her shells on Aldeborough beach and female artists always get flak. But no. A lump of silvery who-knows-what and out of it a tiny generic naked women with pert bosoms. It's an insult to Mary Wollenstoncraft and I'm terribly sad. At least it's only Newington Green and not somewhere more prominent.

Such flagrant sexism and from a lesbian who's faced sexism in the art world. Makes this woman despair.

I didn't understand what was wrong with the shell at Aldeburgh. They used to throw paint at it

But I don't really understand this one at all. I keep looking and it doesn't get better. The picture that they chose to go ahead from looked far more organic and less detailed.

Crikey, a naked Darwin. That has cheered me up somewhat.

But yes, Shedbuilder, my overriding emotion is sadness and disappointment. I was looking forward to MW being rightly celebrated, and instead we have this silly farce. I've not seen anyone yet who likes the statue, and maybe there's a crumb of reassurement, that everyone but everyone is instantly aware of the very obvious issue with it, beyond being unattractive shape and material.

Agree, too that there were good reasons to choose a female artist - and it's just a shame I think Hambling has got this so wrong.

@Butterer

It kind of looks like someone melted and twisted up the world cup.

Or one those Ripley clones-gone-bad in Alien Resurrection.

It's not 'everywoman'. It's Wollstonecraft 8.

Her being naked is obviously shitty, but I also noticed she appears to be coming out of water or waves and it's ...a tad insensitive seeing as she tried to drown herself in the Thames.