Outrage erupts over ‘obscene’ Martin Luther King statue in Boston

'Grotesque': The Embrace was unveiled to commemorate Dr Martin Luther King Jr on Boston Common. Photo / Lane, The Boston Globe via Getty Images

A $15million statue dedicated to US Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr has drawn mockery and outrage after being unveiled in Boston last week.

The artwork has been decried as “obscene” and “pornographic” by members of the public and even members of King’s family.

The 6-metre statue cast in Bronze is based on a photograph of the activist and his wife Coretta Scott King, embracing on hearing the news that MKL had won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

Artist Hank Willis Thomas’ statue, called ‘The Embrace’, depicts the disembodied arms of the couple who were central to the American civil rights movement.

Unfortunately the conceptual artist’s work has been turning heads for all the wrong reasons.

It has been noted that the abstract work unintentionally looks like a very different part of anatomy.

On Sunday the cousin of MLK’s wife, Seneca Scott condemned the artwork in an essay for Compact magazine, saying it “looks more like a pair of hands hugging a beefy penis than a special moment shared by the iconic couple.”

Taking pride of place in Boston Common it was unveiled on the place where Dr King led 20,000 people in 1965, on a march against school segregation. Sadly art critics are saying that the controversy is now distracting from this important part of US history.

Local Boston Herald columnist Rasheed Walters called the statue “aesthetically unpleasant”, saying the city should have played it safe instead of taking “a huge swing and a miss”.

Mayor Michelle Wu told the Boston Globe that the statue was intended to “to open our eyes to the injustice of racism and bring more people into the movement for equity.”

Unveiled at a ceremony in the park on Sunday, it was attended by officials and martin Dr Luther King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III.

Hank Willis Thomas’ design was selected from a list of 125 designs in 2021, by the Boston Art Commission and Boston Landmarks Commission.

In an interview with NBC on Saturday the artist said that the sculpture had been his primary “mission” over the past few years.

“When I submitted the proposal, I didn’t even think that we really had a chance,” he said. “By the time it was approved, I guess I’ve just been on autopilot like, OK — how do I just not get in the way of history?”