In Rotterdam, a Disgrace to Public Art
Until the other day, I'd never heard of Thomas J. Price, a black British sculptor who, it turns out, is an absolute genius. No, not an artistic genius – a genius at exploiting today's vile, vapid cultural politics for fame and profit.
Price says his statue is of a "fictional character." So is the Statue of Liberty. But the latter represents something noble. Price's black woman has nothing noble about her. You'd never take her for Barbara Jordan or Ethel Waters or Zora Neale Hurston. On the contrary, she's plainly intended to be emblematic of the near-feral subset of black women who, in the post-George Floyd era, have committed arson, looted stores, defecated on sidewalks, and harmed innocent fellow citizens because they've been told by the likes of Ibram X. Kendi that they're eternal victims who owe nothing and are owed everything.
In 2023, statues don't celebrate heroes – quite the opposite.