A bronze sculpture of Martin Luther King, Jr. is garnering criticism for its unusual depiction of the late Civil Rights leader — again.
It feels like just yesterday that the internet was debating whether Hank Willis Thomas’s tribute to King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, resembled a phallus from some angles. Now, less than three years later, a new 11-foot-tall monument in Winter Park, Florida, has spurred critique for its exaggerated physical proportions that fall more than just a little short of his likeness.
“The Ripple” (2025), unveiled last month, features a magnified pair of shoes, head, and left arm in what artist Andrew Luy described as a symbolic gesture to King’s efforts and enduring legacy.
“This sculpture was never intended to be a hyper-realistic replica of Dr. King,” wrote Luy, a Wall Street manager-turned-sculptor, in an August 6 letter to the city in response to feedback. “We chose to depict Dr. King in a stylized, larger-than-life scale, using simplified forms to emphasize strength, gesture, and approachability.”
Luy has previously taught at the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy of Design, and reportedly completed two sculpting residencies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Out of more than 1,000 proposals, he was selected for the $500,000 project by a town committee and worked in collaboration with a team of Winter Park residents, who have stood by the work. Notably, the town’s population consists of less than 5% Black residents.
Jonathan Blount, a founder of Essence Magazine and a resident of neighboring Orlando, described the sculpture as a “caricature” of the visionary leader in a meeting with city commissioners and has called for a do-over.
“It just isn’t good enough for a permanent lifelong representation of someone who is so important to our history,” Blount said.
To his point, other residents have also expressed mixed responses, commenting to local reporters that they were “shocked” at the unveiling because, as one woman put it simply, “It doesn’t look like him.”
