I'm reading the article "Meaning Machines" about Charles Ray, the sculptor, in the latest issue. It's kind of a long article focusing on the problems getting Ray's work shown in museums. There's a piece he's been working on for a long time called "Huck and Jim". It's been placed at several museums but there have been problems. First, it was going to be at the Whitney Museum but it didn't work out. Then at another prominent museum, but the same problem because he wanted it shown in a public area where random people pass by. The problem is that, since male genitals are shown, it can't be in a public area. It has to be in the museum itself where only attendees of the museum would see it. But this was not acceptable to Ray, so the sculpture is not on view.
The problem that I have with it is that the photo of the sculpture shows two men. But the 9-ft-tall "Jim" is not a black man at all. The hair is all wrong and he just doesn't look like a black man. And then "Huck" is bent over so you don't see his face or torso. "Jim" has his hand hovering over Huck's back but not touching it. The sculpture is just very unsatisfying. I'd like to see more of Ray's work before judging it but this is not a promising beginning.