Artist: Seward Johnson Location: Palm Springs, California This giant statue of Marilyn Monroe drew international attention after its inaugeration in Chicago in 2011. The oversized homage to The Seven Year Itch's iconic scene was later moved to Palm Springs, though has recently been moved for an exhibition in New Jersey. While tacky, the statue itself isn't absolutely terrible. However, it was subject of disdain from many local critics, who questionned the statue's place in a city that had nothing to do with the film it was based on. Richard Roeper, writer at the Chicago Sun-Times also felt that the statue was bringing out the worst in certain tourists, stating:
Even worse than the sculpture itself is the photo-op behavior its inspiring. Men (and women) licking Marilyns leg, gawking up her skirt, pointing at her giant panties as they leer and laugh. Its not that the sculpture is shocking or sexist or obscene but its definitely bringing out the juvenile goofball in many of us.
Seward's statue has been vandalised on multiple occasions, most recently by someone throwing red paint on it. Forever Marilyn briefly reappeared in headlines recently, after it looked to be dumped in Chinese garbage dump, but this was soon clarified to be a knock off.
