The list is based on members and editors of travel website VirtualTourist.com: 1 – “Forever Marilyn” Seward Johnson; Chicago, Illinois. Detractors have found so many things to criticize about this work that it’s hard to know where to start: its 26-foot (7.9 meter) scale, its impropriety given that the movie to which it pays tribute is set in New York, and its perceived crudeness given that viewers are able to look directly up the screen siren’s dress. Luckily, shèll only be there until 2012.
2 – “Cow Parade”. Certainly these painted fiberglass cows had a certain charm when they first started popping up unexpectedly in various cities, but now it seems the world has had its fill. A few too many incarnations of this idea changed admiration to contempt.
3 – Mary Tyler Moore Statue; Minneapolis, Minnesota. Perhaps the real Mary Tyler Moore can turn the world on with her smile, but this statue certainly can’t. Looking more like a woman spinning a basketball on her finger than one throwing her hat in the air, she might not even be identifiable were it not for the plaque at the base.
4 – “Lifesaver” Niki de Saint Phalle; Duisburg, Germany. It seems the only nice word critics of this piece are willing to use is “bright.” Unfortunately there are other words they also use to describe this hard-to-figure-out, multi-colored, frenetic piece.
5 – “The Calling” Mark di Suvero; Milwaukee, Wisconsin The subject of debate for many, many reasons, these orange beams of steel inspire a “Really?” in many who view it. Said to represent both the sun as well as the grit of workers who built the town, its simplicity engenders more criticism than praise.
6 – “Winkler Prins Monument” Anthony Winkler Prins; Amsterdam. Resembling a screw without a top, this giant pole has about as much charm as.well, a screw without a top. Constructed in 1970, the towering cylinder of 54 stacked disks is a blight against the graceful trees by which it resides.
7 – “Magic Carpet Ride” (“Cardiff Kook”) Matthew Antichevich; Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. This lovely California beach town takes great pride in its extraordinary ocean views, making it all the more peculiar that residents would allow something like this bronze surfer dude to remain in their midst. Having become something of a local joke the statue is constantly being dressed up to resemble everything from Vincent Van Gogh to Uncle Sam.
8 – “Caliope” Joe Slusky; Berkeley, California Difficult though it may be to believe, this tribute to the 1980s esthetic actually used to be an even bigger eyesore. The geometric pieces that make up the work and are painted in purples, reds, and yellows, used to be painted with smaller geometric shapes in equally outdated tones. Thank goodness for progress.
9 – “Monument With Standing Beast” Jean Dubuffet; Chicago. This ten-tonne behemoth is said to represent an animal, a portal, a tree, and an architectural form, but to some it just represents bad taste.
10 – Bewitched Statue; Salem, Massachusetts. The 9-foot (2.7 meter) bronze makes actress Elizabeth Montgomery look almost greasy. Interestingly criticism of the piece ignited long before it was installed as Salem residents objected to a statue of a witch being erected in a place where people were once killed for purported witchcraft.
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