Kansas City Social Media Critique Questions Country Club Plaza Nude Sculptures

Just for Sunday . . . Special thanks to BEST & BRIGHTEST TKC READERS for reminding us why we shy away from social media interaction. 

A bit of context . . . Every few years there's a minor media kerfuffle over the not-to-controversial boy & frog fountain on the Plaza that has garnered international acclaim.

This passage offers a quick defense of nude sculpture throughout Western Civilization and a reminder that the forward progress of humanity now confronts continued challenges as our modes of communication evolve and social media algorithms champion interaction over insight . . . 

Nudity in Western sculpture is rarely a simple depiction of nakedness; it is an enduring artistic language that represents the idealized human form, divinity, and moral strength. From antiquity to the modern era, the nude has served as a vehicle to express universal ideals rather than mere physical reality.

Nudity often serves as a "costume" signifying heroism, divinity, or high moral virtue (arete). Athletes, gods, and heroes were sculpted in the nude to celebrate the harmony of physical and mental perfection.

During the Renaissance humanity sought to rediscover classical ideals, artists like Donatello and Michelangelo used the nude to represent humanist values, with Michelangelo’s David embodying the victory of virtue and free will.

The "Nude" vs. "Naked": Art historian Kenneth Clark famously distinguished the "nude" (an artistic idealization) from the "naked" (unclothed and ashamed). Sculptural nudity acts as a "nude"—an aesthetic elevation of the human body beyond specific time or fashion.  

Now here's today's counterpoint in an FB post that MIGHT just be clever satire . . . 

"Y'all tell me how professional this statue is in public, where the kids can view it when they are walking past and looking at it just the way I recorded it....is this illegal I mean children don't need to see this or am I wrong?"

Take a look via www.TonysKansasCity.com embed . . .