Why I hate the Robert Indiana "LOVE" statue so much

I'd love the Indianapolis Museum of Art more if not for the iconic metal LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana that's placed near the entrance. I've disliked that thing for years. Created in 1970 by Mr. Indiana, a minor figure in the Pop Art movement, its simplicity and arrogance offends me in the same way annoying TV commercials do. It seems the embodiment of 1970s cheapness and greeting-card superficiality.

Especially when placed, as it is, among real works of natural beauty, that is, the flowers, trees and birds of the gardens, its artificiality and banality make me wish the sculpture would rust away into a heap. Then I read about the recent efforts to restore and preserve it and the even more distressing fact that Mr. Indiana has placed copies of it in public places around the world.

So I guess we're stuck with it. My suggestion, though, would be to place it on Ebay and sell it to raise money to bring more flowers and trees to the gardens. Failing that, we should give it away to, say, Kokomo or Anderson, an Indiana city that might appreciate it more. It just seems so out of place where it is.

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Travel & Events

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• love
• robert indiana
• indianapolis museum of art