Marilyn Monroe statue unveiled on Chicago's Magnificent Mile

[LetTimmySmoke]

Source: MSNBC

It's true, Chicago. The top half of the "mysterious" 26-foot sculpture on Michigan Avenue was unveiled Friday to be Marilyn Monroe.

There was speculation earlier this week about whether the iconic legs − complete with flowing skirt blown up by a subway grate − belonged to the Hollywood starlet. And the realty group that commissioned the Pioneer Court installation was tight-lipped about her identity.

Friday morning's unveiling of New Jersey-based artist Seward Johnson's new sculpture confirmed suspicions. Marilyn will strike her closed-eye, classic pose until spring 2012.

Downtown workers and tourists probably remember Johnson for his large, "American Gothic"-inspired sculpture, titled "God Bless America," in the same Pioneer Court location in 2008. The following year, a sculpture depicting Shakespeare's King Lear took the spot.

Read more: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/15/7091223-marilyn-monroe-statue-unveiled-on-chicagos-magnificent-mile

[slackmaster]

1. Seward Johnson also did one that's on display here in San Diego

[lamp_shade]

3. I've passed it a hundred times in nearby Sarasota and each time it takes my breath away.

[patrice]

2. She was so frakking AWESOME!!! . . . I ALWAYS feel sad for her.

I'd go to Chicago, if I could afford it, just to see that statue.

[aquart]

4. Why are they planning to take it down?

[valerief]

5. Who paid for it? Chicago, the city that laid off 625 employees today? nt

[No Elephants]

6. Beat me to it. Maybe someone else paid for it, though? Or donated by the sculptor?

Did Marilyn Monroe have anything to do with Chicago? And why now, so many years after she passed?

Puzzling.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. And why not now? How many people do NOT know who she was?

She's better known today than 95% of her contemporaries in show business.

Nearly everybody can identify her in that pose, but only a fraction could tell you the name of the movie or her co-star in it.

[valerief]

12. Tom Ewell. The Seven Year Itch. But I'm sick to death of Marilynism. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Read the article - commissioned by a realty group. nt

[valerief]

13. Okay. I just wanted an opportunity to rag on Emmanuel. He called DUers retarded. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. That's understandable - I take every opportunity to do the same, myself. nt

[KurtNYC]

15. 3rd sentence of the OP answers that n/t

[RebelOne]

9. Why are they calling her a Hollywood starlet. She was a superstar. n/t

[terip64]

10. Just saw it. I love it! n/t

[Flagrante]

11. She gives eyesight to the blind.

[KurtNYC]

16. with her body they might prefer braille n/t