How a Mary Wollstonecraft statue became a feminist battleground

Ellen Pierson-Haggar | New Statesman | 12th November 2020

“Epic” levels of derision are being heaped on a new London statue of the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft. “The visual charisma of a doorknob” is a polite example. One critic questions why, if the idea was to create an “everywoman” image, the figure has “shredded abs”. At least part of the problem is that there is no agreement about what we want public art to do. Says a beleaguered organiser “The shit we’ve had is off the scale.”