The exhibition, titled 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments', centers on the bronze statue from the 1982 film Rocky III, according to multiple reports. It is curated by Paul Farber, co-founder of Monument Lab, a nonprofit Philadelphia public art organization dedicated to advancing justice by re-imagining monuments.
The exhibition aims to explore why millions visit the Rocky statue amid a broader reckoning over monuments. It draws on ancient sculptures, 19th century European art, images from boxing's golden age in the US, and works by contemporary artists.
We had a very fraught relationship with a statue that started off as a movie prop.
The statue was placed on the museum's steps in 1982, six years after the 1976 film made Stallone a star. It is one of Philadelphia's most popular tourist attractions, visited by an estimated 4 million people annually. According to The Guardian - World, Farber described the statue as a cultural meeting ground and a site of global pilgrimage, noting that as many people visit it as visit the Statue of Liberty. The Rocky franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
According to The Guardian - World, Louis Marchesano, deputy director of curatorial affairs at the museum, described the institution's historically fraught relationship with the statue, which began as a movie prop.