US EditionPhiladelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension
The show will trace more than 2,000 years of boxing imagery and feature over 150 works by more than 50 artists, organizers said.
- Opening this weekend, 'Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments' examines how a fictional fighter became a real-world symbol, placing the statue within art history and Philadelphia's identity.
- The museum has had 'a rocky relationship with the statue,' Louis Marchesano, deputy director of curatorial affairs and conservation, said, after decades of fighting to remove it from the steps.
- Guest curator Paul Farber organized the exhibition, showcasing over 150 works by more than 50 artists exploring how boxing imagery spanning more than 2,000 years reflects human struggle and endurance.
- When the exhibition closes in August, the bronze figure moves to a permanent home atop the museum's steps, while a statue of Joe Frazier replaces it at the bottom.
- About 4 million people visit the steps annually, rivaling the Liberty Bell in foot traffic, as the exhibition aims to illuminate underdog ideals—perseverance, spirit, and grit—projected onto Rocky Balboa.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Iconic ‘Rocky’ statue outside Philadelphia Museum of Art will now get its own exhibit — and be moved indoors
The iconic statue of fictional prizefighter Rocky Balboa which has long stood outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art is moving up in weight class from public work to fine art.
The bronze statue of the character played by Sylvester Stallone on the famous »Rocky Steps« in Philadelphia has long been a tourist magnet. The museum to which the stairs lead wanted to keep a distance – until now.
Associated Press News
Philadelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is embracing a statue it once kept at arm’s length. A new exhibition, “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments,” brings the bronze figure of Rocky Balboa inside for the first time, reframing it as both pop culture icon and part of a 2,000-year tradition of boxing
Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments
In a moment of reckoning and reimagining for monuments, why do millions of people from around the world visit the Rocky statue by the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art?Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments traces more than two millennia of artists’ engagement with boxing and celebrity. Ancient sculptures, nineteenth-century European works, and images from the golden age of boxing in the United States, together with contemporary art,…
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