Pincus, art critic of The San Diego Union Tribune, said that according to 'theme-park logic' the statue suited the site, in front of the Midway Aircraft Museum, and that it pleased couples who mimicked the pose, but that it was kitsch and 'The figures look like something from a cheap souvenir factory, blown up beyond any reason.' Other critics stated that the statue 'was not artistically or esthetically pleasing.' 2009: Aluminum copy to Sarasota temporarily amid controversy Placement of the statue was criticized by multiple people. The statue, made of a foam core with a urethane outer layer, was scheduled to be on loan through August 2010, but after a May 2012 restoration it has now become permanent with a bronze dedication plaque. That copy is entitled Embracing Peace where the Port of San Diego installed it in Tuna Harbor Park temporarily in 2007. 2007: Temporary installation in San Diego encounters controversy Īfter being exhibited in Florida, the plastic copy of the statue was moved to San Diego, California, on a flatbed truck. Johnson established the Sculpture Foundation to disseminate his work. He offered copies ranging from $542,500 for styrofoam (plastic), $980,000 for aluminum, and $1,140,000 for bronze. Johnson proceeded with the manufacture of aluminum versions of the 25-feet-tall statue, marketing them through a foundation he had created.

The technology he used copies two-dimensional images in order to manufacture three-dimensional objects.

A 25-feet-tall (7.6 m) styrofoam version of the statue was part of a temporary exhibition in Sarasota, Florida in 2005, at its bay front.

Seward Johnson manufactured a life-size bronze precursor to the huge statues of Unconditional Surrender using a computer copying technology that would be used for the entire series. 2005: First temporary installation in Sarasota Johnson later identified the statue at exhibitions as 'Embracing Peace' for the risqué double entendre when spoken. Other copies have been installed in Hamilton, New Jersey Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Normandy, France. The first in the series was installed temporarily in Sarasota, Florida, then was moved to San Diego, California and New York City. Unconditional Surrender is a series of computer-generated statues by Seward Johnson that resemble an iconic 1945 photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt, V–J day in Times Square, but was said by Johnson to be based on a similar, less well-known, photograph by Victor Jorgensen that is in the public domain. An aluminum copy of Unconditional Surrender during the temporary, ten-year display in Sarasota, Florida

Surrender elana johnson