The San Francisco Arts Commission has extended the reign of the controversial nude sculpture at Embarcadero Plaza.
On Tuesday, March 4, commissioners voted to keep the temporary installation of “R-Evolution” on display through October. The 48-foot-tall, steel-and-mesh figure of a naked woman by Petaluma artist Marco Cochrane was previously approved to be on view from mid-March 2025 to early March.
The resolution passed with one dissenting vote from commissioner JD Beltran, who also voted “nay” to the initial installation. He said Tuesday that the original approval lacked a “serious public comment process” and attracted “tremendous pushback” after it was put on display.
Because the sculpture is a temporary, privately funded work hosted by the Recreation and Park Department, it did not go through a period of public feedback before it was initially installed last year
Marco Cochrane’s sculpture “R-Evolution” being installed at Justin Herman Plaza. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
“R-Evolution” was created for Burning Man in 2015. Its presentation was sponsored by the private Sijbrandij Foundation – the group also responsible for the city’s Big Art Loop, which showcases 100 large-scale sculptures throughout the city – with a budget of around $300,000.
The figure’s body is based on Bay Area model Deja Solis. Cochrane explained the sculpture’s position is “meditating in the mountain pose, just being present in the moment.” An interior mechanism also makes the sculpture’s chest subtly move for an hour a day, as though it’s breathing.
The work went on view in April 2025 and became one of the most talked-about pieces of publicly exhibited art in recent memory. Fans found the work strong and beautiful in its depiction of the human forms, while critics objected to a male artist’s gaze depicting a naked woman in a public setting. Many others also raised concerns about a perceived lack of transparency in the approval process for the installation.
The illuminated hand of the sculpture “R-Evolution,” a 45-foot-tall sculpture of a naked woman by artist Marco Cochrane. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
“What is disappointing and confusing about this is the city allowing private money to come in and commandeer very public space,” Rebecca Camacho, whose gallery is within walking distance of the sculpture in Jackson Square, told the Chronicle at the time. “It’s a slippery slope when you open the gates to basically anybody who has money and can put something into a very public environment and create their own statement.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Daniel Lurie has been a supporter of the Sijbrandij Foundation’s work placing art along the Embarcadero, calling the installations helpful to downtown revitalization efforts.
This article originally published at Controversial nude woman sculpture gets extended run at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza.