News / Street Art
Mystery statue disappears as quickly as it appeared
Its position next to Bristol’s most talked about plinth may have been fleeting, but a temporary new statue on Colston Avenue certainly attracted plenty of attention.
A small crowd gathered on Monday afternoon to inspect the latest city centre installation that featured a large, bald man wearing a string vest propped on top of a wheelie bin inscribed with the words ‘Spoiler: St George was Turkish’.
Many more passersby paused to have a curious glance at the character, who clutched a globe in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. On the screen was a St George flag and text stating ‘England for the English’.
is needed now More than ever
It is not known who was behind the mystery statue that appeared in the wake of an ‘All Lives Matter’ protest at the weekend and was removed by Tuesday.
But Bristol24/7 understands that the statue was created by the same artist behind other high profile pieces that have appeared in the city, including an angel that appeared by the BRI in February 2018 and a poignant memorial to mark Anti-Slavery Day that was temporarily installed in October 2018.
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Read more: Mysterious angel sculpture appears outside BRI
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A recently created Instagram account named Getting Up To Stuff features photos of the man in the wheelie bin who turned heads on Monday. It also has pictures of the ‘Bristol Angel’ and the series of figurines laid at the foot of the Colston statue as a stark reminder of his role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Another few photos feature a statue of a cloaked woman holding out an apple that appears to be situated at the bottom of the steps on Trinity Street, which stretches between Anchor Road and College Green, past Bristol Cathedral.
The statue appeared on Monday morning and was gone by Tuesday
Someone who got in touch with Bristol24/7 anonymously said the artist does not want to be identified but has been working in the city for a number of years.
The aim, they claim, is to “address different societal issues” with pieces of street art that aren’t supposed to be permanent – and the statue certainly gained plenty of attention in the 24 hours it was in situ.
Questions were asked about the accuracy of the statement about St George’s origins, with a few people pointing out that while he was born in Cappadocia, an area which is now in Turkey, he was a Greek man living in the Roman Empire.
A glance over the statue’s shoulder reveals ‘Stephenson’ has been stencilled on the plinth from which Colston was toppled, presumably in reference to Bristol’s legendary civil rights campaigner Paul Stephenson
While some praised the temporary installation, others questioned the artistic merit of the piece.
Former Green Party mayoral candidate Tony Dyer said in a Tweet: “There’s room in the harbour for this piece of divisive junk!”
All photos by Ellie Pipe
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