25 Of The Most Creative Sculptures And Statues From Around The World

September 17, 2014 7:29 PM

Our cities are full of majestic monuments, stunning sculptures and artistic statues, each having a story to tell. Thousands of them have been made but only a few of them are really extraordinary and picture-worthy. That’s why our readers set out to find the world’s most creative statues and sculptures, which add color and emotion to the most boring areas of the cities. Brought to you by Bored Panda 25 Of The Most Creative Sculptures And Statues From Around The World
posted by JujuB (25 comments total)

The spider at Tate Modern is actually titled 'Maman'. It's by Louise Bourgeois. Also, unlike the others on the list, the shark in Oxford isn't 'official' public art, it's something a creative and intrepid individual decided to build on the roof of their house.
A lot of these are really fun, and some are engaging. I think the shoes in Budapest is my favourite.
posted by Flashman at 7:46 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

I like the tribute to Sharknado at the end.

The amount of and creativity of public art reflects quite a bit about a city. Which is why London is the saddest city on earth -- waaaay too many dead guys on horses.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:50 PM on September 17, 2014

Jean Debuffet's Four Trees is my go-to example for art that stands out for incongruity with its environment. Trippy mushrooms in front of an insanely conservative bank, in the middle of our least organic island.
posted by jenkinsEar at 8:03 PM on September 17, 2014 [3 favorites]

The spider at Tate Modern is actually titled 'Maman'. It's by Louise Bourgeois.

I could swear it was at the National Gallery in Ottawa. Turns out it is, there's a number of them.

I also have become quite fond of this big gross head covered in chewing gum on the grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery that Douglas Copeland did. Also these dudes are excellent. There used to be a great big severed head on its side laying in a courtyard in Yaletown a few years back but it's gone now. I liked that one too.
posted by Hoopo at 8:18 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Not that these are bad individually, but for a list of the "most creative" sculptures these are all boringly similar, and mostly whimsical. Don't click expecting works from visionaries like Miodrag Zivkovic.
posted by dgaicun at 8:24 PM on September 17, 2014 [17 favorites]

Thank for this - really, really fascinating. Was delighted to see the "Shoes On The Danube Bank" which is utterly heart-breaking. I always recommend this to friends visiting Budapest.

May I also add the memorial to Hungarian poet Attila József in Balatonszárszó. While perhaps not as dramatic as the ones mentioned in the article, for sheer creativity and appropriateness it is one of the finest sculptures to any poet any where in the world. Just my opinion of course!
posted by vac2003 at 8:27 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

I was familiar with most of these, but I enjoyed seeing the ones from Lithuania, Slovakia, etc., and I would like to hang out with the hippos in Taiwan. I guess I like a bit of whimsy. Oooo, I really love that memorial to the Hungarian poet, thanks for sharing vac2003.
posted by dawg-proud at 8:27 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

These are great; I have no problem with representational art, or whimsy.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:29 PM on September 17, 2014

honourable mentions for the DIY Satan with an erection statue that appeared in East Vancouver last week?
posted by kmkrebs at 8:45 PM on September 17, 2014 [6 favorites]

I find the shoes on the Danube very disturbing. The rest were interesting in a much more pleasing way.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:55 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

The shoes are in a different category from the whimsy, as they're a memorial to Jews massacred by fascists. They were told to take off their shoes on the river bank then shot; it's literal, not surreal or jokey.
posted by Segundus at 9:14 PM on September 17, 2014 [7 favorites]

There is a bronze lady sitting on a bench in an isolated but well traveled shortcut in downtown San Francisco who I have apologized to twice.
posted by vapidave at 9:28 PM on September 17, 2014 [5 favorites]

In the vein of the statuary featured in the link:

They said I had a head for business
They said to get ahead I had to lose my head
They said be concrete and I became concrete
They said, go, my son, multiply, divide, conquer
I did my best
posted by carsonb at 10:54 PM on September 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

How about Blucifer, located outside the Denver airport? I thought it was trying to tell me to "Stay the fuck out of Colorado!!" every time I flew back home to Los Angeles from Boulder.
posted by sideshow at 10:57 PM on September 17, 2014

Collaborative art
posted by carping demon at 12:03 AM on September 18, 2014

That "break out of your mold" one makes me think of nothing so much as the Enigma of the Amigara Fault.
posted by sleeping bear at 1:03 AM on September 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm partial to this statue of a winged man crashing into the top of an apartment building in Madrid.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 1:36 AM on September 18, 2014

A Little shout out to Tom Otterness, who's work is so full of delightful whimsy that it makes even the most cynical smile.
posted by Dean358 at 1:42 AM on September 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

I live close to the Oxford shark and it never fails to make me smile. It is officially called "Untitled 1986".

The story behind its creation, and the battle with the local council is well worth a read, especially the response from the then Secretary of State's Inspector Peter MacDonald:

The Council is understandably concerned about precedent here. The first concern is simple: proliferation with sharks (and Heaven knows what else) crashing through roofs all over the City. This fear is exaggerated. In the five years since the shark was erected, no other examples have occurred. Only very recently has there been a proposal for twin baby sharks in the Iffley Road. But any system of control must make some small place for the dynamic, the unexpected, the downright quirky. I therefore recommend that the Headington shark be allowed to remain.

There are more photographs of the magnificent beastie on Flickr.
posted by garrett at 5:20 AM on September 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I hate this article so much. If you're going to make a listicle of art, at least get the works names and the artist's names on it.

SHEESH.
posted by Theta States at 7:48 AM on September 18, 2014

My museum has a Tom Otterness work on our steps which is wildly popular with people who like to photograph themselves with it. Many don't realize it's Otterness, though. The city was going to have another work by him installed but the word about the film he did in 1977 got around:

In October 2013, Lincoln, Nebraska Mayor Chris Beutler decided against purchasing a $500,000 train sculpture from Otterness for the city's West Haymarket development after residents objected to the artist's Shot Dog Film. Citing the unity brought about by the city's development, the mayor said, "...the artist's past behavior in this instance has created a level of division in the community that is simply not acceptable. Our feeling is that it is in the best interest of the city to discontinue the contract process."

Our city has a lot of people who support public art but there is always, always a vocal group of people who get upset: "why did you do that it's ugly did it cost me money out of my pocket lol how stupid grr I'm angry how dare you art is stupid and worthless." The city keeps going, though, and a 56-foot glass tower by Jun Kaneko has just gone up in a plaza he designed. It's right next to one of my favorite coffeeshops, so I hope to sit out in the plaza and enjoy it soon.
posted by PussKillian at 8:01 AM on September 18, 2014

"Most Creative Sculptures", as if. I think the title they were looking for was "Most visually whimsical sculptures", or possibly more appropriately "Comic Book Aesthetics recreated as Public Art".

Snark aside: not even two, three sentences giving a context for some of these sculptures? Works with historical significance side-by-side with ones that are (I assume) one-off playful works? The sketchy, inconsistent info on name/artist/location... this listicle is sorely lacking in curatorial chops.

A sculpture that has engaged me, creatively: if we're talking about Budapest, the statue of the anonymous (by Miklós Ligeti) comes to mind. I read that Paul Erdős and his mathematician friends studied there, so I brought my notebooks there to study once upon a time. Nowadays I've got an Erdős number of 5 -- maybe I soaked up some of that aura?
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 9:23 AM on September 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

25 Of The Most Creative Sculptures And Statues From Around The World. Who Made Them? Beats The Hell Out Of Me! But Dude They Are Totally The Most Creative! Whoa! I Mean LOOK At That!
posted by R. Mutt at 11:36 AM on September 18, 2014

I hate this article so much. If you're going to make a listicle of art, at least get the works names and the artist's names on it.

I like the anonymity of it. If I want to know who did it and why I can look it up.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:52 PM on September 18, 2014

I'm surprised Mehmet Ali Uysal's giant clothespin in Belgium didn't make the list.
posted by neushoorn at 3:13 AM on September 19, 2014