Marc Quinn.
My early morning walks during this pandemic have been my saviour, physically and for my mental health. I get up at 6am everyday, drag my husband with me and we head out for miles exploring different boroughs of our city, Bristol. For the last 14 weeks we have watched this city slowly wake up, enjoyed the peace and if we’re lucky (in recent weeks) picked up a fresh coffee or two. But today on our chosen route through the city centre we discovered something far more exciting. Standing on the infamous Colston plinth was this beautiful, powerful black woman, Jen Reid. An activist present at the Black Lives Matter march that saw the likeness of Edward Colston thrown into the watery depths. Early this morning, we were’t sure who had created this artwork but at just before 8am there was already a buzz and a small crowd had gathered to take pictures. I felt emotional taking her in, her strength, her resilience, she demands to be heard. It wasn’t until I got home and saw the news that I realised this was the work of Marc Quinn, know for his sculptures of Alison Lapper, Kate Moss and his famous Blood Head. ‘A Surge of Power’ has not been installed with permission and I’m guessing over the coming days we will see whether this artwork remains but it has continued the important conversation of equality, highlighting the Black Lives Matter movement and puts a spotlight on the lack of black historical representation in our public spaces.
Here is a quote from Quinns website published this morning:
Artist Marc Quinn and Bristol resident Jen Reid unveil a new temporary, public installation, A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, on top of Edward Colston’s empty plinth in Bristol, England. This life-sized sculpture is based on an image the artist saw on Instagram of local resident Jen Reid standing on the vacant plinth with her fist raised in a Black Power salute, a spontaneous moment following a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. During the protest, a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled from this spot. Cast in black resin, this new sculpture A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 takes its place. No formal consent has been sought for the installation.
For more information on this project there is a beautiful joint statement by both Quinn and Reid, which I would recommend reading and if you can come to Bristol to experience the power of this wonderful work yourself.