7 extraordinary sculptures with meaning that "crawl" out of the ground, out of the water, out of the walls

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Not only political leaders and recognized figures of science and art - on the streets of cities now more and more other sculptures appear, whose purpose is to entertain, surprise, amuse, and sometimes make one think. The fact that sometimes they seem to pass through the earth's firmament or rise out of the water is not only intriguing, but also suggests that art knows no barriers and obeys not physical, but completely different laws.

1. "Man at work"

In Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, you can find quite a few interesting sculptures of human height - they adorn the streets and squares of the Old Town. The most popular among tourists is the bronze figure of the Man at work, the plumber Chumil, who appeared at the intersection of Panska, Laurinsk and Rybarska Bran streets in 1997. Chumil for the residents of the city is like a good-natured neighbor. True, at some point it was necessary to install a special road sign next to the figure - "Man at work" - so as not to run over cars.

The sculpture also has a hidden meaning: it reminds of the Second World War, when the inhabitants of the city were hiding from the bombing in the city's sewers. Of course, this Bratislava resident, like all favorite and popular monuments, fulfills his wishes, you just need to touch his head or rub his nose.

2. "Monument to the plumber Stepanych"

The image of a Slovak hard worker also inspired Russian craftsmen - in Omsk in 1998 they practically repeated the idea of the Bratislava people, solemnly opening a monument to the plumber Stepanych. It is located on Karl Liebknecht Street. Again passers-by are faced with this picture: a worker gets out of the hatch, he put an adjustable wrench next to him, put his head down on his crossed arms and looks at the roadway. The sculptures were designed by artists Sergey Noryshev and Igor Vakhitov.

Plumber Stepanych knows a lot not only about the system of underground utilities, he is also famous for his ability to bring good luck. You just need to leave him a coin.

3. "A man walking through a wall"

This figure, as if climbing out of the wall, invariably attracts the attention of everyone who is nearby. It was created in 1989. The sculpture is located in Montmartre, Paris, and it depicts the accountant Dutilleel, the main character of the story with the same name - "The Man Walking Through the Wall". The author of this literary work is the French writer Marcel Aimé, and his friend Jean Maret became the sculptor who created the monument.

The sculptor gave the person walking through the wall the features of the writer himself - as a sign of respect for his literary heritage. The shiny left hand betrays the tradition of touching the sculpture to win the favor of fate.

4. "Transition"

Sometimes city sculptures tell about dark pages of history, as, for example, this monument in Polish Wroclaw. It appeared as a reminder of the events of 1981, when a serious political crisis erupted in Poland, due to which tens of thousands of citizens of the country fell under repression. At the place where the sculptural group "Transition" appeared, at the intersection of Marshal Pilsudsogo and Shvidnitskaya streets, folk performances were especially active. After the introduction of martial law in Poland, the protesters were forced to go underground.

The monument was opened in 2005. The sculptor Jerzy Kalina created fourteen bronze human figures. Seven "descend" into the ground on one side of the crossing, seven come out - from the ground - on the other side, as a sign of the exit from the crisis and the degeneration of the country - this is what happened in the end.

5. "Black Ghost"

A rather ominous creature "crawls" out of the river in the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda - a creature that has a clear absence of many parts of the body that are supposed to be human. The sculptors of the Ghost were Swayunas Jurkus and Sergey Plotnikov, and this work appeared in 2010.

The emergence of the Black Ghost is associated with an old legend. Allegedly, a long time ago, several centuries ago, a castle was located here, and a wanderer in a black cloak, stopped by a guard, inquired about the availability of food supplies and firewood. Having received the answer that the pantries were equipped with everything necessary, the mysterious man uttered ominous words that soon there would not be enough bread for everyone, and disappeared into thin air. The dark prophecy came true, hard times began, famine came.

6. "Breakthrough"

For the first time, this giant man "crawled" out of the ground in Budapest. The creation of the sculpture was timed to coincide with the opening of the art fair in 2014. The figure, whose width was 17 meters, was made of polystyrene, and the artist was Erwin Hervé-Laurent. The man crawling out of the ground embodied the sculptor's conviction that art should not be hidden in museums, it should have a place in everyday life, on the streets, in cities.

After the end of the exhibition, "Breakthrough" went to a temporary location in Germany, and in 2015 became a permanent decoration of Nizhny Novgorod, moving to this Russian city as a gift from the Hungarian government.

7. "Monument to a workaholic"

It's funny, but this sculpture is installed next to one of the world's largest companies, where people who are not inclined to limit themselves in striving to succeed in their careers certainly work. A man with a diplomat decorates a street in American Los Angeles. It is not that he crawls out of the building, rather, his attention is completely immersed in work - so much so that he does not notice either what is around or the people nearby.

The sculpture reminds us that excessive immersion in work is fraught with the danger of losing touch with the world and losing the usual ways for a person to interact with others.

You can find your masterpieces of street sculpture in almost any city - you just have to look, but 20 best museums in the world that you can visit without leaving your home.