03Sep2015

TOP 11 Best Sculptures of Contemporary Art in Europe

Written byRenata Jirasova03 Sep. 2015

The Chilean portal Revolucion Tres Punto Cero prepared for its readers a list of the most impressive contemporary statues of Europe. Neither modern buildings nor historical buildings, but a list of the most beautiful statues in Europe should help Chileans and also other Latin Americans to decide which city to visit. The reason is that the contemporary sculptures not only beautify the environment but also reflect a society that lives in it.

Here is TOP 11 the best European statues. Most of them occur in the Chilean list.

1. The Kelpies, Falkirk, Scotland, UK

The 30-metre high two giant horse head sculptures called „The Kelpies“ were created by the Scottish figurative artist Andy Scott in 2013-2014. It is the world´s largest equine sculpture and the inspiration was drawn from the Celtic mythology. The piece of work is made from 600 tons of structural steel and is located at the Helix parkland area. The Helix is a new attraction spread between towns Falkir and Grangemouth, including cycle trails, play and watersport areas, canals, habitats and artworks. You can enjoy „The Kelpie Experience“ also with a guided tour.

2. The Unknown official, Reykjavík, Iceland

Many countries have monuments in honour of unknown soldiers but the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, can boasts by the sculpture honoring the bureaucracy called the „Unknown official“! It was created in 1994 by the contemporary artist Magnus Tomasson and is located in Laekjargata street 6. The remarkable, eye-catching statue depicts a walking man dressed in a suit, holding a briefcase, with his head and shoulders subsumed in a slab of unsculpted stone. It probably symbolized the heavy work of officials :-).

3. Anonymous pedestrians, Wroclaw, Poland

The impressively unusual and somewhat depressive series of sculptures called „Anonymous pedestrians“ stand just outside of the historic centre of Wroclaw in Poland. These 14 figures were created by the Polish artist Jerry Kalina in 2005 and depict ordinary people going to their daily work. The piece of work marks the 24th anniversary of the imposition of martial law in Poland. This was a frightening time when the military arrested ordinary civilians in the middle of the night, and many of these people were never seen again. The descending pedestrians displays the missing people.

4. Les Voyageurs (Travelers), Marseilles, France

Since 2013 you can see at the Marseilles port the extraordinary, unique masterpiece of the French artist Bruno Catalano – the series of surrealistic bronze sculptures called “Les Voyageurs” („Travelers“). The ten life-size scuptures depict human workers missing vital organs. The really impressive is that the pieces of work stand on very little support and it gives them a surrealistic and ethereal appearance. Other statues from the series „Travelers“ can be seen on the official website of Bruno Catalano.

5. The Man Hanging Out, Prague, Czech Republic

As “The Man Hanging out” is known the statue created by the Czech artist David Cerny in 1997. The sculpture is high 220 cm and represents the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud hanging by one hand on the roof in Husova street in centre of Prague.

In 1999, the Man Hanging out was looking down from the Stockholm Museum of Modern Art. In summer 2007, the sculpture of Sigmund Freud was hanging out in Chicago. In 2007, the statue has caused alarm among firefighters and police in Michigan in Grand Rapids, close to Van Andel Arena. People mistook Freud with a suicide :-).

6. The Peeing men, Prague, Czech Republic

Two bronze male figures called „The Peeing Men“ (or „Pissing Fountain“) is another piece of work created by the the controversial but well-known Czech sculptor David Cerny in 2004. With a height of 210 cm, the sculpture is controlled by electronical device that allows rotate the hips and lift the penises so the water (urine) flow on the surface of the small lake and writes letters. The little lake has a shape of the borderline of the Czech Republic. The repeated citations can be interrupted by a text sent by SMS. You can find this fountain in the courtyard of the restaurant „Hergetova cihelna“ near Charles bridge in Prague.

7. Franz Kafka head, Prague, Czech Republic

The giant head is placed in Prague, in a small square leading to the entrance of the new shopping center Quadrio (at subway station “Narodni trida”) and it created by David Cerny in 2014. This bust, representing the famous writer Franz Kafka and weighing 39 tons, is composed of 42 moving layers and includes a total of 252 major construction segments, almost one kilometer of cables, 1,500 m² of stainless steel sheet of specular gloss and more than 16.300 pieces of fasteners. The movement of the 11-meter high statue provides 42 synchronous motors. The soul of the statue is a unique code, which includes 15 programs, of which it is composed the resulting choreography of the face movement.

Another, very similar, impressive statue (the giant rotating head-fountain) called “Metalmorphis fountain” David Cerny created in 2006 and it is placed in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

8. Black Ghost, Klaipeda, Lithuania

The 2,4-meter high, dramatically impressive bronz statue of the „Black Ghost“ in Klaipeda was created by two Lithuanian artists - Svajunas Jurkus and Sergejus Plotnikovas in 2010. The sculpture depicts a hooded figure of a ghost climbing out of the murky water to the shore with lantern in one hand.

9. De Vaartkapoen (Policeman Being Tripped), Brussels, Belgium

The „Policeman Being Tripped“, created in 1985 by the Belgian artist Tom Frantzen is a humorous statue of a policeman being tripped by a man hiding in a sewer manhole. The statue is located in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Brussels.

10. The Fiddler (The Violinist), Amsterdam, Netherlands

If you visit in Amsterdam the City Opera House you may be surprised by a violinist bursting out of the floor in the foyer of the music theatre. This bronz statue called „the Fiddler (or The Violinist)“ is an expression of the Amsterdam’s vibrant, irrepressible Jewish community. The community used to be centered in this district before World War II. Workers had to make quite an effort to break and open the marble floor to place the statue here.

The art was created by Italian sculptor Matteo Pugliese and placed to the City Opera House in 1991.

11. The Man At Work (the Watcher or Gaper), Bratislava, Slovakia

The bronze statue of a man gazing out of the manhole called „The Man at work“ or „The Watcher“ was created by the Slovak artist Victor Hulík in 1997 and placed in the front the corner of Rybarska brana (Fishermen's gate), Panska and Laurinska streets. This fun statue became very quickly one of the most populars attractions of Bratislava.