Hey buddy, that light’s not getting any greener. The latest public installation from The Avenue Concept — part of their Influx 2017 program — may be a real traffic-stopper. Colossal Fragment is the work of Lionel Smit, a South African artist known for his monumental portraiture executed through large canvasses and bronze deconstructions. This fragment echos those of the Colossus back in Rome.
But will archaeologists finding this face in the year 5,000 understand that there was never an entire colossus standing in Providence . . . that there are no other pieces to be found? Or will they assume that the remnants of the nearby Fogarty Building was her temple and that the rest of the bronze had been pillaged, melted down, and made into trophies for middle school students?
For now this captivating head “floats” in front of the Hasbro building at Fountain and Empire Streets, just feet away from my favorite rebar bow, Insert Finger. (To the right in this photo, across Fountain Street, is Trinity Brewhouse.)
Many of the sculptures adorning intersections around town went up last year — check it out at Influx 2016. Much of this artwork is for sale and these artists are available for commissions.