Vladimir Putin Sculpture in New York City’s Central Park

A sculpture of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been recently erected in a playground in New York’s Central Park.

The bright red statue depicts Putin sitting atop a miniature war tank. French artist James Colomina took credit for the statue on Instagram with several photo postings of children playfully interacting with it.

Explaining his purpose for placing the sculpture in the park, Colomina wrote that “this sculpture aims at denouncing the absurdity of war and at highlighting children’s courage when faced with violent, catastrophic situations triggered by others.”

James Colomina—famous for secretly installing sculptures

Colomina is a dental technician turned street artist whose work is free art, and he is famously known for his bright red street sculptures which he spontaneously installs in public locations without prior notification.

In April, he set up another sculpture with an anti-war message, a child soldier carrying a rifle that turns into a rose. He placed this one in France.

In July 2022, another red sculpture was erected in Barcelona’s Parc de Joan Miro while the other was placed in Paris’ Jardin du Luxembourg. Colomina accepted credit for both.

According to the French-owned gallery group, Galeries Bartoux, last year, he erected two sculptures in his signature red in Berlin as commentary on the 32nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Vladimir Putin sculpture hits at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The caption on Colomina’s Instagram post hints directly at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which is directly attributed to Vladimir Putin as the key player in destabilizing Ukraine.

The installation comes after more than five months into the Russian attack on Ukraine. The devastating attacks inflicted on Ukraine were identified by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg  as an attack “not seen since World War II.”

Colomina also stated that political involvement is a crucial part of his work, and he always tries to defend causes in the best possible ways by reacting to injustice, consumerism, and intolerance to denounce social problems.

A bystander also noted his satisfaction with such an initiative and said it’s a nice way to express one’s opinion and demonstrate to the world that there are millions of people out there who are unpleased with what is going on in Ukraine.