BLM Sculpture of Jen Reid Removed from Colston Plinth

By Staff, Agencies

The sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester that replaced the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol was removed.

Pictures from the scene appeared to show workers at the site at about 05:20 am on Thursday, 24 hours after the black resin and steel sculpture was erected.

A Bristol city council spokeswoman said: “This morning we removed the sculpture. “It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection.”

The statue, by artist Marc Quinn, was put up in a clandestine operation after he was inspired by an image of protester Jen Reid standing atop the plinth during protests last month during which the Colston statue was toppled.

The sculpture, entitled A Surge of Power [Jen Reid] 2020, was installed without the knowledge or consent of Bristol City Council.

On Wednesday, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees tweeted: “I understand people want expression, but the statue has been put up without permission.”

“Anything put on the plinth outside of the process we’ve put in place will have to be removed.”