Vladimir Putin in Central Park: New York City mysteriously gets Russian president’s statue

If you think you spotted Vladimir Putin in New York City’s Central Park, you were not wrong. A mysterious bright red sculpture was installed in the middle of a playground in Manhattan this week. The credit for the sculpture was later taken by James Colomina, a popular French artist.

Colomina posted photos of Putin’s sculpture on his social media accounts. The post was captioned, “This sculpture aims at denouncing the absurdity of war and at highlighting children’s courage when faced with violent, catastrophic situations triggered by others.”

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The sculpture showed the Russian President sitting on top of a scaled-down version of a war tank, similar to the ones Russia has been using in its invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has been going on since February 24, 2022.

The photos posted by James Colomina showed children playing with the sculpture, ignoring their usual swing set and seesaw. Some children were seen obstructing Putin’s tank with a pile of sand, while others attempted to climb the sculpture. 

This is not the first time James Colomina has installed such a statue. In April this year, Colomina erected the sculpture of a child holding a gun, which takes the shape of a rose. The sculpture was put up in France.

He also positioned two of his signature bright red sculptures in Germany’s Berlin. The two structures marked the 32nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as per CNN reports.

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Erecting Putin-themed statues seems to be the trend. Dmitry Iv, an eastern-European artist, installed a temporary sculpture of the Russian President in the heart of Kyiv. The structure showed Putin with a gun in his mouth with the message “Shoot yourself”.

The People’s Friendship Arch, which was a symbol of Russia and Ukraine’s post-Soviet relations, was dismantled earlier this year after the invasion.