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Image via Joyce Nelson / Shutterstock.com

Last month, anti-racism protestors toppled and tossed the statue of slave trader Edward Colston down the harbor in Bristol. Now, the empty spot has been replaced with an unofficial resin-and-steel figure of Jen Reid, a Black Lives Matter protestor, created by artist Marc Quinn.

An image of Reid standing on the plinth with her fist raised after the incident last month had gone viral, impelling Quinn to make a black resin and steel sculpture of her, entitled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020.

“I wanted to give George Floyd power, I wanted to give power to Black people like me who have suffered injustices and inequality. A surge of power out to them all,” Quinn explained his idea behind the sculpture on Instagram.

Quinn had contacted Reid via social media to discuss the creation of the sculpture. During the early morning on 15 July 2020, the sculpture was erected by a team under the artist to present “a powerful image” to stand up against racism.

It is, however, a temporary monument as it was unofficially placed on the plinth, but Reid told Sky News that the woman was “filled with pride” for being the inspiration behind the empowering sculpture.

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Today, Bristol resident Jen Reid and I have unveiled a new temporary, public installation, ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, on top of Edward Colston’s empty plinth in Bristol, England. This life-sized sculpture is based on an image I saw on Instagram of local resident Jen Reid standing on the vacant plinth with her fist raised in a Black Power salute, a spontaneous moment following a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020. During the protest, a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled from this spot. Cast in black resin, this new sculpture ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’ takes its place - no formal consent has been sought for the installation. Read the full statement - link in bio. #blacklivesmatter #marcquinnart #5thplinth

A post shared by marcquinnart (@marcquinnart) on Jul 14, 2020 at 9:55pm PDT

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Now has its own @wikipedia page

A post shared by marcquinnart (@marcquinnart) on Jul 15, 2020 at 1:58am PDT

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I’d first like to thank Jen for collaborating with me on A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 at every point in the process of making this new temporary public artwork. The sculpture’s title comes from Jen’s powerful description of her experience of standing on the plinth: “It was like an electrical charge of power was running through me. My immediate thoughts were for the enslaved people who died at the hands of Colston and to give them power. I wanted to give George Floyd power, I wanted to give power to Black people like me who have suffered injustices and inequality. A surge of power out to them all.” I would also like to thank @mtec0 for the amazing job that they did with their swift and safe installation, in the early hours of this morning. #marcquinnart

A post shared by marcquinnart (@marcquinnart) on Jul 15, 2020 at 5:26am PDT

"It looks like it belongs there."

Black Lives Matter supporter Jen Reid says she's "filled with pride" after she was the inspiration for a sculpture that now sits on the empty plinth where a slave trader's statue once stood.

More here: https://t.co/IyTqBGajnQ pic.twitter.com/x2CkRaItYb

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) July 15, 2020

[via Dazed, cover image via Joyce Nelson / Shutterstock.com]

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