Here's what Vancouverites are saying about the city's newest sculpture

The Proud Youth (iasimali/Instagram)

A giant new sculpture is now on display on Vancouver’s North False Creek seawall.

Dubbed The Proud Youth, the piece is described as an enormous boy with a towering pose and an “equally big mischievous grin.”

The installation is part of the Vancouver Biennale’s six-month extension of the re-IMAGE-n exhibition.

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It also bears an uncanny resemblance to how many feel these days, one year into a pandemic.

Here’s what some Vancouverites on social media are saying about the new installation:

It looks like a patron of a Granville strip bar after hours (shouldn’t have had that last beer). – Vivian Carol
Can’t tell if this is us doubled over catching our breaths running this marathon called covid 19 or if it’s us bending overtaking it from behind. Both work. – Jeffrey Lee
Gollum! Gollum! – Valentina Bozanovic
How it feels being a millennial looking at what boomers want for their houses. – Noal Burns
Can I donate $100K for another one so we can install it in front of the mayor’s residence? He’ll like that for sure. – Daniel Boudreau
This thing is just in the way of another bike lane. Why even put it there. – KP Wayne
It’s the Covid mascot; we are all doomed!!!!!! DOOOOOMMMED!!!! – Mark Erik Idar Knudsen
Suing Vancouver for putting up a statue of me without my permission. – Tegan Rowe
Excellent a perfect example of what its like for the city’s officials to get us ready for more taking it up the Wazooo 😖. – Wayne Slubowski
Should’ve put this at the top of a set of stairs LOL.– Andrew Pham
Me after scrolling through real estate listings. – Renin Catungal
Jeese, why all the negativity? Many of you here don’t understand public art. Tell the city what you want, rather than stating “……… the money could have better been spent on the homeless” That is a different budget all together. These are art installations that create inner-city vibrancy, whether you like it or not. – Randall Lebrun

The full program will unfold over the spring and summer months and include new public art installations, BIKEnnale/WALKennale interactive walking and cycling tours, free online educational programs, a new and highly addictive YouTube channel, and immersive augmented reality experiences that will redefine your relationship with art in public space.

All elements of the exhibition are COVID-19 safe and freely accessible for everyone to play, learn, connect, and transform through art.

“When we announced in May of 2018 the curatorial theme re-IMAGE-n for our 2018-2020 exhibition, we never imagined that halfway through, we’d have to reimagine the exhibition itself,” said Barrie Mowatt, founder and Artistic Director of the Vancouver Biennale in a release.

Then COVID-19 came along, which Mowatt said has “been a time of great discovery for us, finding new opportunities for collaboration, new ways to connect to global audiences, and new ways to create and evolve the experience of public art.”

This second phase of re-IMAGE-n will explore themes of Indigenous knowledge and learning practices, ocean literacy and environmental stewardship, and technology as a driving force for new artistic practices and global connectivity: a re-imagining of what is public space.