Marc Quinn's Black Resin Sculpture of Jen Reid Installed and Removed in Bristol

cultural-heritage · 2026-04-20

A black resin sculpture of activist Jen Reid, titled 'A Surge of Power', was installed on the empty plinth in Bristol, England, on Wednesday, July 15, and removed by the city council in the early hours of Thursday, July 16. Created by artist Marc Quinn, the work was conceived as a temporary installation to continue the debate on racism reignited by the killing of George Floyd in the United States. Quinn was inspired after seeing an image of Reid standing on the plinth where the statue of Edward Colston had been. Colston's statue was toppled and thrown into a river during an anti-racism protest in early June, an event Reid attended. Colston was a 17th-century slave trader and British Parliament member involved in the deaths of an estimated 19,000 enslaved Black people in the Americas and Caribbean. Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees stated that the people of Bristol will decide what replaces the Colston statue. Quinn explained the new statue was not planned as a permanent solution but to draw continued attention to the anti-racist movement. If sold, profits will be donated to two institutions chosen by Reid: the Cargo Classroom, a Black history program for Bristol teenagers, and The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise founded in 2019. The work could also be donated to Bristol's municipal art collection. The council stated the sculpture was installed without request or permission, and a process is underway to determine the plinth's future.

Key facts

Sculpture 'A Surge of Power' installed July 15, removed July 16, 2020.
Artist Marc Quinn created the work of activist Jen Reid.
Inspired by image of Reid on plinth after Edward Colston statue toppled.
Edward Colston was a 17th-century slave trader.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees says public will decide plinth's future.
Quinn states work is temporary, aims to sustain anti-racist debate.
Potential sale profits to go to Cargo Classroom and The Black Curriculum.
Sculpture could be donated to Bristol's municipal art collection.

Entities

Artists

Marc Quinn
Jen Reid
Edward Colston
Naiara Tukano
Fabio Cypriano
Tadeu Chiarelli
Montez Magno
Mari Ra
Zé di Cabeça
Fabio Miguez
Adenor Gondim
Tomás Toledo
Alana Silveira
Luciano Feijão
Renato Lopes
Elaine Pinheiro
Karenn Amorim
Luciara Ribeiro
Naine Terena
Khadyg Fares
Tadeu Kaingang
Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui
Antônio Bispo dos Santos
Júlio Bittencourt
Guilherme Wisnik
Daniela Thomas
Hannah Arendt
Marlene Barros
Betânia Pinheiro
Fábio Nunes
Júlia Martins
Claudia Alarcón
Adriano Pedrosa
Laura Cosendey
Deborah Paiva
Walter Benjamin
Iberê Camargo
Jasper Johns
Henri Matisse
Marie Laurencin
Nuno Ramos
Marcos Amaro
Russet Lederman
Olga Yatskevich
Miguel Del Castillo
Anna Atkins
Elizabeth B. Brownell
Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson
Annette Messager
Angèle Etoundi Essamba
Hiromix
Claudia Andujar
Maureen Bisilliat
Gretta Sarfaty
Vilma Slomp
Claudia Jaguaribe
Anna Mariani
Stefania Bril
Thalita Hamaoui
Ana Paula Cavalcanti Simioni
Rogério Medeiros
Catalina Bergues
Rafael Hayashi
Lázaro Roberto
Hélio Menezes
Ivald Granato
Maria Alice Milliet
Christian-Jack Heymès
Felipe Rezende
Claudio Cretti
Guilherme Teixeira
Maria Noujaim
Andrea Brazil
Ana Avelar
Darks Miranda
Flávia Metzler
Ivan Cardoso
Yuli Yamagata
José Augusto Ribeiro
Hélio Oiticica
Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff
Ludwig Riedel
Néster Rubtsov
Aimé-Adrien Taunay
Hercule Florence
Wilhelmine von Langsdorff
Antonio Florence
Francis Melvin Lee
Lalo de Almeida
Paula Sampaio
Miguel Chikaoka
João Pompeu
Mônica Guimarães
Moacir dos Anjos
Francisco Brennand
José Cláudio
Aracy Amaral
Cao Guimarães
Marcelo Silveira
Flavia Renault
Paula Borghi
Belony Ferreira
Paula Ramos
Mestre Didi
Ayrson Heráclito
Rodrigo Moura
Abdias Nascimento
Paulo Pedro Leal
Jean Boghici
Carlos Lacerda
Mônica Cardim
Alberto Henschel
Juca Rosa
Hew Locke
Larry Achiampong
Bernardine Evaristo
Luke Willis Thompson
Jeff Koons
Jenny Bastet
Kate Moss
Diamond Reynolds
Kadish Morris
Cecil Rhodes

Institutions

Bristol City Council
Cargo Classroom
The Black Curriculum
arte!brasileiros
Galeria Galatea Salvador
Nara Roesler
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo (MAES)
Movimento Grevista Negro
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Sesc Sorocaba
Frestas – Trienal de Artes
Capela João de Camargo
Clube 28 de Setembro
CAIXA Cultural São Paulo
Phi Projetos
Cinnamon
CAIXA
Governo do Brasil
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Belo Horizonte (CCBB BH)
Ateliê Marlene Barros
Ponto de Cultura Coletivo ZBM
Universidade de Aveiro
MASP — Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Silät
Coleção Jorge M. Pérez
El Espacio 23
Janaina Torres Galeria
FAMA Museu
IMS - Instituto Moreira Salles
10×10 Photobooks
Biblioteca de Fotografia
Getty Research Institute
Museo Reina Sofía
Rijksmuseum
New York Public Library
Paris Photo
Livraria da Travessa
Simões de Assis
Galeria Estúdio Reverso
NND|Azeco
DAN Galeria
SP-Arte
Casa de Cultura do Parque
Instituto de Cultura Contemporânea (ICCo)
Lei Rouanet
Ministério da Cultura
banco BV
Laranjinha
Banco Itaú
Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita e José Mindlin - USP
Instituto Hercule Florence
Documenta Pantanal
BBM-USP
Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS)
Centro Maria Antônia da USP
Império Russo
Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF)
Coleção Cyrillo Hercules Florence
Galeria Nara Roesler - SP
Roesler Hotel
Fonte
Carmo Johnson Projects
Itaú Cultural
Ilê Asipá
Pina Luz
Centro de Pesquisa e Formação do Sesc
PGHEA-MAC/USP
ArtReview
Observer New Review
Turner Prize
Booker Prize
Libération
Bristol Council
BBC
The Guardian
Black Lives Matter
Oxford University
Oriel College
Rhodes Must Fall
Interpolitan Ltd

Locations

Bristol
England
Southwest England
United States
Americas
Caribbean
Brazil
Salvador
Bahia
R. Chile, 22 - Centro, Salvador - BA
Vitória
Espírito Santo
Av. Jerônimo Monteiro, 631, Centro, Vitória - ES
Sorocaba
São Paulo
R. Barão de Piratininga, 555 - Jardim Faculdade, Sorocaba - SP
Praça da Sé, 111 – Centro – SP
Belo Horizonte
Minas Gerais
Praça da Liberdade, 450 - Funcionários, Belo Horizonte - MG
Maranhão
Portugal
Avenida Paulista, 1578, São Paulo
La Puntana
Argentina
Gran Chaco
Paraguay
Miami
EUA
Campo Grande
Itu
Rua Padre Bartolomeu Tadei, 9 – Centro – CEP 13300-190 – Itu – SP
Avenida Paulista, 2424 São Paulo - SP
Nova York
Los Angeles
Madri
Spain
Amsterdã
Netherlands
Alameda Lorena, nº 2050 - Jardim Paulista
Rua Domingos Fernandes, nº 88 - Vila Nova Conceição - São Paulo - SP
Praça da Bandeira,53 – Centro, São Paulo - SP
Rua Estados Unidos, 1638 01427-002 São Paulo - SP
Av. Prof. Fonseca Rodrigues, 1300 - Alto de Pinheiros, São Paulo - SP, 05461-010
Rua da Biblioteca, 21, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo - SP
Porto Feliz
Mato Grosso
Grão-Pará
Amazônia
Pantanal
Avenida Europa, 655, São Paulo - SP
Recife
Pernambuco
Rio de Janeiro
Rua Mourato Coelho 751, Vila Madalena, São Paulo - SP
Rua Anunze, 249 - Boaçava / Alto de Pinheiros, São Paulo - SP
Santo Antônio da Patrulha
Rio Grande do Sul
Avenida Paulista, 149, Sâo Paulo - SP
Praça da Luz, 2, Bom Retiro, São Paulo — SP
Passeio Público
Guandu
Rua Dr. Plínio Barreto, 285 - 4º andar, Bela Vista - São Paulo - SP
UK
London
Tottenham
Baton Rouge
Minnesota
Paris
France
Africa
Fiji
Table Mountain
United Kingdom
Bristol harbour