Overview

• GES-2 placed the red Garden Trowel on the Bolotnaya embankment Friday morning, describing the swap as part of Renzo Piano’s original concept for rotating outdoor art.
• The 2001 work stands about seven metres tall, weighs nearly a tonne, is made of stainless steel, aluminum and fiberglass, and is being shown in Russia for the first time from a private collection.
• Urs Fischer’s Big Clay No.4, removed in July from the same site, has been reinstalled near Novatek’s office on Leninsky Prospekt, with setup completed overnight earlier this week.
• Ivan Lykoshin, head of Rosizo, criticized the new installation as “uncontrolled chaos” and urged decisions on public interventions to be reviewed by an expert body.
• Vasily Tsereteli of the Russian Academy of Arts praised the piece as a gift for residents and a symbol of creation, while invited experts framed the move as a key step in developing public art in Russia.