14 Astonishing Sculptures That Turn Reality Inside Out

Modern sculpture is more than the art of embodying objects in stone, metal, or other materials. It is also a metaphorical language that helps artists speak with the audience about everything from feelings and relationships to philosophy and climate change.

Bright Side invites you on a journey around the world in search of the most surreal sculptures that defy the laws of nature!

1. A Venice Biennale sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn depicts dramatic hands emerging from the Grand Canal and trying to save Venice from drowning. The sculpture was meant to attract more attention to the problem of climate change.

2. Another work by Lorenzo Quinn is Force of Nature, a series of gravity-defying sculptures showing women rotating the Earth with pieces of cloth.

3. “Les Voyageurs” or The Travelers, are a series of life-size bronze sculptures by Bruno Catalano. The figures are missing huge parts of their bodies, as if they are slowly fading away.

4. Passage by Jerzy Kalina is an amazing installation consisting of 14 figures located in Wrocław, Poland. The center figure of the installation is a woman surrounded by the members of her family, some of which emerge from the ground.

5. The Unknown Official, also called the Unknown Bureaucrat, by Magnus Tomasson is an eye-catching and extraordinary piece of art located in Reykjavik, Iceland.

6. Sculptures of the series Heart of Trees by Jaume Plensa may be seen in different cities of the world. Bronze figures that are slightly larger than life-size embrace trees with their arms and legs. Don’t they look surreal?

7. The Kelpies in Falkirk, Scotland are the world’s largest equine sculptures. What an amazing view it is at night, when the sculptures are lit!

8. Enormous sculpture called Walking by Wei Wang at the festival Sculptures by the Sea in Bondi, Australia

9. Bonze, marble, and stainless steel spider sculpture called Maman, by Louise Bourgeois, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum

10. Le Pouce, a super realistic sculpture of a giant thumb appearing from the underground by César Baldaccini, is installed in Paris, France. Can you imagine that this 40-foot tall sculpture weighs more than 18 tons?

11. Karma by a Korean artist Do Ho Suh is a dramatic installation consisting of male figures resting at each other’s shoulders and blinding each other with their hands. This enormous human ladder is located in New Orleans.

12. Breathtaking sculptures by Robin Wight are so fragile and airy, that it’s hard to imagine they are made of steel wire.

13. Diminish and Ascend in Bondi, Australia is by David McCracken. It looks like an infinite stairway to the skies if you look at it from certain angles.

14. This monumental metal sculpture in Havana, Cuba is by Rafael San Juan. It celebrates the power of Cuban women. The beauty and sensuality of this masterpiece were inspired by Cuban ballet dancers.

Which of these sculptures would you like to see with your own eyes? Or maybe you have already seen them? Feel free to tell us in the comments!