Car pile-up outside art gallery

• 7.5-metre-tall art piece
• Features seven car bodies stacked on each other
• Will be on display for 10 years

A massive new public art piece is attracting plenty of attention on the corner of Water St. and Cawston Ave.

The 7.5-metre-tall stack of car bodies called Gold, Silver & Lead has been installed after years of preparation.

The Kelowna Art Gallery hopes the permanent piece will inspire conversation. It was selected to be the recipient of the sculpture in 2019.

“Public art is an important element in beautifying our community, as well as offering landmarks... but, most importantly, discussion and conversation, because art is really around us all day, all the time,” Nataley Nagy, Executive Director at the Gallery told Kelowna10.

“I just hope that everybody in Kelowna has an opinion about it and comes and takes a look in person and let’s me know what they think.”

The sculpture was created by Canadian artist Jed Lind, who highlighted the importance of public art.

“I have always been drawn to installations and large-scale sculptures for how they engage and immediately confront the viewer,” Lind explained.

“The thing I love about public art is the variety or perspectives that come to an artwork, which is very different than showing in a gallery or museum. Ultimately, I am not concerned with the takeaway of the piece, but that it causes pause, reflection, or even confrontation.”

Viewers may recognize the car frame Lind used, the 1979 Honda Civic.

The car was designed as a response to the oil crises of the 1970s and was seen as a hopeful way forward.

“I hope [this piece] poses questions about obsolescence, minimalism, salvaging, and deterioration,” Lind said.

“Like a stack of stones marking a trail, it represents a fork in the road where humanity could have chosen a simpler existence… yet here we are today.”