'The Snowman'

'The Snowman' AdOYo (Atlas Obscura User)

Created in 2014 by Nate Lowman, this sculpture is clearly, as its name suggests, a snowman.

Composed of three spheres of decreasing sizes stacked atop each other. A carrot nose and button eyes are affixed to the uppermost sphere. This statue closely resembles the iconic figure of the winter season. However, viewers will notice how un-snowlike the sculpture truly is due to the dark bronze material used throughout, a juxtaposition to its otherwise close resemblance.

Surrounded by green trees in Manchester’s Whitworth Park, the sculpture was placed in this public space for just this purpose, as an example of contrast.

This disparity is all the more highlighted by the sign on the lower sphere that reads: “I will be dead soon,” a fatalistic contradiction for something so solid. The intention of this message and the greater polar nature of this sculpture are more significant than simply a peculiar paradox. Lowman wished to bring attention to the dark effect of climate change, using a familiar but impermanent symbol of our childhood and past to highlight our lasting effect on the future.

Know Before You Go

In Whitworth Park, a few yards to the right, from the entrance of Whitworth Gallery, is a roundabout. The sculpture is just to the left, a short distance in a south-easterly direction.

Parking is available on Moss Lane East. The statue is visible from the park entrance opposite the car wash. Access to the statue is over grass.

The park is open 8am to dusk.