At the end of September 2024, the artwork ‘Puff Marshie (Antwerp Version, 2006)‘ by Yoshimoto Nara from Japan was once again set up in its familiar spot on Fruithoflaan in the Antwerp district of Berchem. 

The statue, beloved by the neighbourhood, was removed after it was irreparably damaged in February 2022 when it was blown off its pedestal by storm Eunice.

Striking sculpture

Since 2007, the striking white artwork ‘Puff Marshie’ has looked out over the intersection of Fruithoflaan and Grotesteenweg in Berchem. Until a heavy storm blew the statue off its pedestal last year. The collection managers of Kunst in de Stad (Art in the City) the Middelheim Museum organisation that takes care of art in public spaces in Antwerp, removed the statue for restoration.

During the damage assessment, it turned out that the damaged artwork could no longer be repaired. The sculpture was initially only made for a temporary exhibition. Together with the artist, the collection managers decided to create a new weatherproof version so that the familiar artwork can be displayed in the same place again. Earlier this week, the new statue was placed in its familiar place.

Alderman for Culture Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA): “Puff Marshie returns to Berchem! Yoshimoto Nara’s endearing artwork regains its place on the Fruithoflaan, where it once again enchants local residents with its unique charm and enigma. Puff has now become the undisputed mascot of the neighborhood and a crowd favorite from the Kunst in de Stad collection. That is precisely the power of art in public space: it moves, moves and sometimes goes against the grain — what we did not immediately understand yesterday, we warmly embrace today.”

About the artwork

Artist Yoshimoto Nara created ‘Puff Marshie (Antwerp Version)’ for the exhibition ‘Long Live Sculpture‘ in the Middelheim Museum in 2006. The artwork is a further development of an earlier version.

Nara is an internationally renowned artist. His paintings and sculptures have spawned many popular commercial gadgets, which made the artist wildly popular. 

Strangely enough, this popularity is precisely the result of the isolation in which he grew up. As a child in the countryside, he had no other artistic stimuli than comics, children’s books and cartoons. It inspired him to create highly simplified forms, fueled by traditional coloured wood engravings from Japan, and later also by techniques from Western art.

Children can be very sweet and cute, with their soft colours and dreamy poses. Yet, according to the artist, they are rarely just innocent. Perhaps they disagree with something. Or are they worried? Perhaps they are plotting revenge? You can see that in Puff Marshie too. Even though the girl is a bit lonely, with such a colossal head and grim grimace, no one feels sorry for her.

District mayor of Berchem Evi Van der Planken (N-VA): “With the return of ‘our’ ‘Puff Marshie ‘on the Fruithoflaan, a beloved mascot is returning to the neighborhood. Since its installation in 2006, the statue has held a special place in the hearts of local residents, and the arrival of this new version, specially designed by the artist, gives us great pleasure.”

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