Monument with Standing Beast

Monument with Standing Beast is a fiberglass public art piece outside the Thompson Center.

Monument with Standing Beast is a 29-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture that weighs more than 10 tons. It is made up of four elements that are said to represent an animal, a portal, a tree and an architectural form. It was unveiled in 1984, and according to the artist, Dubuffet, it is a “drawing that extends into space.” This sculpture is one of three of Dubuffet’s monumental sculpture commissions. In fact, it is based on Hourloupe, a painting series by Dubuffet, and it was originally designed as a model in 1969. Visitors have the ability to walk through and touch the sculpture. Chicagoans have nicknamed the piece “Snoopy in a blender.”