Thursday, August 14, 2008

Orlando's Creepy Statues #2

Bank of America
Previously, a creepy statue near Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando was discussed here. It wasn't the only creepy statue in the city though...
Harvey's Bistro Bunny
Harvey's Bistro Bunny
This giant rabbit was located in an atrium outside of the Bank of America Building on Orange Ave. While the previous artwork discussed was creepy, this rabbit looks like he is out of a horror movie. It was a mystery to me why this monster rabbit was in front of a bank until my last visit to Downtown. Much to my dismay, the rabbit was gone. Next to where the rabbit was located is a restaurant called Harvey's Bistro. Check out their logo on the green awning...
Harvey's Bistro
I'm guessing Harvey's Bistro was responsible for installing the monster bunny. I have no idea what happened to the rabbit, but it will be missed. No matter how creepy it was, the rabbit was one of my favorite bits of public art in Downtown Orlando...

3 comments:

Kelsy Moore said...

We recently went Downtown for some Urban Exploring and came across the previous location of the Monster Bunny. Having read your entry before hand, we were intrigued to solve the mystery of the missing rabbit. What we found out from the Harvey's Bistro hostess was this: the Bunny was purchased for a large amount of money but on the way to its destination it broke.

So, no more Monster Bunny :[

Terry said...

The name of the sculpture was actually "Najinski Hare" - referring to the famous dancer, or, in other words, "dancing bunny".
"Harvey" is a famous mythical bunny from a play of that name. Only one person sees the giant bunny.
I think there are a lot of humorus references to rabbits going on here.
I wonder if the new building owners, who sold the art, violated any of the original code permits. Often buildings get to exceed density or other building codes if they display public art.

Mike said...

The rabbit was there before the restaurant. The restaurant owners decided to capitalize on the bunny in the courtyard by naming the restaurant Harvey's bistro after the mythical rabbit of the same name. (Rent the movie with Jimmy Stewart. Wonderful!