Guerilla Artist And Hard Cider Fanatic Johnny A Plus Turns Minneapolis Art Icon In To Mini Apple

Online, March 31, 2011 (Newswire.com) - In an act of hard cider fueled inspiration, Apple Valley artist, musician, gangster-rapper and country & western vocalist Johnny A+ has hijacked the famed Minneapolis Spoonbridge & cherry fountain sculpture in the Walker Art Minneapolis Sculpture garden by replacing the famed sculpture's cherry with an apple.

Created by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, his wife and collaborator, the humorously gigantic 5.800 pound utensil and it's 1,200 pound cherry (contributed by Van Bruggen as a playful reference to the Garden's formal geometry, which reminded her of Versailles and the exaggerated dining etiquette Louis XIV imposed there. She also conceived the pond's shape in the form of linden seed).

Installation of the sculpture was completed in 1988, and has since become a beloved icon in the Garden, whether glaceed with snow in the Minnesota winters or gleaming in the warmer months, with water flowing over the surface of the cherry and a fine mist rising from its stem.

When interviewed via an anonymous pictureless skype feed with a Atmosphere/Johnny Cash/Husker Du/Hold Steady mash up playing in the background; Johnny A+ said "I was inspired by wondering how many apples could fit in to a Crispin Cider bottle. I then read some of the interviews with Claes & Coosje and realized that indeed Minneapolis is the Mini Apple - full of crisp, juicy goodness and that if you spit out the pips they could grow in to cider bottles and that we are everything that New York aspires to be when it grows up".

When asked about the Crispin inspired act of revolutionary art, Crispin Cider Company CEO & President, Joe Heron replied that this was an "illustration of the creative spirit, and joy that occurs when the snow melts".

April 1, 2011