What’s up with all the pink inflatable figures in Boston?

Last year, there were clown heads. This year, there are giant pink men. 

If you’ve noticed hot pink blown-up figures around downtown Boston, you’re not alone. These sort of half-blob, half-man balloon-esque statues, all of whom have a rather endearing surprised expression on their faces, have taken over: one peeks into the glass facade of Winthrop Center, another climbs a tree in Post Office Square, a third watches over the Ave de Lafayette from the roof of the Hyatt Regency. 

They’re part of the second annual iteration of WINTERACTIVE, a free, walkable art experience that last year brought floating clown heads and a series of other art installations to downtown Boston. After a three-month run that saw an estimated 650,000 visitors and earned a Boston Design Week Social Impact Award and Boston Magazine’s award for Best Public Art Installation, WINTERACTIVE is back with more than 15 new artworks and interactive play elements meant to bring some whimsy to winter. 

Organized by the Downtown Boston Alliance, WINTERACTIVE is inspired by the musical festivals and outdoor art exhibitions put on in Québec in the winter. 

“We can learn a lot from our northern neighbors when it comes to embracing winter,” said Downtown Boston Alliance President Michael Nichols. “We want to give people something to do in the outdoors, that has to be consumed on foot and in person in the middle of winter.” 

The pink figures, called “Monsieur Rose” or “Mr. Pink,” went up last week, ahead of the installation’s official opening on Wednesday. They’re the work of French artist Philippe Katerine (also a singer/actor), and part of an art movement he calls “mignonisme,” or “cuteism,” that seeks to “transform the streets into playful places and our daily travels into delightful, colorful journeys,” according to the WINTERACTIVE website.

The six Mr. Pinks were followed by a piece called Alouette, based on Canada’s first satellite from 1962. By Canadian artist Brandon Vickerd, the piece includes a replica of the satellite that appears as if it has crash-landed onto the hood of a parked car.

“‘Alouette’ recalls the failed promise of a brighter future foretold by modern times,” according to its description on the WINTERACTIVE site. “Will the day come when the sky finally does fall down on our heads?”

As of Monday morning, Nichols said, an additional piece called “Living Lantern” is on view outside Downtown Crossing. 

“It’s a beautiful stationary piece covered in these wood pedals that move with the wind,” Nichols said. “In the evening, it’s lit up with color-changing bulbs and becomes this warm, glowing orb that feels like it has a life of its own.” 

The rest of the pieces will be installed by Wednesday and on display until WINTERACTIVE ends on March 30. They include several murals “from pop art to beautiful landscape pieces,” Nichols said, as well as “lighting and technological design pieces that are more play-oriented. Two of these interactive pieces will be at City Hall Plaza, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the New England Aquarium will also be hosting pieces as part of a push to expand WINTERACTIVE’s physical boundaries. 

“Last year, we were just in Downtown Crossing and the Financial District, but this year we’re adding Government Center in addition to The Greenway and the wharf district area,” Nichols said. 

Though the Downtown Boston Alliance works with curatorial partners like EXMURO — a group that shares contemporary art in public spaces in Québec and beyond — to find artists and artworks, it’s largely responsible for determining the placement of each piece, and those placements are intentionally thought out.

“Mr. Pink 1,” for instance, is positioned looking into Winthrop Center in an attempt to call attention to the building, which, when it opened in 2023, became the largest Passive House office building in the world.

“It’s an incredibly environmentally responsible building, and it’s also this great public space with a first-rate restaurant,” Nichols said. “We wanted to bring awareness to that.” 

“Mr. Pink 2” waves to passersby with his legs dangling from the top of the now Chipotle, once Old Corner Bookstore on Washington Street. Downtown Boston Alliance aimed to marry the old with the new with that placement. 

“We’re showing off one of our newest buildings, and we also wanted to show people one of our oldest buildings, one that’s part of the Freedom Trail,” Nichols said. 

And “Mr. Pink 4,” which is squished into an alley on Chauncy Street next to Barry’s, is meant to evoke the space the clown heads occupied last year. It’s an ode to what Downtown Boston Alliance started last year with WINTERACTIVE, Nichols said, and hopes to make an annual tradition. 

“We took the darkness and drabness of New England and Boston winters and turned them into times of light and activity and play and whimsy,” Nichols said. “We gave people a reason to go out in winter and explore, and we’re proud and excited to be doing that again.”