LARAMIE — A 13.5-foot-tall human head sculpture that’s stared blankly out from the busy intersection of Clark Street and Snowy Range Road In West Laramie since 2021 will be removed soon, and some locals say they won’t be sad to see the sculpture go.
“Oh yeah, the ‘Joe Biden Head,’” Hannah Blair replied when asked about the sculpture as she stopped by the West Laramie Fly Store to buy her husband some chewing tobacco Friday afternoon.
The sculpture has a name — “Exhaling Dissolution” — but most everyone around Laramie knows it as the Biden head because they say it bears an uncanny resemblance to the current U.S. president.
“No, I’m not going to miss that,” she told Cowboy State Daily.
The sculpture also doesn’t have any fans among patrons at Bud’s Bar on Laramie’s west side. If fact, at least one volunteered to help dismantle it.
“I’d like to take my cutting torch to it,” Greg Jones told Cowboy State Daily.
Part Of A Rotating Display
“Exhaling Dissolution” is part of a rotating public art display sponsored by the Laramie Public Art Coalition. It’s scheduled to be removed probably sometime in mid-May. It will be replaced by another public art display sometime thereafter.
“Exhaling Dissolution” was created by artist Sarah Deppe of Iowa in 2010, and was previously on public display in Iowa and Tennessee. It’s made from cottonwood bar, steel rod and wire mesh.
The art coalition announced on social media that it will put out a call for new artwork next month.
“That also means you will once again have a say on the artwork finalists,” the coalition stated in a Facebook post.
"Exhaling Dissolution" is a 13.5-foot-tall head made of cottonwood bark over steak rods and wire mesh. It looks west from the northeast corner of Clark Street and Snowy Range Road in Laramie. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
The “Exhaling Dissolution” sculpture at the intersection of Clark Street and Snowy Range Road in Laramie is scheduled to soon be rotated out for another public art display. Locals have taken to calling it “the Joe Biden head” because many think it bears a resemblance to the current U.S. President. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
The “Exhaling Dissolution” sculpture at the intersection of Clark Street and Snowy Range Road in Laramie is scheduled to soon be rotated out for another public art display. Locals have taken to calling it “the Joe Biden head” because many think it bears a resemblance to the current U.S. President. (Cowboy State Daily Staff)
Not Sure What The Message Is
Blair said that she, like many other locals, has always been baffled by what the statue is supposed to represent and why it was deemed appropriate for Laramie or anywhere in Wyoming.
She thinks the artist was trying to convey a message about a need for equality.
“We have an equal community here in Laramie,” she said. “We support equality for gay people … and Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.”
After helping Blair at the cash register, West Laramie Fly Store employee Dana Warren said she hopes the next art display has a more local flavor.
“I’d like see something wildlife-themed,” she said. “Something with deer or elk. Something that reflects how big a part of our community that sportsmen are.”
That would be a change from what the giant head really is supposed to represent. Deppe has said that the sculpture is a commentary of the huge levels of pollution humans gorge out into the environment.
And despite the speculation that the giant head with its mouth open represents — and resembles — Biden, the artist herself puts that rumor to bed, saying that it represents “no one in particular.”
Should Have Given Him A Cowboy Hat
While enjoying a drink at Bud’s Bar, Marshall May also told Cowboy State Daily that he never could figure out what the sculpture meant relative to Laramie and Wyoming.
“Thank goodness,” he said upon hearing that the piece is slated to be removed soon.
“I would like them to choose something that’s a little more Laramie, a little more Wyoming” for the next display, he said, adding that his family has been in the Laramie area for 150 years.
“People were joking about getting a piece of PVC pipe to put in its mouth as a cigarette and maybe putting some shades (sunglasses) on it,” May said.
“Now, if the dude had a cowboy hat on, it might not have been so bad,” he added. “As it is, he looks like he’s been smoking too much.”
‘I’ve Learned To Just Look The Other Way’
Jones continued to criticized the statue, saying that as far as he was concerned, the only value it could have had would have been as a spooky Halloween decoration.
“They could have just thrown a tarp over it, and maybe put some freaky lights in it for Halloween,” he said.
“Yeah, glowing red lights in the eyes,” another bar patron quipped.
Until “Exhaling Dissolution” is removed, Jones said he’ll continue to try simply not noticing it as he drives along Snowy Range Road.
“I’ve learned to live with it,” he said. “I’ve learned to just look the other way.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
