A small sign at the base of the sculpture read:

Clever Disguise
by
Peter Helzer
Featuring
Avery the Alligator
Rembrandt the Raccoon
Courtesy of
Madison Avenue Task Force
1993

The statue was set in the center of a patch of grass next to diagonal parking on S. Madison Avenue. The "Clever Disguise" was that anyone driving up the street would only see a hat, cape and boots.

A man played a saxophone that afternoon as the statue stood forever unmoved. A clever disguise indeed, betraying no change in emotion at all.

The statue strode across the lawn. Rembrandt the Raccoon sat atop Avery the Alligator and carried a hat. Avery the Alligator walked on stilts.

A detail shot of the bottom of the sculpture showing how the stilts were embedded in the boots.

Avery the Alligator held onto the stilts using three fingered cartoon hands and stared forward with huge cartoon eyes.

Rembrandt the Raccoon rode on Avery the Alligator's head and held a hat, both for shade, and to make the disguise.

A close shot of Rembrandt the Raccoon's face showing his whiskers and how the hat was welded to the back of his head.

A close shot of Avery the Alligator's face which showed how his nose remained shiny because of the touch of so many human hands.