The term public art may evoke images of historic bronze statues of soldiers in a park, but it can actually include any work that interprets the history of a place and its people, or addresses a specific social issue. It encompasses sculpture, murals, architectural or landscape architecture, integrated artwork in a building or streetscape design, community art, and even public installations of new media and performance.
Public art is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse, and while it can attract controversy, varied popular opinion is a healthy sign that the public has taken interest in it. Public art is also the result of a complex process, involving artists, architects, designers, civic leaders and approval agencies. When it is commissioned, it is often a collaborative process that demands teamwork and cooperation among many individuals with very different philosophies, goals and interests. Consequently, it is not surprising that many controversial works of public art arise from this process, or that some are overtly political and others simply incongruent with a community’s cultural values.
The definition of what constitutes public art has widened over the years. It now includes a wide variety of works, from the legally-commissioned monuments and sculptures that populate many urban centers to the graffiti and other guerrilla art that adorns many buildings, streets and alleyways. It has become a way for artists to engage with the world at large rather than the comparatively narrow audience of galleries and museums.
It can be overtly political, as in the equestrian statues erected to celebrate the accomplishments of national heroes at the turn of the 20th century, or the Socialist Realist paintings that glorified the Soviet economy under Joseph Stalin. In more subtle ways it can serve as a vehicle for civic pride and nationalism, as in the New York City lions, the Washington Monument or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Some artists devote their entire careers to creating public art, as did the sculptors Gustav Vigeland and Diego Rivera. Other artists create a public work on a smaller scale as part of their artistic practice, such as the photographer Richard Serra or the painter Robert Smithson. Still others create works that they hope will become a part of the fabric of life, such as the anthropomorphic tree in Brooklyn Bridge Park or the cliff face in Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park.
Whether overtly political or not, public art is a vital component of our urban landscapes. This book shows how and why controversial works of public sculpture arose, and how they can be understood within the historical continuum from traditional monuments to contemporary memorials. The authors, who include art historians, architects, critics and philosophers, isolate the factors that precipitate controversy and show how overtly and covertly public artworks convey civic values and national culture.