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Liberty Enlightening the World by Frédéric Bartholdi and Gustave Eiffel, a very prominent work of public art La Joute by Jean-Paul Riopelle, an outdoor kinetic sculpture installation with fire jets, fog machines, and a fountain Système by Pierre Granche, a work of interior public art (inside a metro station) |
Public art is art that is exposed in a public space, either an outdoor location or in a publicly accessible building.
Much public art is in the form of monuments and memorials, such as statues and allegorical figures; but modern artModern Art is a general term, used for most of the artistic production from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. Recent art production is more often called contemporary art). Modern art refers to a new approach to art where it was no longe brought with it non-figurative public art, including art whose function is not to commemorate but to complement the natural or built environment in which it stands.
Public art is usually of durable, easily cared-for material, especially that exhibited in non-controlled environments, particularly outdoors. Sculptural materials include stone , concrete , and metalFor alternative meanings see metal (disambiguation). In chemistry, a metal is an element that readily forms cations and has metallic bonds, and it is sometimes said that it is similar to a cation in a cloud of electrons. The metals are one of the three grs such as bronzeBronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast-metal sculpture of bronze is often called a bronze''. Common bronze alloys often have the unusual and very desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the f, steel , and aluminum ; flat art media include durable murals. Public art may be integrated with architectureArchitecture is the art and science of designing buildings. A wider definition would include within its scope the design of the total built environment, from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of fu and landscaping in the creation or renovation of buildings and sites.
Some public art is intended to be ephemeral, going so far as to include temporary installations and performance pieces. In some cases the line between graffitiSee also Graffiti (PalmOS) for the PalmOS handwriting system. Gainesville, Florida, has been set aside for use by graffiti artists and passerby. The term graffiti in its modern day use, refers to deliberate human markings on property. Graffiti can take th and "guerrilla" public art is blurred, for example in the case of the early works of Keith HaringKeith Haring ( May 4, 1958 February 16, 1990) was a pre-eminent artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York street culture of the 1980s. Born in Pennsylvania, he began as a pop artist. He set out to reach the widest possible audience w, executed without permission in advertising poster holders in the New York subway.
Some public artists use the freedom afforded by an outdoor site to create very large works that would be unfeasible in a gallery.
Public artists range from the greatest masters such as Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró, to artists who specialize in public art such as Claes Oldenburg and Pierre Granche, to anonymous artists who make surreptitious interventions.
Public art is usually installed with the authorization and collaboration of the government or company that owns or administers the space. Some governments actively encourage the creation of public art, for example, budgeting for artworks in new buildings. The government of Quebec requires that the budget for all new publicly funded buildings set aside 1% for artwork. New York City has a law that requires that no less than 1% of the first twenty million dollars, plus no less than one half of 1% of the amount exceeding twenty million dollars be allocated for art work in any public building that is owned by the city. The maximum allocation for any site is $400,000. The spending limit for the New York program is 1.5 million dollars per year.
Many large companies such as banks and insurance companies invest in large art collections which they display in the public spaces of their buildings. Even fast food restaurants such as McDonald's have purchased art and install the art in some of their restaurants.
Public art is sometimes intentionally sited for areas where it will receive a great deal of viewers, for example in a metro station or opera house. The converse would be an area set aside for public art, such as a sculpture garden.