PUBLIC ART. I LOVE IT!

[Kandinskyesque]

I love public art and it becomes more meaningful to me as the years pass.
I feel they're great for the soul from the ridiculously garish to the subtle ad sublime.
I'm not that much of a fan of "The Great and The Good" statues, not wanting to stray into political territory but I grew up with a health distain for those type of statues as has most Glaswegians; the now permanent traffic cone on the Duke of Wellington statue being a case in point.
I must add though that I have a deep respect for war memorials and anything that commemorates military and public services.

I love the murals in Glasgow.

I spent most of my growing up years in a 1960s new town and we even had a Town Sculptor/Artist in residence who created murals and Henry Moore type abstract sculptures.

From these in the 1960s to in the early 2000s "Arria" by Andy Scott....

And the "Roman Heid" on the site of the Antonine Wall....

Where I live now public Art and Sculpture is quite integral to the natural environment, there's a lot of Chainsaw Sculptures due to the fact that I'm in a heavily forested area.

However, there are also lot of subtly placed sculptures throughout my local natural environment, many of them by my close friend and nearest neighbour and one of my favourite pastimes is just kicking around his studio/workshop watching his ideas unfold.
There's these ones nearby that invoke thoughts of the movie predator.

Others connect to the environment less subtly but give me great places to pause for thought when out for a walk.

There's even some of his work, where I've listened to the ideas unfold, heard about the progress but have yet to see (but aspire to see one day) owing to their far flung locations. Some are as far away as this one in Texas near DFW Airport.

Basically, being devoid of any visual artistic talent hasn't stopped my lifelong appreciation of it.
Maybe it's similar to how non-musicians appreciate music, but I'll never know that.


I'd love to see some pics of your favourite public art from the sublime to the ridiculous.

 

[Telekarster]

I actually love to see the tags on train cars! Most of the time its tastefully done and non-offensive, which I really appreciate about the artists. Certainly beats the drab colors that they're normally painted. A lot of it is actually comical, and it sure helps pass the time when stopped at a train stop, waiting for the train to pass! There are some really talented graffitti artists out there.

 

[knavel]

I like this topic and I agree. I only worry that cancel culture sees somehow that it has the capacity, right and historical knowledge to make determinations as to certain public art. We should always take the bad with the good, because over time, what's bad and what's good is very subject to change.

For my own little part I commissioned a local street artist to put something on the side of my house which abuts a public walkway. It's 100 yards from a school and I wanted something that reminded me of the robin that lived in my hedge that I loved so much and that would make children happy on the way to school.

 

[WingedWords]

I was very lucky to be friends with the artist Keir Smith for 40 years until his death from cancer in 2007. He had many sculptures sited in public places - here's a couple: The Iron Road in the Forest of Dean, and From the Dark Cave a series on Henrietta House off Oxford St in London. There are quite a few others still out there, for example in the Grizedale Forest in the Lake District.

Last Rays Of An English Rose | Sculpture

grizedale.wixsite.com

 

[Telekarster]

I commissioned a local street artist to put something on the side of my house which abuts a public walkway.

Cool man! My wife and I were talking one day as we were watching the train cars pass, we decided that if we were to ever own a small office building that rather than have it the boring colors they usually are, we'd approach some taggers and say "Hey man, ya'll wanna tag our building? Just keep it clean and non-political but otherwise.... have at it!"

 

[MarkieMark]

View attachment 943204

I didnt catch it initially, but those are carved from the railroad ties!
Thats pretty cool!

 

[rarebreed]

I actually love to see the tags on train cars! Most of the time its tastefully done and non-offensive, which I really appreciate about the artists. Certainly beats the drab colors that they're normally painted. A lot of it is actually comical, and it sure helps pass the time when stopped at a train stop, waiting for the train to pass! There are some really talented graffitti artists out there.

View attachment 943197

I agree, it's amazing what some people can do with a can of spray paint. Here in Louisville several years ago one of the bridges that crosses the Ohio river was in dire need of repainting. They had a contract with someone to get it repainted and before they started the job they realized they could not do it, they were in over their head. That was all in the news. Someone wrote in to the editorial page of the local paper and said that if they wanted the bridge painted to just park a semi truck load of spray paint down by the bridge and Louisville's graffiti artists would have it painted in less than a week.

 

[tarheelbob]

A friend of mine does some commissioned public art down in New Smyrna. FL. Her use of colors is incredible.

 

[Telekarster]

A friend of mine does some commissioned public art down in New Smyrna. FL. Her use of colors is incredible.

Brilliant!!! That's what I'm talkin' about

 

[Engine Swap]

Chicago has a ton.

I always liked “Plug Bug” located in the Loop, which is now “entombed” and not visible.

Also in the Loop

These showed up all over the city when Gov. Bladojevich got indicted.

Henry Moore at University of Chicago

 

[Telekarster]

“Plug Bug”

Would make a good user name! Or.... celeb name? Like Buckethead?

 

[JoeNeri]

There are murals all over my city of Silver City, NM.

 

[Engine Swap]

@Kandinskyesque

I love this:

 

[Orpheum]

This tree died in a village near my home. Rather than cut it, it was decided to carve it :

 

[tintag27]

What a great idea for a thread! Here's a couple of examples I photographed in Spain where they have a tradition of high calibre wall paintings...
This one in Estepona really impressed me - the little girl is watering the tree (the tree is real of course)!

And this is a typically quirky roundabout in Marbella, which I loved!

 

[ChicknPickn]

I don't like having "art" inflicted on me, as in the case of graffiti. Sort of like the kid in the beat-up ancient Hyundai rattling everybody else's windows with his low-frequency "art."

PS: Get off my lawn, you kids!

 

[DrBGood]

I didnt catch it initially, but those are carved from the railroad ties!
Thats pretty cool!

It is inspired by sleepers, but I'd think this would be made in a more permanent media, like metal or concrete.

Edit: they really are sculpted into the wood.

In a similar fashion to his piece 'Iron Road' in the Forest of Dean, this is a section of railway track with various items carved into the sleepers. Smith provided an evocative description of the sculpture:

 

[That Cal Webway]

Arizona statue!

 

[DrBGood]

I love public art and it becomes more meaningful to me as the years pass.
I feel they're great for the soul from the ridiculously garish to the subtle ad sublime.
I'm not that much of a fan of "The Great and The Good" statues, not wanting to stray into political territory but I grew up with a health distain for those type of statues as has most Glaswegians; the now permanent traffic cone on the Duke of Wellington statue being a case in point.
I must add though that I have a deep respect for war memorials and anything that commemorates military and public services.
View attachment 943187
I love the murals in Glasgow.
View attachment 943188
I spent most of my growing up years in a 1960s new town and we even had a Town Sculptor/Artist in residence who created murals and Henry Moore type abstract sculptures.
View attachment 943189
From these in the 1960s to in the early 2000s "Arria" by Andy Scott....
View attachment 943190
And the "Roman Heid" on the site of the Antonine Wall....
View attachment 943191
Where I live now public Art and Sculpture is quite integral to the natural environment, there's a lot of Chainsaw Sculptures due to the fact that I'm in a heavily forested area.
View attachment 943196
However, there are also lot of subtly placed sculptures throughout my local natural environment, many of them by my close friend and nearest neighbour and one of my favourite pastimes is just kicking around his studio/workshop watching his ideas unfold.
There's these ones nearby that invoke thoughts of the movie predator.
View attachment 943192
Others connect to the environment less subtly but give me great places to pause for thought when out for a walk.
View attachment 943193
There's even some of his work, where I've listened to the ideas unfold, heard about the progress but have yet to see (but aspire to see one day) owing to their far flung locations. Some are as far away as this one in Texas near DFW Airport.
View attachment 943194
Basically, being devoid of any visual artistic talent hasn't stopped my lifelong appreciation of it.
Maybe it's similar to how non-musicians appreciate music, but I'll never know that.


I'd love to see some pics of your favourite public art from the sublime to the ridiculous.

You have more info on this piece ?

 

[DrBGood]

I made a few outside pieces.