Aesthetic Grounds

Public Art, Public Space

Kara Walker Tangents: Sexual Sphinx

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As I considered Walkers' sugar baby, I wanted to know about sphinx sculpture in general.  I was very surprised to learn the 17-18th century feminization of the sphinx with a subtle dose of sexuality in Europe.  In the ancient times, the memorable sphinx's are male with a sense of pride and self-importance, not sex.  The great sphinx at Giza Egypt fools the memory as a female with its head dress … [Read more...]

We have the best public art of 2014 – Kara Walker

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So Kara Walker's "A Subtlety" has been declared the best public artwork of 2014.  BUT at the moment it is NOT public art.  Buried in the Domino Sugar factory the work does endure the same public examination that Sofia Maldonado's 42nd Street murals suffered with public calls for removal and a serious debate about media images of African-Americans in 2010.  Move the Sugar Baby to TIMES … [Read more...]

Return of the Dome and Bubble Pavilion

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The dome structure has a mundane and glorious history from the African thatched house to the soaring dome of dome of Florence.  In the 1960s and 70s thorough Buckminster Fuller and Hippies, the dome returned to world fairs and rural, self-built homes.  Today the digital design software combined with computer controlled routers or jet cutters have brought a resurgence in small structures that range … [Read more...]

“Teenager Art” Billboard in Bilboa Pisses-off Guggenheim

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I guess that everyone is like Coke - suing anyone that uses the work or image without permission.  Inside an art gallery, the Guggenheim Museum did not protest "back of a teenager's notebook" drawing the turns the Bilboa Guggenheim into a battleship.  But on the streets of Spain, the  2,000 square foot digital mural by Paul McCarthy and Mike Bouchet was not permitted. Their collaboration at … [Read more...]

Recalling a Tom Finkelpearl Moment on the Way to Director of NYC Cultural Affairs

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In honor of Tom Finkelpearl's appointment as the director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New York, let's recall one of Tom's great battle's in his efforts to the support that artists that worked for the community.  After years working with communities in the Bronx, John Ahearn was selected to create three sculptures for the NYC Public Art Program under Tom's leadership.  Due to opposition by … [Read more...]

Finding a New Public Art Commission

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For a $100,000 public art project that I am managing in Tamarac, Florida, I asked the artists to tell me how they heard about the commission.  As the submittal was through callforentry.org (CaFE), the vast majority found the project through CaFE, but PublicArtist.org is gaining ground. I also asked the minimum public art project budget required to interest an artist.  The large majority was … [Read more...]

RAINBOWS: Less Joy. Burning in Warsaw

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Julita Wojcik's rainbow of plastic flowers in Warsaw has been burnt five times by Polish nationalist in the mistaken idea that the sculpture supports gay rights.  The sculpture is now a main visual element of the battle for the heart of Poland as a conservative, nationalist bastion or a city of tolerance, especially for LGBT Poles.   Yet the artist Julita Wojcik continues to say: "The Rainbow … [Read more...]

More Joy – RAINBOWS: Best loved, least used #publicart

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An actual rainbow generates a smile in me every time.  They are just suddenly THERE.  The feeling is like seeing a fish jump or the landing of a bird on your window sill.  A quick momentary gift.  My attention heightens and nothing else matters around me.  EXCEPT to share the pleasure with anyone else in space.  LOOK - I yell or whisper.  We jump a little. Yet when the actual event, becomes a … [Read more...]

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