Group of four trees by Jean Dubuffet. Public art in New York City includes statues, memorials, murals, fountains, and other forms. The city's parks have been described as the best outdoor public art museum in the United States. With works by great sculptors such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French and John Quincy Adams Ward, more than 300 sculptures can be found in the streets and parks of the New York metropolitan area.
The Garment District Alliance (GDA) and the Art Program of the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) teamed up to present an adorable public art exhibition featuring the work of New York artist Will Kurtz. The sculptural version of Robert Indiana's iconic graphic “LOVE” is, of course, just around the corner from the Museum of Modern Art; the image was first commissioned by MoMA for a Christmas card in 1965.It was the first time that municipal agencies had come together to bring the art of living artists to the urban landscape, with the aim of presenting works of art to a wider audience. The bronze figure above the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park has the distinction of being the first work of public art created by a woman, the sculptor Emma Stebbins, in New York City. Meanwhile, one of the best statues of a female historical figure can be found in Harlem, where on Frederick Douglass Boulevard there is “Swing Low” by Alison Saar, a monumental work that represents Harriet Tubman, who led countless slaves to freedom along the underground railroad.
Colloquially known as the Astor Place cube, this monumental work by Tony Rosenthal was originally installed in Greenwich Village for an exhibition organized by the New York City Parks Department, called “Sculpture in the Environment”. For either audience, public art encourages new ideas, conversation and changes the way a city is perceived. The work of Galician artist Manuel Ferreiro Badia, Compostela Fractal Study of a Shell was first exhibited in Spain, Australia and California before arriving in New York. Its objective is to represent the Angel of Bethesda (as in the pool in Jerusalem, which is described in the Bible); Stubbins “compared the healing powers of the biblical pool with those of the pure Croton water that cascades from the fountain, according to the New York City Parks Department.
When Arturo di Modica first installed “Charging Bull” on the New York Stock Exchange in 1989, he intended it to be “a way of celebrating the spirit of being able to do in the United States and especially New York.” It abstractly reflects the fractal system of matter, seeking a simplicity that reflects the interior of each being, according to Spain Arts %26 Culture. Since 1967, when the first public art program was established in the city, various agencies and institutions, such as the MTA, the Public Art Fund and the New York Parks Department, have worked to enrich the lives of New Yorkers by adding whimsical, colorful and sometimes controversial works of art in all five boroughs. The number of historic women represented on statues or monuments in New York City is sadly low, an error that the city hopes to correct in the coming years. Some of the city's best public art wasn't even authorized, at least not at first; witness many of Keith Haring's early works, including his famous “Crack Is Wack” mural, which was created without official consent.
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