Whether Melbourne can support 500 or more sculptors is yet to be proven, but the talent is there and architects, developers and city councils seem to be much more receptive to the concept of public art.
Jenny Holzer shared some thoughts with Tamara Winikoff during Artist's Week in Adelaide in March 1998 about her relationship with the public, who over the years and in various countries, has been the audience for her artworks in the public arena.
Although the history of the west militated against private sponsorship, it began to blossom in the 1990s. This was assisted by the State Government sponsored Percent for Art Scheme. Looks at various examples of public art in Western Australia.
Exhibition review All this and Heaven too Curated by Juliana Engberg The Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art
Art Gallery of South Australia
28 February - 13 April 1998
Looks at issues of the law and public art with references to Richard Serra's 'Sculpture No.3' and Christo's 'The Umbrellas: a joing project for Japan and USA'.
Isn't it about time we showed artists and our public artworks a little more respect? We coaxed artists out of their studios to put their creative souls on public display, and now many of those life enhancing objects are looking unloved, forlorn and neglected.
There's something about public art projects that seems to either bring out the best or the worst in artists. Looks at the 'loo with a view' on the beach front at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The project has not been without its tensions......
Challenging work, work that made some form of investigative observation about where we stand at this point in time was virtually not appearing anymore....In Adelaide and other cities, decorative design work, which is often very literal and subservient to conservative briefs, commercial interests, political agendas and restrictive models has appeared everywhere under the name of sculpture.
Public Art, the Art for Public Places (APP) program, models for commissions and the matter of percent for art in South Australia. "Processes of development can be as important as the final products when trying to stimulate the field of public art."
Exhibition Review Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions Organised by the Asia Society New York
Art Gallery of Western Australia
6 February - 29 March 1998
It is arguable that temporary public art is a more valid response to the transitory, dynamic and complex nature of the city and public life, more available to be critical and exploratory, than its permanent counterpart.