APAA Advisor Summer Public Art Picks Roundup
This summer, we asked our APAA advisors to share their favorite public artworks from around the world. From the bustling streets of New York to the scenic shores of Italy, they spotlighted an incredible array of public installations. Thank you to all of our advisors for sharing their favorite public works this summer!
Thank you Darling by Lily van der Stokker
“As a Dutch Art Advisor I chose a fellow Dutchie, although Lily van der Stokker already moved to New York in the eighties. The work can be viewed whilst walking The New York High Line, who commissioned this mural. While many of van der Stokkers paintings and installations seem “poppy” and sugarcoated, they often deal with serious themes around politics and feminism. Language and the broad interpretations of banal words and sentences play an important role in her art.
The cheerful “Thank you Darling” just made us smile and very happy, walking underneath a New York sun. The work provoked an immediate gratitude towards life, something that we should try and remind ourselves more often.”
Learn more about Thank you Darling by Lily van der Stokker.
the sound + the mighty by Ugo Rondinone
Standing stoically at the entrance of the world, famous hotel du cap in Cap d’Antibes is this ugo rondinone sculpture.
"The stone figure is the most archetypal representation of the human form; an elemental symbol of the human spirit, connected to the earth yet mythic in the imagination. The image of the figure belongs to nobody, it is timeless, and universal." — Ugo Rondinone
Learn more about the sound + the mighty by Ugo Rondinone.
Meet in the Middle by Chris Burden
Meet in the Middle was conceived as a unique meeting space for faculty and students to connect with each other, while enjoying an incredible work by Chris Burden. The installation at Claremont McKenna College utilizes historic lamps and benches, dated from the 1920s and 1930s, that were originally spread throughout Southern California. However, in a move to modernize urban architecture, the city of Los Angeles discarded the antique street lamps in favor of more modern-looking examples. Starting in the early 2000s, Burden located people who had collected the discarded relics and he restored them, turning them into fabulous works of art. Burden's restoration process was intensive and repetitive: it involved sandblasting, powder-coating, and replacing all of the original hardware with stainless steel or copper.
Meet in the Middle is turned on each day at dusk and turned off at dawn, according to an astronomical timer. It is always open and encourages all community members to fully engage with the work and enjoy the experience. The installation was a gift to Claremont McKenna from trustee George (class of 1966) and Linnea Roberts.
"Meet in the Middle’ is a fantastic sculpture and its location at a college is particularly significant. The installation is wonderful to enjoy visually, but it also serves a functional purpose as a designated meeting point on campus. Chris Burden went to Pomona, one of the five undergraduate liberal art colleges in the Claremont consortium, so Meet in the Middle is a special type of homecoming and tribute."
Learn more about Meet in the Middle by Chris Burden.
Novecento by Arnaldo Pomodoro
This imposing sculpture rises 21 meters to the sky within a circular fountain and greets those driving into Rome from the south. Echoing the physicality of a drill bit, the spiral conical form presents a dynamic surface is animated with geometric motifs in strong relief, the cuts and fragments symbolic of the frenetic pace And dynamism of the 21st century.
Learn more about Novecento by Arnaldo Pomodoro.
UNA BOCCATA D'ARTE. 20 ARTISTS, 20 VILLAGES, 20 REGIONS.
My choice goes to Boccata d’Arte, it is a project born in 2020 during the lockdown and it sees 1 artist in a village ( Borgo) in each of the 20 Italian regions. This year is the 5th version, which means 100 artists in 100 different villages spread in the whole of Italy. I find it exceptional because it gives importance to places where young ones have left and brings back creative energy with young artists who create a relationship with locals.
Spaceman Shiny by Filippo Tincolini
The work, a monumental sculpture over 4 meters tall in fluorescent light blue resin, is placed in the famous Piazzetta, just steps from the Campanile. It depicts a standing astronaut dressed in roses, with crossed arms, symbolizing a profound duality: humanity's insatiable desire to cross the thresholds of the unknown and the inescapable call of our earthly origins. His sculpture designs are a combining respect for traditional hand made work, with a passion for innovation through the use of the most advanced technologies such as 3D laser scanners and anthropomorphic robots.
Learn more about Spaceman Shiny by Filippo Tincolini.