Public art is truly amazing. Throughout 2021, and especially at the beginning, artists across the globe got busy adding a splash of colour to our streets. Sculpture, graffiti, neon installations: this stuff made our lives that little bit brighter and we are really, really grateful for it.
Some were pieces that responded to the pandemic or another milestone event. Others felt completely disconnected from the outside world, providing some dazzling escapism that we all very much needed. Here are crowd favourites and standout works that cropped up across the globe this year.”
1. Tierra” by SpY
Madrid
This glowing red orb appeared in the centre of Madrid earlier this year. SpY was one of many artists who tackled the climate crisis in 2021, and in this caged installation, it’s fair to say he made his point loud and clear.
2. “Remember Me” by Reko Rennie
Sydney
This text-based installation by Aboriginal artist Reko Rennie commemorates the impact of the first landing of the British at Botany Bay. Now a pretty big industry name, Rennie was once a graffiti artist, so there’s something very full-circle about this bright, confident public artwork.”
3. L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped” by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Paris
Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude drew up the plans for their fabric-covered monument in the 1960s, but it wasn’t actually realised (posthumously) until this year.
4. “Tomorrow Land” by Studio Proba x Enjoy The Weather
Miami
This year, the neighbourhood around the Design Miami art fair was transformed into a “digital playground” of squidgy, pastel-hued, AI-designed ornaments. And yes, they could actually be played on. Very cool.
5. “ANGST” by Jakob Jakobsen
Køge, Denmark
We all had pretty good reason to be angsty in 2021. So here’s a huge, screaming bit of introspection painted in giant yellow letters in a concrete rotunda. It’s honest and tragic, and a favourite.
6. “Ghost Forest” by Maya Lin
New York
This eerie pop-up forest – made up of 45-foot Atlantic white cedars – appeared in NYC’s Madison Square Park earlier this year. For a brief period, the woodland became a sombre, peaceful place for meditation, right in the middle of the city.
7. “Invocation for Hope” by Superflux
Vienna
More trees, this time in an even more blackened state. These spindly dead trunks are the remains of an Austrian forest fire, hauled by horses to Vienna to create a woodland graveyard. After the exhibition, aptly, the remains were turned into compost.
8. “Lumpy Notes” by CHIAOZZA
Boston
These curvy, tactile lumps appeared in a plaza at Northeastern University in Boston, inviting people to clamber over them on their way from one neighbourhood to another. We reckon it’s probably the most fun you can have on your way to class.
9. “Little Amal” by the Handspring Puppet Company
Multiple locations
The 3.5-metre-tall puppet was carried 8,000 km to Manchester earlier this year. While in London, she held her tenth birthday party at the V&A museum, met dance troupes in Trafalgar Square and even hosted a concert.
10. “The future is fragile, handle with care” by Agnes Denes
Venice
Agnes Denes has been making art about the environment for decades. To coincide with COP26 this year, she raised a flag from a tiny boat in Venice that read: “The future is fragile, handle with care.”
11. “Future Mickey Mouse” by Hajime Sorayama
Tokyo
Sure, it might not be to everyone’s taste, but this gold Mickey certainly brightened up the street outside Tokyo shopping centre Parco. Just take a look on Instagram: a whole load of people went wild for it.
12. “Outdoor Living” by Atong Atem
Melbourne
Atong Atem has done all sorts of great stuff over the years: photography, collages, mixed-media works. Her latest installation is a marriage of 1970s interior aesthetics and neon tulips on the side of Melbourne’s STH BNK building. Reinvigorating a boring old skyscraper with art? Yes, please.
