What is
public art?

What is public art?
A brief introduction to the huge variety of public art and the equally diverse functions it can serve.

Up against the wall: the power of the political mural
From Diego Rivera to Banksy, from Irish republicans to the Obama campaign team, political muralists have exploited the power of a simple image or slogan to reach out far beyond its immediate location.

Queen and Country: artwork seeks a wider public
Postage stamps aren't what most people think of as public art. But for the film-maker and official war artist Steve McQueen there is no better way to produce a very public commemoration of the British servicemen and women who have died in the Iraq conflict.

The artwork is a network: Bob and Roberta Smith
The artist known as Bob and Roberta Smith is interested not in monuments but in collaboration and building on what already exists in a given location.