The domain of public art is an interesting one as it comes with its own liberations and constraints. It can be described as art that has been planned and executed for the sole purpose of public consumption. It is often staged in public spaces where it is accessible to all. Public art is significant within the art world, amongst curators, commissioning bodies and practitioners of public art, to whom it signifies a working practice of site-specificity, community involvement, and collaboration. Public art may include any art which is exhibited in a public space including publicly accessible buildings. Artists take a lot of care to put across a message through their art when it is to be displayed as public art. The physical location becomes just one of the factors of the artwork as such.
One of the most celebrated public artists is Tom Otterness. He studied at the Art Students League of New York in 1970 and at the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1973. He was an active member of the artists' group Colab (Collaborative Projects) from its inception in 1977 and was involved in punk visual art, notably exhibiting in the Punk Art Exhibition in Washington DC, 1978. He has also been a member of the National Academy Museum since 1994.
Otterness is a prolific American artist and his sculptures are displayed in parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums in New York City—most notably in Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City and Life Underground in the 14th Street – Eighth Avenue New York City Subway station—and other cities around the world. Otterness has exhibited in exhibitions in locations across the United States and internationally, including New York City, Indianapolis, Beverly Hills, The Hague, Munich, Paris, Valencia, and Venice.
Otterness’s style is often described as cartoonish and cheerful due to the shapes he deals with. However, his works do not come with the lack of seriousness that is often associated with cartoons. Deeply political, his sculptures allude to sex, class, money, race and such modern-day issues. These sculptures depict, among other things, huge pennies, pudgy characters in business suits with moneybag heads, helmeted workers holding giant tools, and an alligator crawling out from under a sewer cover. His aesthetic is based on capitalist realism.
One of Otterness's earliest public artworks, The New World, was commissioned in 1987 by the General Services Administration for the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, part of the Los Angeles Federal Center. The work was installed in 1991. After this piece, Otterness was commissioned to do others for the General Services Administration, including federal courthouses in Portland, Oregon (Law of Nature, 1997); Sacramento, California (Gold Rush, 1999); and Minneapolis, Minnesota (Rock Man, 1999).
Many of Otterness's public works can be found in New York City. His work The Real World was installed in Battery Park City in 1992. This sculpture was created as a representation of the world outside the playground. However, New Yorkers recognize Otterness as the creator of the 2000 Life Underground installation, which is located in the 14th Street – Eighth Avenue New York City Subway station on the A, C, E, and L services. It is a sculptural group that took over 10 years to complete and consists of over 100 cast-bronze sculptures placed throughout the platforms and stairways of the station.
Some of Otterness’s works are currently on display at the Marlborough Art Gallery in New York where he has had several solo exhibitions before. You can also have a look at Tom Otterness’s art for sale at the gallery. The gallery website also displays the artist's work from his exhibitions such as Tipping Point held in 2017.
Read also: Margaret Lee exhibition
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