Public Art in Public Space

Book excerpt: This publication chronicles the vibrant history of public art in Madison Square Park, presenting two decades' worth of celebrated artworks and interventions that have reimagined the park for its more than 50,000 visitors each day. Sumptuously illustrated with photography of every major project since 2004, alongside statements from each artist, Public Art in Public Space contains significant new texts from curators and historians that address the intersections of publicness and public art in New York City and beyond. This book is a critical historical documentation of a vanguard art program which has spent 20 years advancing the way that artists engage with actual, conceptual and physical publicness. Artists include: Diana Al-Hadid, Leonardo Drew, Teresita Fernández, Antony Gormley, Hugh Hayden, Cristina Iglesias, Sol LeWitt, Maya Lin, Josiah McElheny, Sheila Pepe, Martin Puryear, Alison Saar, Shahzia Sikander, Ursula von Rydingsvard, William Wegman.