NewsFourth Plinth
Latest Fourth Plinth sculpture—a giant swirl of whipped cream topped with a drone and fly—delayed by coronavirus
Heather Phillipson’s subversive work was to replace Michael Rakowitz’s recreation of a protective deity destroyed by Islamic State
PreviewBiennials & festivals
Sydney Biennale puts climate emergency and Indigenous struggle front and centre
Show’s 22nd edition aims to be as much a conversation as an exhibition, with hundreds of public events including bushwalks with aboriginal elders and campfire talks
PreviewPublic art
Maya Lin will plant a ‘ghost forest’ in New York
A series of spectral trees will populate Madison Square Park this summer in the artist's latest project addressing climate change
NewsPublic art
Carousel in Frankfurt to recall the Kindertransport that saved thousands of children from the Nazis
Yael Bartana's public sculpture commemorates those who were shipped out before the Second World War
NewsPublic art
As debate rages around controversial US monuments, New York park invites artists to make their own
The year-long programme Monuments Now at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens aims to evaluate ideas around public art
NewsPublic art
'We must stop memorialising such a dark part of our history': official stance on Confederate monuments is shifting
Memorials honouring controversial generals continue to stir debate in many Southern states, but lawmakers are finding creative ways to deal with them
NewsAntony Gormley
Antony Gormley's monumental work in New York looks for human connection during 'an absolute fucking disaster'
The project in Brooklyn Bridge Park is a commission of BTS Connect, an international public arts initiative funded by the Korean boyband
NewsPublic art
Living refugees of civil war honoured in New York public art project by Krzysztof Wodiczko
The artist hopes to transform an existing monument with contemporary experiences so there will be “no more need for new war memorials”
NewsContemporary art
Rodney Graham’s Spinning Chandelier creates a ‘class-warfare’ debate in Vancouver
Installation in gentrified area is criticised as artists are priced out of the city's housing market
NewsPublic art
Image mocking Australian Prime Minister's Hawaiian holiday raises A$50,000 for fire service
Scott Marsh’s mural on a wall in Sydney was painted over
NewsPublic art
William Kentridge’s existential imagery takes over Times Square
The artist sees his midnight billboard installation as “a bit of brain surgery” in “the deep soul of late capitalism”
ReviewPublic art
Andy Goldsworthy’s Walking Wall unites and delights in Kansas City
The artist’s fragmented installation for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has completed its trek through time and space
NewsPoland
Lublin governor files defamation suit against art historian sparking free speech fears in Poland
Case against Tomasz Kitliński follows row over installation that marked pogrom sites in the city
NewsArt Basel in Miami Beach 2019
First section of Miami’s $100m Underline public art park to open in summer 2020
The ten-mile project will transform a track of land under the Miami Metrorail into a public recreation area
NewsPublic Art Fund
Public Art Fund adds four new members to its board, including Ai Weiwei
Ellen Celli, Andrea Krantz, and Ruthard C. Murphy also join the nonprofit to help bring more free arts programming to New York City
NewsPublic art
A stampede of one: plans to move lower Manhattan’s Charging Bull sculpture raises furore
The artist and city officials are at odds over the famous work’s removal from the heavily trafficked site it has occupied for 30 years
NewsSculpture
Antony Gormley in talks with French government over sculpture project in Brittany
Brexit is a disaster for the UK, says the sculptor as he unveils his Field for the British Isles installation at Firstsite gallery in Colchester
NewsPublic art
Maya Lin’s Eclipsed Time clock removed from New York transit hub after 25 years
The artist’s long-neglected sculpture has been removed as Penn Station undergoes renovations
NewsPublic art
Boston’s Brutalist government center building scheduled for destruction—without a plan to save its treasured mural
Preservationists are mourning the imminent loss as art historians plea for the safety of an important Constantino Nivola painting
NewsClimate Change
Street artist paints ginormous portrait of eco warrior Greta Thunberg in San Francisco
Cobre defends use of spray paint in creating eight-storey mural, saying his materials are environmentally friendly
NewsPublic art
New York will soon get its own shiny Anish Kapoor sculpture
The artist’s first permanent work of public art in the city will be installed at a Herzog & de Meuron-designed high-rise in Tribeca
NewsCultural policy
New York City’s cultural affairs commissioner, Tom Finkelpearl, resigns
A specific reason was not given for his unexpected exit after five years in the post
InterviewExhibitions
‘Public art is propaganda, frankly’: Hank Willis Thomas discusses gun violence and the urgent need for alternative memorials
A host of the artist’s exhibitions and public projects open in various locations across the US open this year
PreviewSan Francisco
Postcommodity plays the soundtrack of destruction in San Francisco
The city’s Millennium Tower is sinking, so the arts collective created an ASMR record from data recording the skyscraper’s plunge to be played until the building is fixed or torn down
NewsPublic art
New York opens applications for two new monuments honouring black history
The city forges ahead with its campaign to build new memorials, as public officials face pressure to reform selections process
NewsBernar Venet
In Pictures: the making of Europe’s largest public sculpture
Bernar Venet’s vast steel arc has been installed on a Belgian motorway
NewsPublic art
Street artists create memorial mural in Argentina for victim of New York terror attack
The architect Hernán Ferruchi was visiting the city with friends when he was hit by a truck while cycling on 31 October 2017
NewsPublic art
San Francisco selected an artist to create a monument to Maya Angelou—then rejected her
Two weeks after winning a competition from more than 100 submissions, Lava Thomas’s commission offer was rescinded and the city said they would restart the process anew
NewsMuseums & Heritage
ICA Boston’s Watershed to reopen in May with massive ‘underwater’ installation by Firelai Báez
The Dominican-born New York-based artist will create her largest project yet at the seasonal space on Boston Harbor
NewsLGBTQ
Designs for the National Pulse Memorial & Museum are unveiled amid debate
While early reactions have been mostly positive, a group of activists and victims’ families would rather see a support centre on the site
NewsCultural policy
World Cities Culture Forum and Bloomberg Philanthropies announce the second Leadership Exchange Programme
International leaders are invited to apply to the initiative which aims to advance cultural projects and explore the ways art can improve the quality of life for urban residents
NewsConservation
Josef Albers's Manhattan returns to its rightful place in the MetLife building
The colossal mural, recently recreated, has returned to its home near Grand Central Station
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Rozzers and Rastas: Denzil Forrester unveils Brixton underground station commission
NewsAustrian politics
Austrian election campaign turns forest art stadium into political battleground
Unveiled earlier this month, Klaus Littmann's tree installation is Austria's biggest ever public work of art
NewsDavid Hammons
Whitney Museum breaks ground on public installation by David Hammons
The museum celebrated the project, due to be completed in 2020, with a NYPD fireboat performance and specially commissioned jazz composition
NewsPublic art
Officials reject reports of permanent Prince Philip statue for London's Fourth Plinth
Mayor of London’s office says contemporary art series will continue with Heather Phillipson sculpture planned for 2020
NewsGermany
Berlin celebrates fall of the wall with art installations, projections and an app
A week-long festival for the 30th anniversary includes a banner of messages floating near the Brandenburg Gate
NewsUK politics
Boris Johnson’s Olympic mega-sculpture is £13m in debt
Visitors decline steeply at ArcelorMittal Orbit by Anish Kapoor in east London
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Survivors and victims’ families oppose plans for a $40m museum at site of Pulse shooting
The group says fundraising efforts to turn the Orlando nightclub into a tourist destination would be better spent on survivors’ care
NewsConservation & Preservation
New York Public Library shores up its marble lions
Two-month conservation effort for the sculptures follows a public appeal to donors
NewsPublic art
Vancouver mural memorialises First Nations’ aide to stranded Indian immigrants
The work was unveiled as the name of a Conservative politician behind the Komagata Maru incident was removed from the federal building on which it is painted
News US politics
African American leaders object to erasure of controversial school mural in San Francisco
Local figures defend portrayal of the nation’s blemished early history
BlogDiary
A reflective journey: Doug Aitken’s hot-air balloon touches down in the Berkshires
The final stop of the artist’s unpredictable tour across Massachusetts included a few final tethered flights and a live concert at a historic home
NewsPublic art
David Hammons’s public sculpture on the Hudson River will now be beachfront property
Gansevoort Peninsula, the site of Day’s End, will also include a 5.65-acre park, wetlands and kayak launch
NewsBernar Venet
Europe's largest public sculpture to be unveiled on Belgian motorway in October
The 60m roadside steel sculpture by French artist Bernar Venet was rejected by the French government 35 years ago
NewsPublic art
Building on a steady foundation, New York land art site looks to the future
With a new executive director, Harvey Fite's Opus 40 near Saugerties aims to expand its programming
NewsLeo Villareal
It’s lit: Leo Villareal illuminates four London bridges for world’s longest work of art
Cannon, Millennium, Southwark and London bridges have been fitted with LED lighting as part of a £45m public art project
NewsPublic art
Storm King installs sky-high sculpture by Mark di Suvero
The work—the tallest of the artist’s career—has travelled from France to upstate New York
InterviewPublic art
Fluxus in the air: Doug Aitken's hot air balloon sails above Massachusetts
The project aims to evoke the mythology of the American road trip
NewsPublic art
A new series of waterfront commissions boosts Southeast England's artistic renaissance
Site-specific works by artists such as Michael Rakowitz and Holly Hendry are planned as part of the Creative Coast initiative led by Turner Contemporary and Visit Kent
NewsVenice
Red Regatta: public art sets sail across Venice lagoon
Artist Melissa McGill teams up with Venetian sailors to celebrate maritime tradition in face of mass tourism and climate change
NewsConservation & Preservation
Ugo Rondinone’s day-glo desert installation Seven Magic Mountains gets a fresh coat of paint
The popular public art work has been restored with the aim of keeping it Instagram-ready through 2021 or longer
NewsPublic art
‘Do your worst, Boston’: Nicole Eisenman’s fountain—vandalised in Germany—gets permanent US home
New version of sculpture that was first shown at Skulptur Projekte Münster in 2017 is the artist’s first permanent public work
NewsBanksy
Port Talbot Banksy piece moves from garage site to town centre
Proposed urban art museum in South Wales will also include works by Kaws and Blek le Rat
NewsBiennials & festivals
No theme, no private funding and it lasts five years: inaugural Oslo Biennial opens in Norway
The event aims to boost the Nordic city's public arts programme
NewsControversies
Artist defends controversial mural of New Zealand prime minister embracing Muslim woman
Loretta Lizzio's memorial image of Jacinda Ardern unveiled in Melbourne divides public opinion
ReviewThree to see
Three exhibitions to see in New York this weekend
From Harold Ancart's handball court to Hank Willis Thomas's Afro pick
ReviewPublic art
Wishful thinking: LA’s latest pop-up art project is both highly memorable and totally Instagrammable
Artist collective The Art Department spent a year gathering heaps of dandelion fuzz for their immersive "wish factory"
NewsMexico
Art that breathes: Mexican murals aim to clean the air
The public art works are painted using Airlite which purifies polluted air in a process similar to photosynthesis
InterviewFrieze New York 2019
Harold Ancart on the art of handball
The Belgian artist's Brooklyn project is all play —and lots of work
NewsPublic art
Touch the sky: Doug Aitken’s hot air balloon work to lift off in Massachusetts
The multi-media artist is taking to the clouds with a new roaming project starting in Martha’s Vineyard
NewsPublic art
Michele Oka Doner finds fertile ground as the New York Botanical Garden’s new artist in residence
The Miami-born, New York-based artist known for her richly botanical works hints at “raves” and a departure from the expected kind of art installation as she digs in to the 250-acre landscape
InterviewPublic art
Siah Armajani: making magic for the masses
The Met Breuer and Public Art Fund showcase Siah Armajani, the Iranian-born artist whose work mixes philosophy and whimsy
NewsExhibitions
Exhibition at Brooklyn’s Green-wood Cemetery shows a day in the life of immigrants seeking sanctuary
Photographs of people young and old who hope to avoid deportation have been installed along the fence of the historic site
PreviewExhibitions
Iranian artist and activist Siah Armajani builds bridges in New York
The artist will recreate one of his best-known works in Brooklyn Bridge Park to coincide with his retrospective at the Met Breuer
NewsPublic art
Nick Cave beautifies Chicago’s Garfield Park station with floral installation
The stop will serve the future Obama Presidential Center
NewsMexico
What happened to all the art in Mexico’s presidential palace?
A largely emptied Los Pinos opened to the public on 1 December, leaving many in the country wondering where the collection of paintings and decorative objects went
NewsPublic art
Laure Prouvost to bring Brexit song to London underground passengers as part of 2019 commissions
Ahead of UK leaving the European Union, Art on the Underground programme looks at what it means to be "on edge"
NewsMonuments
First She Built NYC monument to honour Shirley Chisholm
A statue of the “unbought and unbossed” first black US congresswoman is to be unveiled in Prospect Park in 2020
CommentProtest
Why I made a cemetery for hundreds of banned books in Kuwait
Kuwaiti artist Mohammad Sharaf hopes to provoke the general public as well as the authorities
CommentMuseums & Heritage
Tristram Hunt: 'When the lights come back on, our museums will need support'
What coronavirus is really forcing us to address is the societal function and justification for public culture in the 21st century, says the Victoria and Albert Museum's director
Tristram Hunt