Public Art Is Rubbish
3rd June 2026
I often wonder, not enough to pursue it though, but who pays for all those ugly statues outside big banks, big offices, etc. I thought it was mostly an American thing, but it’s common in Korea too. They’re usually quite abstract and to my eye, quite shabby and ugly. I assume money is being laundered or the artist is well-connected.
Too many people believe that art is what artists say it is, and too few realize that art is what viewers say it is.