Interloop at Wynyard train station December 2017

Public art in the City of Sydney in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia includes a wide range of works across a range of genres and for a range of purposes or combination of purposes. Some are purely artistic, some are commemorative, some are both. Some are monuments or memorials; some are also fountains and some are site-specific. In some buildings, such as

Australia Square Australia Square Tower is an office and retail complex in the central business district of Sydney. Its main address is 264 George Street, and the Square is bounded on the northern side by Bond Street, eastern side by Pitt Street and southern s ...

and

Grosvenor Place Grosvenor Place is a street in Belgravia, London, running from Hyde Park Corner down the west side of Buckingham Palace gardens, and joining lower Grosvenor Place where there are some cafes and restaurants. It joins Grosvenor Gardens, London, ...

Harry Seidler Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauh ...

as well as

Aurora Place Aurora Place is a commercial skyscraper and residential block on Phillip Street in Sydney, Australia. Designed by Renzo Piano, the 41-storey building stands at a height of high to the top of the spire and to the roof. The building has an unu ...

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...

, the art is a component of the architect's intentions. Occasionally, works are removed or repositioned. The

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

has a Public Art Policy and conservation work is carried on from time to time to maintain the works. The materials used vary widely but include traditional

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

(such as in ''Touchstone'') and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

(such as in the ''

Archibald Fountain The Archibald Fountain, properly called the J. F. Archibald Memorial Fountain is located in Hyde Park, in central Sydney. It is named after J. F. Archibald, owner and editor of '' The Bulletin'' magazine, who bequeathed funds to have it bu ...

'') as well as steel (such as in ''New Constellation'' and ''I Stay''), concrete (such as in ''I Wish'' and ''Barrel Roll'') and newer materials like

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

(such as in ''Vine'' and ''Morpho''). In the 21st century, kinetic, musical, and conceptual works began to appear. Notable sculptors from around the world are represented in works on public display in Sydney. For example,

Bertram Mackennal Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 186310 October 1931), usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM". ...

and

Bronwyn Oliver Bronwyn Joy Oliver (née Gooda, 22 February 1959 – 10 July 2006) was an Australian sculptor whose work primarily consisted of metalwork. Oliver was raised in rural New South Wales. She trained at Sydney's Alexander Mackie College of Ad ...

were Australian;

Gilbert Bayes Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess piec ...

and

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

were British;

François-Léon Sicard François-Léon Sicard (April 21, 1862 – July 8, 1934) was a French sculptor in the late 19th and early 20th century. His credits include work on the adornments of the Louvre, and numerous sculptures around the world. Sicard was born in Tours, ...

and

Henri Alfred Jacquemart Henri Alfred Marie Jacquemart () (24 February 1824, in Paris – 4 January 1896, in Paris), often known as Alfred Jacquemart, was a noted French sculptor and animalier. He usually signed his works: ''A. Jacquemart''. Jacquemart studied under pai ...

were French;

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his ...

and

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

are American; Kan Yasuda and

Jun'ya Ishigami (born 1974 in Kanagawa prefecture) is a Japanese architect. He acquired his master's degree in architecture and planning at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2000. Ishigami worked with Kazuyo Sejima from 2000 to 2004 at SANAA, ...

are Japanese. Some memorials (such as the ''Levy Drinking Fountain'') are in the form of a fountain; others (such as

William Dalley William Bede Dalley (5 July 1831 – 28 October 1888) was an Australian politician and barrister and the first Australian appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was a leading lay representative and champion of the Catholic co ...

) are in the form of a portrait statue. The ''Lawson Memorial'' commemorates a writer; ''John Christie Wright Memorial Fountain'' commemorates a sculptor; the ''Dobell Memorial'' commemorates a painter, the ''Morshead Fountain'' commemorates a soldier; ''Il Porcellino'' commemorates surgeons. As well as memorials to individuals or groups, matters of importance to Sydney such as navigation and the environment are also commemorated. The bronze portraits of

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...

and

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

also pay tribute to their skills in exploration and navigation. Recurring themes include flora, children and classical or abstract allusion. Local flora is represented by sculptures such as ''Veil of Trees'', ''Edge of the Trees'' and ''Into the Trees II.'' ''Busby's Bore'' takes water as its subject; indigenous fauna is interpreted in ''Dancing Brolgas'' and domesticated animals in ''Trim'', ''Islay'' and ''Mare and Foal.'' The lives and importance of children are acknowledged in the ''Tank Stream Fountain'', ''Windlines'', ''Youngsters'' and the memorial to ''Hans Christian Andersen''. Some (such as '' The Offerings of Peace'' and ''The Offerings of War'') employ classical references to convey an abstract meaning; others (such as ''Research'') use abstracted forms to convey an idea.

Scope

The list below is of works whose purpose is at least partly artistic and located in the New South Wales local government area of the

. Outside the scope of this list are objects and installations that are: located in the suburbs of Greater Sydney; primarily

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, tho ...

s, such as the fountains in

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

and in the forecourt of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

; purely memorial objects such as the obelisk of botanist Allan Cunningham in the Royal Botanic Garden; and temporary exhibitions containing sculptures for sale such as those displayed in the annual

Sculpture by the Sea The Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney and Perth is Australia's largest annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. This exhibition was initiated in 1997, at Bondi Beach and it featured sculptures by both Australian and overseas artists. In ...

exhibition or other public spaces like

Barangaroo Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong, who was interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonists in New South Wales. Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan. While Bennelong spent considerable time in th ...

. The list is ordered chronologically and reveals how art has moved from the "pedagogical: kings, generals, prophets and heroes on pedestals, striking poses that were supposed to demonstrate power, nobility and citizenship" to "something ... that brings a site to life, triggers engagement, prompts discussion and reflection''.

Nineteenth century

Commissions for sculpture came from three main sources: the Church, the State and the private sponsor. In the later part of the nineteenth century, there was "an active artistic relationship between Australia and Britain".

Twentieth century

By the twentieth century, the "basic traditional concepts of sculpture were challenged and radically undermined" giving rise to

modern sculpture Modern sculpture is generally considered to have begun with the work of Auguste Rodin, who is seen as the progenitor of modern sculpture. While Rodin did not set out to rebel against the past, he created a new way of building his works. He "dissolv ...

Twenty-first century

The 20th century sculptor Tom Bass described himself as "a maker of totems – symbolic, widely recognisable forms that embody social, cultural and spiritual meanings for a community – for a city, a corporate client or humanity in general", however, noted Sydney art critic John McDonald critic has commented that "only nowadays our malaise is cultural illiteracy." In the twenty-first century, citizens and viewers of public art no longer share a common theology and world-view nor a "general grasp of symbolism and numerology". The absence of such a "shared cultural lexicon" means that sculptors have had to master more than form, medium, composition and technique to create meaning with their works.

References

External links

* {{Sydney landmarks , state=collapsed

Public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

.Public art

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...