Street Photography Fun: Public Art

Regular readers know I love public art and street photography - so why not combine the two. Over the past few months, I have been surfing my 100,000+ photo library searching for public art photos. As was doing this, I noticed in several cases I had photos of public artworks by the same artists but in different cities, or similar artworks from different cities. I then decided to pair them up and it was interesting see them side-by-side.

So much so that I thought it would be fun to create photo essay blog with some of the pairs.

Have a look and let me know what you think.

Seattle meets New Orleans. Claes Olenburg is a prolific public artwork artist. On the left is “Typewriter Eraser” in Seattle art park and on the right is “Corridor Pin, Blue” in New Orleans.

Nashville meets Calgary. Both artworks are by Christian Moeller.

Calgary vs Banff. The photo on the left is on the plaza of The Bow office tower, looking up from the Plensa’s “Wonderland” sculpture of a young girl’s head. On the right is Brian Jungen’s installation titled “The Ghosts On Top Of My Head.” The later combines three benches inspired by antlers of caribou, elk and moose.

Seattle meets New Orleans. The 46-foot tall head title “Echo” on the left is by Jaume Plensa, while the diving board figures can be found in the Besthoff Sculpture Park. It is titled “Maybe (Not) is by Elmgreen & Dragset.

Love these fun street crossing. The left is in Portland, while the right one is in Victoria BC’s chinatown.

Found both of these in London UK, I thought the Monopoly meets homeless messages created an interesting dialogue.

Vancouver meets Calgary. On the left is one of the laughing heads of a 14 statue installation “A-maz-ing Laughter” by Yue Minjun in Vancouver’s Morton Park. On the right is Brandon Vickerd’s Wolfe and the Sparrows, it looks like a formal memorial statue at the bottom but gradually transforms into a flock of sparrows. Note: Calgary has two General Wolfe sculptures even though he never set foot in Calgary. Strange but true.

Palm Springs meets Winnipeg. Colourful utility box in Palm Springs (artists not identified) meets Winnipeg’s Corydon Avenue’s “Colours of Corydon” that included eight fun figures along the sidewalk.

Both of these are in Calgary, the left one is by Bruno Catalano, depicts Vincent Van Gogh, the right is by Jill Anholt titled Emergent. Both a fun surrealism element.

Calgary Meets Berlin. On the left is a close-up of the “Brotherhood of Mankind” installation in Calgary by Mario Armengol and on the left is “Trinity” by Matschinsky-Denninghoff in Berlin.

Calgary meets New Orleans. Love the hand gestures of William McElcheran’s Conversation and those of Christopher Myers in the courtyard of the Baldwin & Co. cafe/bookstore.

Calgary meets Vancouver. Conversation meets A-maze-ing Laughter.

Emily meets Emily. On the left is Emily Murphy, women’s rights activist (part of the Famous Five sculpture that was located at Calgary’s Olympic Plaza) and on the right is Emily Carr, the artist in Victoria. Both of these were created by Barbara Paterson, a prolific Edmonton sculptor.

Calgary meets Victoria. On the left is Colette Whiten and Paul Kipps’ “Weather Vane” sculpture on the southeast plaza of Bankers Hall. On the right is “Our Emily” created by Barbara Paterson locate close to the BC Museum in Victoria BC.

Vancouver meets Bromley, UK. On the left is Thomas Houseago’s “Striding Man,” while on the right is “One of Us on a Tricycle” is by Steven Gregory.

Snail Meets Puck. Both of these are in downtown Calgary. One on the right is a close-up of Jacqueline Metz and Nancy Chew’s “between the earth & the sky, measuring the immeasurable” installation on the southwest corner of Bankers Hall. On the right is the hand of Emily Murphy (see above) with a hockey puck left by someone.

Last Word

So what do you think? Do you have a favourite pair? Love to hear your thoughts.