Tuesday 9 September 2008

Outside art

Elephant art on the streets on Norwich, Norfolk, UK

Over the summer, I've come across a couple of public art exhibitions that have really impressed me. Both exhibitions were held on the streets of two UK cities and the public response to them has been fantastic....and fascinating to watch.

The image above was taken in Norwich back in July. The elephant was one of 53 positioned at various locations in the centre of the city for a period of just over two months. The elephants have now been removed and will be auctioned on the 23rd of this month for The Born Free Foundation and CLIC Sargent charities.

The second public art exhibition was in York where some of the world's most famous paintings have been displayed on the streets. The Grand Tour in York is described as a 'celebration of great art and the great buildings of York brought together in the historic capital of the North'. Although these exhibits were weatherproof copies of originals, the size, colour and power of these paintings attracted great number of passers by to stop and view these masterpieces. It really was art engaging with a mass audience.

Here are two brilliant summer exhibitions that have benefited from being out there in the real world. Who knows... maybe someone will have been inspired by these works to become an artist themselves. Time for photography exhibitions to hit the streets too?

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