As summer approaches and the sun shines, a range of new public sculptures are providing extra reason to get out and about.The Mastaba is Christo’s first large-scale public sculpture in the UK and will float on The Serpentine lake in Hyde Park from 18 June. Constructed of 7,506 red, white, blue and mauve barrels it measures 20m x 30m x 40m. To coincide with its temporary display, The Serpentine Gallery are running an exhibition on the work of Christo and his use of barrels throughout his career. He is celebrated for his ambitious sculptural works that intervene in urban and natural landscapes and temporarily alter both the physical form and visual appearances of sites.
Taking the form of an open book flanked with eagle’s wings and rising above a climbing serpent, Anselm Kiefer’s ‘Uraeus’ at the Rockefeller Centre in New York is the artist’s first site-specific public installation in the US. The artist said of the work, “a book doesn’t respect any border, any walls. It goes around the world.” It’s on show until 22 July.
And for a totally different summer experience head to the Gulf of Mexico to visit the United States’ first Underwater Museum of Art which is opening at the end of the month. The public space – free of charge to all visitors – is best suited for scuba divers and showcases seven sculptures and combines responsible tourism, environmentalism and creativity in one display. Andy McAlexander, the president of South Walton Artifical Reef Association board of directors, comments, “When you see small fish taking refuge inside a piece of art you see more than just the beauty of the art, you experience the beauty of life in general and how each of us has a part to play in preserving something so fragile.”
