Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Dual Turn of Contemporary PublicArt: From Being Collected to Becoming "Public"

Yanjie SunUniversity of the Arts London*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

In response to the backgroud of the rise of privatization, the remodeling of curatorial mode and the strengthening of the role that market plays in culture policies, this research takes public art itself as the subject, studies the changes in the definition of "public" in contemporary public art, including this research as well. Once public artworks defined by their physicality in civic spaces and accessibility to many audiences, many public artworks today experience changes in space, legality and symbolism. Some are removed from the public domain and incorporated into personal collections, while others are reintroduced into public domain through foundations, corporate display, philanthropy, etc. These developments cause a boundary between the public and private goods to be hard to see. And cause questions on how visible, participatory, and cultural ownership is. Through a study of the cases of Banksy, Richard Serra, and Augusta Savage, this paper looks at how alterations in ownership and institutional oversight are remaking access to art, as well as the public's perception and resonance with it. By referring to Tony Bennet's idea of an "Exhibitionary Complex" and Pierre Bourdieu's idea of "cultural capital", the essay states that the importance of public art does not rest on its being placed or put up in some sort of regulation but in it being able to trigger remembrance, and to be a location for talk and to be open to everyone. Ultimately it needs a combination of private/public actors to keep the cultural/civic function of public art during a time of system transformation.

Keywords: Art; Privatization; Cultural Capital; Exhibitionary Complex; Re-publicization
Published: September 9, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.LC26647
Volume: CHR Vol.76
pp. 9-15
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