The Inclusions and Exclusions of British Public Art: Creating Art for the Successful City, or for the Just City?

The transformation of British public space, in London in particular, has drastically reconfigured notions of public and private. In this context, public art has progressively become unable to rely simply on its presence outside of the gallery to fulfill the civic role it has endorsed since the post-war era. This article looks at the ways artists have navigated the treacherous seas of contemporary publicness to keep public art relevant to today’s British cities