First Name:
Hannah
Last Name:
Gray
Major Department:
Art Management
Thesis Director:
Christopher Curtin
Date of Thesis:
May 2013
Public art can be a powerful tool for creating dialogue, defining a community, and increasing art’s accessibility. One artwork in Chicago, the stainless steel sculpture Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor, represents one of the best examples of public art in the world because of its overwhelmingly positive reception. I was curious to uncover exactly which aspects of Cloud Gate make it so successful and how these findings can be used to propel future public art initiatives. This thesis uses Cloud Gate as a case study for the advancement of public art by investigating its reflective material, organic form, large scale, and public placement. I approached this analysis by researching common themes in Anish Kapoor’s artistic process, the prevalence and power of reflective surfaces, the significance of context in public artworks, and finally the scope, importance, and overall implications of public art.