Marianne O’Kane Boal surveys the public sculpture enlivening the Laganside in Belfast, with work that is both thematically resonant and aspirational in tone
Public art clearly has the power to create a sense of place and even has the potential to create a revitalised identity in its habitual environment. Major examples such as Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate in Chicago, Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North, in Newcastle and Louise Bourgeois’ Spider, in Bilbao, have all demonstrated this capacity. In the past decade, the City of Belfast has identified the importance of art placement as a powerful regeneration catalyst. Modern development and urban landscaping require the humanising characteristics that only well-sited art can bring to an invigorated city environment. When successful, art works engender collective ownership and do indeed provide a sense of topography and indication of ‘where we are’
