After Covid-19 shuttered museums and galleries across the globe, the art world is staging a cautious reopening — which includes a host of new pandemic-friendly, open-air exhibitions and installations.
These outdoor offerings include major, long-awaited shows by renowned artists, as well as public art by local talent.
Some were created in direct response to the events of 2020, such as a series of protest sculptures made from plywood once used to board up storefronts during America’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Others explore the deepening climate crisis and ask us to consider our relationship to the Earth, whether that’s forest installations in major cities or transcendent digital art set amid Japanese hot springs.
But while many of the 16 outdoor art experiences in our list address these serious issues, there is plenty of whimsy, too — from a kaleidoscopic take on a fairground to a pod of majestic floating “skywhales.”
“Kusama: Cosmic Nature”
Where: New York Botanical Gardens, New York City, USA
When: Now through October 31
The New York Botanical Garden has been filled with sculptures by Kusama, including this new “Dancing Pumpkin.” Credit: Robert Benson Photography
