A basic definition ?art that exists in the public realm? misses the intricacies that a fuller exploration of the word ?public? may bring. Are the public the recipients, the agents, the owners, or the authors? Is public art simply work that exists outside the contextualising narratives of the art gallery or museum? Should public art be ?legible? to the widest possible public, or is there appropriate scope for symbolic and allusive complexities? These are debates being played out in our cities and town centres, and on the roadsides and roundabouts of Ireland, and around the world.

Gemma Tipton is a writer and critic.