Successful public art

Public art commissions always seem a bit iffy to somebody brought up in the UK. For a start, there is a tacit assumption that real art does not need subsidy: it has to stand on its own two feet. Furthermore, the history of the various millennial projects, the Dome in particular, with its buttock-clenchingly awful, Blair-imposed 'faith zone', teach us to be cautious about the quality of outcome.

One piece of public art in the north of England always impressed me, and that was the Angel of the North, just south of Newcastle, visible from the motorway and capable of inspiring and exciting even drivers rendered weary by the long haul up the A1.

Well, another piece of steel erection has, in my view, provided a worthy competitor, and it is only a few hundred metres away from our house, on the Bastion St Jaume. It is a sculpture by the Barcelona artist Jaume Plensa, entitled 'The Nomad'. It is made up of hundreds of large, sturdy capital letters, in white-painted stainless steel, which have been welded into an airy, magical ectoplasm of a person sitting down hugging their knees and looking out to sea, towards Italy and Corsica. The effect is stunning, and the art continues beyond the installation, as the sun imprints a shadow image slowly creeping across the smooth concrete pedestal. Money well spent!