Content warning: From surreal sculptures set in lush landscapes to lifelike murals transforming city walls, these eight works capture the many ways public art can inspire. This collection takes you from vivid nature scenes to intimate portraits, with each piece offering a
From surreal sculptures set in lush landscapes to lifelike murals transforming city walls, these eight works capture the many ways public art can inspire. This collection takes you from vivid nature scenes to intimate portraits, with each piece offering a unique encounter in the open air. Featured are artists from Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, and beyond.
1. True Nature — Sculpture by Daniel Popper in Cancun, Mexico
A monumental white sculpture of a figure holding its own face as a mask, with the head’s interior open to reveal dense tropical greenery. This work merges art with the natural environment, creating a striking visual link between human identity and the surrounding jungle.
A vibrant building facade mural showing a young boy standing beside a white dog, facing a woman playing guitar. The central structure of the building separates the two figures but keeps them visually connected through color and composition.
A portrait of a woman in a loose cream shirt, sitting with fruit and a glass of drink in front of her. The soft light and calm expression give the piece a classical, painting-like quality.
A towering mural of the Gentiana lutea plant painted along the full height of a tall concrete building. The bright yellow flowers and lush green leaves contrast sharply with the grey urban backdrop. More photos!: Flower mural by Mona Caron in Le Locle, Switzerland
A massive mural on grain silos showing a bearded man in a hat with clasped hands, overlaid with a golden rural sunset scene complete with a windmill and open fields. More by SMUG!: 24 Times SMUG Made Walls Look More Real Than Life
A soft-focus style mural of a woman in a white dress holding a red jug, standing in a lush garden with trees and flowers. The brushstroke style evokes a painted canvas.
7. Mural by Collin van der Sluijs — Maastricht, Netherlands
A richly detailed mural of a brown bird surrounded by flowers, leaves, and smaller birds, set against a colorful, patterned background. More!: Murals By Collin Van der Sluijs (7 Photos)
This striking mural by Zion Graffiti, painted for Meeting Of Styles Colombia 2025, portrays the profile of an elderly man with flowing white hair and beard that merge seamlessly with the wall’s dark background.
Mona Caron: Gentiana Lutea – studding the landscape here in the highs of the Jura mountains, standing tall in the rolling meadows like little flagpoles marking the spots where you can dig for its magic and prized bitter root, a key ingredient of many vermouths, liqueurs, firewaters, syrups and tinctures, here in the homeland of Absinthe.
Bitter is a lost taste, even though bitterness is delicious and cures. Addiction to the sweet has narrowed the spectrum of pleasures that palates can enjoy, keeping many from healthy habits.
So I offer this bitter-rooted wildflower, a field weed as metaphor of resilience through the strength we gain by daring something feared, perhaps uncomfortably new but actually ancient, unearthing both medicine and pleasure which nature has been beckoning us towards all along. Follow the golden-flowered beacon.
8,063 likes, 140 comments - mona.caron on September 15, 2021: "Gentiana Lutea: studding the landscape here in the highs of the Jura mountains, standing tall in the rolling meadows like little flagpoles marking the spots where you can dig for its magi…
Content warning: Sculptor Neil Dawson This jaw-dropping sculpture named 'Horizon' in New Zealand looks like something out of a Photoshop illusion, but it's entirely real! Created by Neil Dawson, the massive metal artwork defies gravity and challenges our sense of perspect
Sculptor Neil Dawson
This jaw-dropping sculpture named ‘Horizon’ in New Zealand looks like something out of a Photoshop illusion, but it’s entirely real! Created by Neil Dawson, the massive metal artwork defies gravity and challenges our sense of perspective, appearing to float effortlessly in the sky. Located in Gibbs Farm, it has become a must-see attraction for art lovers and travelers alike
Gibbs Farm, in New Zealand, is an enormous private sculpture collection. Its most famous piece is Horizons, by Neil Dawson - and it looks like a cartoon tiss...