Who is Romero Britto?

Good Girl

Originally uploaded by chooyutshing

A Brazilian pop artist having a great commercial run in Miami - some of his small sculptural works have been placed on Orchard Rd outside ION Orchard (as of end September 2009). He's capable of interesting public art interventions (the Pyramid project, London for example, or some projections he's been doing). It's big loud commercial work, and in the right setting and at the right scale can be fun in a loud sort of way. But these small sculptures don't work as public art. They are 2d works produced in editions of 50. They can't compete with the buzz of Orchard Rd, and just look out of place on their big white plinths.

STB is supporting this effort from Opera Gallery, and has given them plenty of space on their streetlight banners, maybe because the artist also has a line of portraits of F1 drivers.... But as public art this is a dud, and a missed opportunity given the artist's own abilities. For public art to work we need to put a bit more thought into it.