Public Sculptures is a solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist and 2019 Black Cube Fellow Adam Milner presented at thirteen sites across New York City. Curator Cortney Lane Stell describes the show as a counter-exhibition because it takes on an uncommon, pluralistic structure that embraces multiple sites and multiple audiences. As opposed to traditional exhibitions, which are generally framed by a singular concept at a fixed location, Milner’s exhibition embraces plurality and dispersal by featuring thirteen sculptures at thirteen New York City locations, including a bodega, a friend’s SUV, and a thrift store.

Milner’s intimately scaled artworks become a part of their respective environments, subtly challenging the sterility of conventional gallery spaces: Boyfriend’s Childhood Sword, a glass replica of a sword that the artist's ex-boyfriend trained with as a child, pierces the top of a tree stump at Green-Wood Cemetery. My New Earring!, an oversized pearl earring made of plaster, steel, oil paint, and glue, dangles from a rearview mirror of a friend’s 2003 Honda CR-V. Another work sits quietly at a corner bodega just above the bananas and potatoes and beneath the air fresheners. The exhibition reimagines how art in public space can be encountered or shared, and the title itself, Public Sculptures, provokes common associations with public art. In place of large, permanent, and masculine objects in plazas and parks, Milner’s public sculptures turn attention toward small, romantic gestures of care, trust, and empathy. This exhibition offers a publicly accessible art experience that meets audiences in the spaces they already visit, while creating a network amongst all the sites engaged.

Ranging in process and material, the sculptures were produced within the artist’s home studio and in collaboration with friends, relating to the blurring of public and private space which Milner's work often engages. In its entirety, Public Sculptures reveals Milner’s deep interest in personal exchanges and willingness to unveil vulnerabilities.