How to see art in New York without stepping into a gallery

Sixth Avenue at 55th Street

Tourists flock to the red and blue LOVE sculpture on a busy corner in midtown, taking Robert Indiana's message to heart and snapping photos of each other hugging, kissing and frolicking around it. What they mightn't know is this: LOVE is one of the most recognised and replicated pop art images of all time, gaining popularity after MOMA commissioned it for use in a Christmas card in 1965, then being embraced by the hippie movement before becoming a US postage stamp in 1973.

Mural With Blue Brushstroke by Roy Lichtenstein

Lobby of AXA Equitable Centre, 787 Seventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets

Want to see a 20-metre high original by pop art legend Roy Lichtenstein for free? It's right there in the lobby of an insurance company. Painted in 1986, Mural With Blue Brushtroke is like a greatest hits collage of the artist's career. Sit on one of the couches in the atrium to gaze at it for a while and you can spot motifs from some of his most famous works, along with references to Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Jasper Johns and Donald Judd.

Life Underground by Tom Otterness

14th Street-Eighth Avenue Subway

Did you know that the MTA – New York's transportation authority – actually has a budget for music and art in the subway system? All this, plus the trains run on time. The best-known and most loved subway art installations are undoubtedly the bronze figures dotted around the 14th Street-Eighth Avenue station. Sitting on benches, perching on hand rails and hiding between columns you'll find a series of whimsical cartoonish figures sweeping up coins, carrying tools, waiting for trains, or in one case, being attacked by an alligator coming out of a manhole cover.

Alamo by Tony Rosenthal

Astor Place

Most New Yorkers know this sculpture that sits on a traffic island as the Astor Place cube. Originally a temporary installation in 1967, New Yorkers took to it so well that it has stood there ever since. It's also a popular meeting place for those going out in the East Village. It weighs over 800 kilograms but you can actually spin it on its axis if you get a couple of friends together and push. Over the years it has been covered in graffiti, posters and knitted wool and even transformed into a giant Rubik's Cube.

Gay Liberation by George Segal

Christopher Park at Sheridon Square, W4th Street at Grove Street

To understand the story of the white figures in Christopher Park, you have to look over the road at a bar called The Stonewall Inn. On June 28, 1969, police raided this gay bar, violence ensued and 13 people were arrested. A series of protests took place in the days and weeks that followed, igniting the gay rights movement in the USA. Segal's 1992 sculptures of same-sex couples in the tiny, quiet park are a lasting tribute to those who paved the way.

Subway Map Floating On A New York Sidewalk by Francoise Schein

110 Greene Street between Prince and Spring Street

Even many locals are unaware that the stainless steel rods and glass bulbs embedded in a pavement in Soho tell a story. In 1985, Belgian architect, urban planner and artist Francoise Schein was commissioned by real estate developer and arts benefactor Tony Goldman to create an artwork on the pavement. Fascinated by the map of Manhattan's subway, she decided to render it in steel over a length of 27 metres. At night the glass bulbs representing the stations light up.

Balloon Flower (Red) by Jeff Koons

250 Greenwich Street

It's difficult not to smile when you see one of Jeff Koons' metallic sculptures that are outsized versions of balloon animals and objects. And the location of this one, a big red shiny flower, is a place where levity is not a given – it's in a triangular park at 7 WTC, near where the World Trade Centre used to stand. The sculpture is surrounded by water jets and stone benches where office workers often congregate at lunchtime to get fresh air and see themselves reflected in Koons' gleaming sculpture.

Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica

Broadway at Whitehall Street

Many assume that the 3.5 tonne bronze bull in Manhattan's financial district is a city-approved icon. In fact, Sicilian sculptor Arturo Di Modica – who created the bull in an optimistic response to the stock market crash of 1987 – illegally dumped the sculpture in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989. City officials were unimpressed and had it removed the next day. But the public had already fallen in love with this daring piece of guerilla art and a series of protests resulted in it being installed in its current location. Visitors swarm around the bull each day and are often photographed touching its shiny nether regions for good luck.

The Sphere by Fritz Koenig

Battery Park between Battery Place and State Street

Fritz Koenig made this 20-tonne sculpture in 1971 to represent world peace through trade and it was installed in the plaza between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. Despite being damaged, it somehow survived the attacks of September 11, 2001, and was moved to Battery Park without being repaired, a symbol of scarred resilience in the face of terror. "It was a sculpture, now it's a monument," Koenig said. "It now has a different beauty, one I could never imagine. It has its own life, different from the one I gave to it."

FIVE MODERN STREET ARTISTS IN NYC

Stikman

Since the 1990s, this anonymous street artist has been leaving his trademark tiny robot-like flattened figures embedded in pedestrian crossings and walls all over Manhattan. (See a "stick man" inside a disused police call box on Tenth Avenue and 21st Street, also containing a figurine by street sculptor Phil)

Invader

This French artist creates intricate tiled mosaics of old videogame figures from the '70s and '80s such as Space Invaders. (See one of his mosaics up on the side of the High Line at W15th Street and Tenth Avenue)

Fumero

Psychedelic swirls of colour are Fumero's trademark, whether he's painting large-scale scenes, portraits or his many representations of his Italian family. (See one of his "Family Table" pictures on the wall of 520 W22nd Street))

Shepard Fairey

You'll know Fairey's work from his famous red-and-blue "Hope" image of Barack Obama. You can find his street art, often incorporating a stylised image of wrestler Andre The Giant, from DUMBO to Manhattan. (See "Peace Dove" high up on a building on Elizabeth Street south of Houston Street)

ROA

The large black-and-white pictures of animals and birds on Manhattan walls are the work of Belgian artist ROA. He always paints creatures native to each city where he works, so it's no surprise that rats feature heavily in NYC. (See a giant bird on the wall of Albert's Garden on E2nd Street between Second Avenue and Broadway.)

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

discoveramerica.com

GETTING THERE

Virgin Australia flies daily to Los Angeles from Sydney with connections to New York via their alliance partner Delta Airlines. See virginaustralia.com or call 136 789

STAYING THERE

Mr & Mrs Smith is a boutique hotel booking specialist, offering best available rates and free extras on 22 New York hotels. mrandmrssmith.com

TOURING THERE

Saddleshoe Tours offer six different modern street art walking tours in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Cost is $US100 for up to four people. See saddleshoetours.com

Barry Divola was a guest of Discover America (discoveramerica.com) and Mr & Mrs Smith (mrandmrssmith.com)