Lots of city art is modest, even elusive, but not murals. And while most of the art I see is at least semi-movable, a mural is about the biggest commitment a property owner can make. Murals often can’t be painted without going through an approval process involving neighborhood consultations, and owners always run the risk of hurting their ability to sell their property.
So I’m always impressed by the guts it takes to put one up. Here is a sampling of some of the murals in my area.
Commercial Murals
Commercial murals make a certain amount of sense. They can help promote a business and a memorable mural is something a customer will never forget.
This tree/woman (dryad?) is painted by the entrance to a juice bar. In December she gets lit up something like a Christmas tree.
The following mural stands outside another cafe. The portraits are most likely inspired by the 16th Century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who was famous for painting figures composed of fruit and vegetables.
Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus
Homes
Possibly a bigger commitment than a commercial mural is putting one on the side of your house. You have to be very comfortable with everyone knowing you live in that house and always feeling like people are watching you come and go.
On the other hand, supposedly in Dublin people had to paint the doors of their otherwise identical rowhouses in distinctive ways to make sure they could find their way home after drinking too much. A mural like one of these would make sure you never tried to unlock the wrong door.
This following house has a portrait of Hinmatoowyalahtqit, also known as Chief Joseph. Following are some of the other decorative elements of the mural.
Finally, this is a heron I posted once before but I’m repeating it because I love it — whoever painted it combined the Great Blue’s head with a paint brush.
Love murals and that fruit people one is really cool. I think I mentioned before a town near me sponsored a graffiti art exhibit and some are amazing!
The painting is impressive but I also think of all of the tedious work cleaning the surface and fixing mortar so the paint doesn’t just flake off in two years.
Yeah, I’m sure they had to do a bunch of prep work. Both those are really close to the Puget Sound so get crushed with salty spray and fog. I don’t know if they were meant to last long term or if this will be something that changes every couple years.
i love a good mural…. my little city is currently frida kahlo themed
the local museum has an exposition and we just decked up the whole town for it lol…
Her husband was an incredible muralist, and Nelson Rockefeller ordered one of his murals destroyed at Rockefeller Center for including a small portrait of Lenin.
learn something new everyday 😀
Mexico City is the mother lode of wall murals. Many are several stories high and not a few are actually government funded. They’re everywhere. What in an American city would be a bland, bleak exterior (or more recently, a shabbily built glass box) is in Mexico City a blank canvas transformed.
Honolulu has an artist named Wyland that did the whole side of a building in the 80’s with whales and now has a bunch all over Hawaii and the world.
https://www.parkwestgallery.com/wyland-marine-wildlife-artist/
https://www.parkwestgallery.com/wyland-marine-wildlife-artist/
As far as ornamentation for buildings go, they’re relatively cheap compared to masonry work and ornamental glass and steel. I don’t really get why you don’t see them more often in and on US buildings even when the owners have the budget for a top name architect, or even if they want to dress up a building without paying for Frank Gehry prices.
Those are all beautiful but I especially like the dryad.
We have quite a few murals for a small city. This is one of my favorites, by Belgian artist ROA
We have the Freak Alley Gallery in downtown. Great place to walk through before or after grabbing a bite to eat.