Category Archives: Heerlen

Inti, Aurora and the Heerlen sign

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A title that succinctly describe this scene:

three dimensional letters spelling Heerlen in front of an apartment complex with a large mural by inti on the front of it

below: “Creed” by Chilean artist Inti

large mural by Inti on the side of a midrise apartment block

A woman, Madonna-like? or in a Muslim head scarf?….. holding an olive branch which is a symbol of peace, but she’s wearing an ammo belt around her waist.

part of a larger mural, a person with a belt of bullets around their waist, and a shirt in camoflauge colours.
part of a larger mural, person with anatomical looking red heart on chest, and holding an olive branch, by inti

Aurora refers to the buildings covered in the brightly coloured stripes, a work by the Spanish artist collective Boa Mistura. It includes the test, “In het hart van elke winter leeft een trillende lente” which translates to “In the heart of every winter lives a vibrating spring”. The artwork covers 228 apartment units and is probably the largest mural in Europe.

apartment building, residential, with stripes in yellow, oranges, and purples, with a text, a quote from Kahlil Gibran

In front of the apartment complex is a large 3-D sign spelling the name of the city, Heerlen. When it was first installed, it was orange. Now it has been enhanced with some DazeTwo ravens and crows at one end ….

the H and E letters, 3 D, painted with crows and ravens in various positions
middle of Heerlen 3d sign

…. and the ending letters were decorated by Amber Delahaye with other elements from nature such as mushrooms, butterflies, and flowers.

last three letters of Heerlen sign, capital letters, L, E, and N, painted with butterflies, mushrooms, and flowers

NOTE: The quote on the buildings is taken from one by Kahlil Gibran which says: “In every winter’s heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn”

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals were in the previous post, “more Heerlen birds”

more Heerlen birds

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There are many murals and other great street art works in Heerlen. There are too many for one blog post so I have tried to find a way to show them in small sections that make some sort of sense. My previous post (the workmen and the black birds) contained photos of the ravens or crows that DazeTwo features in most of his work so in this post I will continue with more bird themed murals.

below: Two snuggling bluebirds painted by Daniel MacLloyd

below: A massive heron with a collection of items that help represent Heerlen, a mural best seen from the other side of the railway tracks, or better yet from a train as it enters the city. The “Heerlen Heron” was painted seven years ago by Vincent Lancee and Dave de Leeuw.

below: Another collaborative effort, this time DazeTwo teamed up with fellow Heerlen artist, Ivan Sanda (aka MF Ivan), to produce an image of a woman whose head is also that of a raven.

mural on the side of a house, a woman

below: High above the street a yellow bird in a cage. The canary in the coal mine? by Collin van der Sluijs.

a yellow canary in a brass bird cage with a cloud of wisps, objects and a pair of eyes above it

part of a larger mural, a yellow canary in a brass bird cage

below: Dzia’s little blue chicken on Willemstraat.

below: And last, a quick bird head in the semi darkness under a bridge.

Photos taken October 2023

the workmen and the black birds

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below: Miners hard at work under the mining museum in Heerlen.

small stencils of 4 workmen, miners, digging in the sidewalk, on the very bottom of the wall, pick axe,

below: More miners, but this time they are having a bit of fun riding in the mine carts as they roll downhill.

street art picture of men riding on and holding on to mine carts going downhill inside a mine

below: The Heerlen workmen aren’t just in the mines. You can see them in a number of places around the city.

graffiti stencil by jaune of a workman in orange and yellow vest swinging on a rope

below: In some cases you can spot them dealing with the blackbirds, the gold crown topped ravens.

stencil graffiti of two workmen looking up at a large black bird, one of the men has a yellow sling shot that he is aiming at the bird

below: The stenciled workmen were created by Jaune. On his Instagram page there is a great line, “The world belongs to those who build it”.

below: A white crow joins the fun.

a photo of a man looking out a window, pasted on exterior wall, with painting of a white raven sitting on top of the photo

below: A larger mural full of black birds. Like all the other birds in this post, this is the work of Daze Two, a local Heerlen artist.

mural on the gable end of a building, blue background, a group of blackbirds all huddled together, by daze two

below: Closer view of the ravens in the mural above.

close up of daze two mural of a group of blackbirds, feather, wings,

below: Is there a story here? What kind of interaction is there between the realistic looking black birds and the flat red bird? X marks the spot, but why?

graffiti painting of 3 blackbirds and a red bird

below: A last look at the birds, a small Daze Two work, part of a larger piece, on a brick wall.

a small artwork of 2 blackbirds, on a brick wall

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals can be seen in the next blog post – link to “more Heerlen birds“.

four for community

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On all four corners of an intersection in a residential area of Heerlen (Netherlands) there is a mural on the side of one of the buildings. They were all painted by the same artist and they all feature some aspect of Dutch culture or history. A pink and purple theme also runs through them all.

below: On Oude Kerkstraat is “Operation Heartbeat” by American artist Gaia – A heart surrounded by different flowers from the Dutch “Empire”

mural on the end of a building, a red heart surrounded by many Dutch flowers such as poppies and tulips, all on purple background, Operation Heartbeat by Gaia

below: Another Gaia mural across the street from his hearts and flowers is this bit of local history – Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Joop den Uyl, announces the end of the coal mining in Limburg, December 1, 1965.

street scene with 2 large murals in view, one with a face and tulips and the other with a man giving a speech at a lecture in front of microphones

below: ‘Tulipmania’. The face is that of Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647) who was a Statdtholder of the Dutch Republic, as well as a sovereign Prince of Orange during the Dutch Golden Age, i.e. in the time of Tulipmania. I doubt that he’s a recognizable face these days but it’s an interesting detail just the same.

Tulipmania mural by Gaia, a face partially obscured but the eyes very visible, tulips in purple and white

below: ‘Resilience’ was influenced by the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (d. 1569) who painted scenes of everyday peasant life. Here is a contemporary scene of everyday urban life.

mural by Gaia of a city scene, people outside interacting, an orange apartment building, a woman waving, a reddish coloured house,
paink background, part of a larger mural, a woman waving

A stranger in town

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“L’Etranger” by Os Gemeos is a very large and rather strange man with skinny legs and long skinny arms. His feet are bare.

mural by Os Gemeos on a wall in Heerlen, a very tall man with big round head, brown pants, and striped shirt

He’s holding a tiny house with a crooked chimney into which a woman barely fits. Her feet stick out the open door and one arm is out the window but she seems quite content. She’s hardly bigger than the knee patch on his brown pants.

part of a mural by os gemeos, a woman is squeezed into a little box like house, she's sitting with her feet sticking out of the door, crooked chimney on the house,

On the other hand there is a balancing act going on.  She’s holding a megaphone while standing on stilts AND while carrying another creature on her back.  Yes, this is definitely Strange!

part of a mural, large open hand,

This guy has a little white bird one one finger.  His arm is outstretched as he either disappears back into the wall, or as he comes out of the wall.  He’s wearing a bright green shirt buttoned up tight to his neck that doesn’t quite match the hexagon patterned pants.   One little fancy curl graces the top of his head.

small man in a mural, looks like one leg and one arm is coming out of the wall

Be careful where you walk!

bottom of mural, man has very large feet, pale blue toe nails, bare feet, a black motorcycle is parked beside the mural

back of very old stone church, black late roofs, mural on wall beside

Photos taken October 2023

under a Heerlen bridge

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There are two murals, bright eye catching red helping to hold up a bridge in Heerlen. They were both painted by Brazillian artist Finok, aka Raphael Sagarra, in 2014. The first mural is painted in mostly white, red, and green… three masks, a fish, and a chicken-like creature.

mural by finok, bright red background, 3 faces, one fish pointing upwards

face, part of a mural, white, with red and green

On the same bridge, across the street, is another Finok mural. It too is on a red background. Is the fish about to eat the white headed guy? Or like a genie, has he just been conjured from the fish’s mouth? Whatever the backstory is, the white headed guy looks rather frightened.

mural on bright red background, on bridge overpass

photos taken October 2023