Sixteen paintings lined up on a wall in a downtown Buffalo alley…. a series presented by the Albright Knox Gallery. It is titled “Works, from Home” and it represents the thoughts and feelings of sixteen artists on their experiences with lockdowns during the Covid pandemic of 2020. Presented here in no particular order (with the artist’s name underneath) –
Ihwa-dong is a neighbourhood, built on a hill (Mount Naksan) in Seoul. Some of the houses are literally built into the city walls. Because of its hilly nature, it is often referred to as a mountain village. In 2006 as a cultural project there was an effort to transform this relatively poor section of the city into an artistic landmark by adding public art – especially murals. Seventy artists were involved. The area became a tourist destination. It was also saved from demolition and redevelopment.
In 2016 the residents petitioned to have the art removed as they did not like the increase in tourist traffic. The local government didn’t do anything so some of the residents painted over a few of the more popular murals. There are also reports of murals being painted over in 2023 … or residents adding their own art
below: A woman walks down (very down!) a street in Ihwa-dong
below: A small neighbourhood behind a fence. Bright red shutters.
below: Girl with a red balloon at number 69.
below: Little puppy dogs and a friendly kitten by the hedge
below: Toucan and monkeys. The black car is blocking the shiny green car but he doesn’t seem to mind.
below: Watching time, but it’s always ten past two; watching each other but seeing nothing.
below: Motorcycle parcel delivery (although on closer inspection, it might be a trailer load of cardboard for recycling)
below: A great place to see views of Seoul…. but there are a lot of stairs!
below: Up a narrow street (no not street, just stairs), more paintings on the walls
below: Doorway conversation
below: Square head sitting with a woman with very, very long red hair
below: Fish by the door of the shop
… fish on the wall
… and fish kissing teapots.
below: A tired old faded bear sits by the road
below: Looking down to the layer below where people are sitting outside Espresso Bar Odeoksae Coffee. They are joined by a few silent people on the walls. To the left, two camels have wandered into the scene.
below: Rainbow stripes and some silhouette figures that look they belong in Alice in Wonderland – a trumpet blowing rabbit and the queen of hearts.
below: Slouching past with his mind on other things far away….
below: Yellow shirts and flowers
below: This is Son Heung-min who is the captain of the Tottenham Hotspurs as well the South Korea national team.
below: Off to the shops with her bright red purse and blue shopping bag
below: People on the boat, fish swimming under it.
below:Wrdsmth – “This is my palette. A mere twenty-six deep, yet the possibilities are infinite.” … Plus his typewriter that appears in all his graffiti and street art. The mural also credits PowWow Worcester which was an annual arts festival (for a few years prior to 2021) that was responsible for bringing a number of murals to the city.
below: A tower of women, by Marka27, aka Victor Quinonez, 2016, a very vertical mural on the side of the parking garage at Federal Plaza.
below: A painting by Christina Angelina, another parking garage mural at Federal Plaza
below: Another mural that was painted during a PowWow Worcester is this cartoon-like painting by Greg Mike (2016).
below:Jason Eatherly’s trucks parked beside the old brick building.
below: One of the first murals painted in Worcester is this now slightly faded creation by Caleb Neelon
below: At the YWCA, two young girls in shades of blue on a red background.
below: Keep on smiling!
Photos taken July 2024
There were also murals by Damien Mitchell (below) and Insane that I saw in downtown Worcester but they have already been featured in a prior blog post, (Insane + One)
In Altamura a wall has been painted with copies of old photographs of Campo 65. This camp, or center, began as a Prisoner of War camp during World War 2. Allied POWs were held here in 1942 and 1943. It was also a training center for troops that liberated Yugoslavia in 1945. After the war was over, it was then used to house refugees.
below: The 36 barracks contained up to 12,000 Allied prisoners of war: British, South African, New Zealand, Canadian, Cypriots, and Palestinians mainly from the North African war front. It was the largest Italian WW2 prisoner of war camp.
Murals painted by: Donato Lerusso, Marco Forte, and Mattia Pellegrino, 2022
below: Near rue Liban, Bar Populaire with a wall of graffiti.
below: In a circle of knives and with a Medusa head of snakes,
below: Another Laszlo piece – Stern looking portrait of Wednesday Addams from the “Addams Family” TV series.
below: A column of paper pieces
below: The top two, both on pages of old books. Top – a heart with “Aimez-sous Bordel” with a multicoloured figure by Corine Forest. On the bottom, drawings by Sulfid
below: More Corine Forest – this time a bird on a page of of music along with a little monster character by Axo. Mam’zelle Nitouche is the music that was chosen (or happened upon?). This is a vaudeville-opérette in three acts composed by in 1883 Hervé (aka Louis-Auguste Florimond Ronger (1825-1892)).
On the bottom – a dove in a heart shape full of white cursive love. “Go Love Anybody Anywhere Anytime”. A little saccharine but sort of sweet.
Learn from yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow.
below: One more Corine Forest wheatpaste – a winged horse among the moon and stars.
below: Paix
La suele couleur qui compte c’est celle denotre de notre sang (The only colour that matters is the colour of our blood).
below: The northwest corner of Martin Luther King Blvd and 1st St North in St. Petersburg Florida where there are a few murals on the buildings. The mural of the cat and dog in the foreground was painted by Matt Kress.
below: On the other side of the building (an animal hospital) are more cats and dogs.
In the first photo, you can see small parts of another mural. This one features well known cartoon characters such as the cats Felix and Garfield, as well as Disney’s Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, and Goofy. It was painted by Greg Mike as part of the SHINE mural festival in 2021.
below: The whole mural
below: The last mural here, on the far side of the back building, is another recent painting. Also part of the SHINE 2021 festival is “Tell Me How You Feel, Part III” by Bakpak Durden.
Rock star status lightning bolt – a now iconic symbol painted on David Bowie’s face for the “Aladdin Sane” album cover in 1973. Here, Banksy Incwel applies the lightning bolt to a younger Queen Elizabeth in a piece titled “Still Sane”- bestowing her with rock star status? It was painted in 2012, the year of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee (i.e. her 60th year as monarch).
below: And the back part of the animal, and the left part of the mural
below: Another El Indio. He’s wanted for something!
below: A long drawn mural with lots of detail.
below: A close up of part of the mural above
below: The Madrid coat of arms is the blue shield shape with a bear and a tree in the middle, similar to what is painted here. The man chopping down the tree is definitely not on the coat of arms!
Eyes on the Streets 