Detroit murals. A living form of art.

Most of the time you don't notice them. Murals. And that's because we don't like ads. The new ads are made of vinyl or they are screaming at you from led-screens. Buit in the old days it was all done with paint on a blank wall. And now that they are fading some people see the aestetics of it. We wonder at the modest price some ads will reveal some item costs but the colours are gone. Some freak happy accident happens when a building is coming down and an ad is revealed.


But do you wonder how they were made? Don't look any further. Here's an outfit that still produces these wonderful pieces of art. This is old school! A true labour of love I guess. Heck, I think I need a beer!

Okay, this is not Detroit, it's NYC. but this doesn't differ from onay city in the US, it's all done this way. In the end you see in how much detail they will go to create a life-like picture. Look at the sice of those brushes. You'd never think it would make much difference looking up fron 30 meters down.

Now here's an assignment. Could you take pictures of some murals in Detroit. I know there are some pictures to be found in the Detroityes tour site.


[[Edit: changed the topic title)

Whitehouse,

Murals in Detroit are coming to life in a major way through one of my friends downtown. He has single-handedly positively changed the face of public art in Detroit. The team that supported him really went over and beyond, and I've taken pictures along the way.

More to follow, but suffice to say the Skillman Foundation chose the right guy for this project.

It will be complete soon, and you'll know about it shortly thereafter!

Cheers,
John

This is what I've got for you, for now.

This is what he started with...heh. Took this one with my cellphone, sorry.

funny..... I been meaning to post asking about detroit muralists, Thanks for the pic gannon

Do any readers remember the murals behind the restaurant at Canfield & Woodward [[Alexanders/Stewarts/Canfields), which featured three dimensional wood cutouts? Haven't been there in a couple of years, but some of the murals still remained, sans cutouts.

You might want to check out the web site of Dennis Orlowski who has done many murals in the area. You probably saw his mural in the Pope John Paul ll Park in Hamtramck. Dennis lives in Hamtramck and retired last year from the Detroit Public Schools having taught art at Denby High School.

http://orlowskimurals.com/

These murals are really made as art, not as a commercial message.

A mural is art.

Big painted commercial adverts are ................just big painted adverts.

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Originally Posted by Whitehouse

These murals are really made as art, not as a commercial message.

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With all due respect, the video you posted refers to the painters as painters, not artists. They are not muralists. They are sign painters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eno

With all due respect, the video you posted refers to the painters as painters, not artists. They are not muralists. They are sign painters.

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I guess that's my lack of understanding the right terms. English is not my first language. In Dutch there's no difference in the term mural, commercial and non-commercial.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Whitehouse

I guess that's my lack of understanding the right terms. English is not my first language. In Dutch there's no difference in the term mural, commercial and non-commercial.

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Whitehouse, I checked for a definition of mural and it conforms more to your understanding of what it is than it does to mine. I believe the term mural was used exclusively for works of art and other terms were used for works of commercial art, like sign.

mural |ˈmyoŏrəl|
noun
a painting or other work of art executed directly on a wall.
adjective [ attrib. ]
of, like, or relating to a wall : a mural escarpment.
• Medicine of, relating to, or occurring in the wall of a body cavity or blood vessel : mural thrombosis.
DERIVATIVES
muralist |ˈmjʊrələst| noun
ORIGIN late Middle English : from French, from Latin muralis, from murus ‘wall.’ The adjective was first used in mural crown ; later [[mid 16th cent.) the sense [placed or executed on a wall] arose, reflected

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eno

Whitehouse, I checked for a definition of mural and it conforms more to your understanding of what it is than it does to mine. I believe the term mural was used exclusively for works of art and other terms were used for works of commercial art, like sign.

mural |ˈmyoŏrəl|
noun
a painting or other work of art executed directly on a wall.
adjective [ attrib. ]
of, like, or relating to a wall : a mural escarpment.
• Medicine of, relating to, or occurring in the wall of a body cavity or blood vessel : mural thrombosis.
DERIVATIVES
muralist |ˈmjʊrələst| noun
ORIGIN late Middle English : from French, from Latin muralis, from murus ‘wall.’ The adjective was first used in mural crown ; later [[mid 16th cent.) the sense [placed or executed on a wall] arose, reflected

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I think Andy Warhol begs to differ. But that's another story. In any case, I did not refer to the art but to commercial paintings like in that clip. Wasn't that the commerce building on which a big glass of Heineken was painted?

I've photographed 48 of them-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justbea...7604224076136/