Time has an archive of some wall murals in Philadelphia – I must say I’m very much impressed by the quality and maturity in some of them. Like the two examples above: ‘Malcolm X’ by the artist Ernel Martinez, who grew up in gang-plagued L.A. and Detroit but grew up an artist and muralist; and ‘Careers: Head to the Sky’, created by artist Cavin Jones who broke up the children’s’ faces into simple zones and invited local students to help paint it.
I thought it’s really great that quality art are spread (and in a big scale) in the city, where they can be seen in an everyday context (as opposed to a museum, which might serve a more niched audience in an curated, artificial setting). These murals are not only artistically well-painted, but they also carry a sense of hope and maturity in their message. Beautifying the landscape and lifting the mind – great works indeed!
