Murals

A Tale of Two Murals

A Tale of Two Murals is a documentary that raises important questions about the conflicts that arise between public and private ownership of walls in Atlanta.

25 Jan 2021

My first Ghostsign, from Nicaragua

While preparing for Wednesday’s talk at St Bride I rediscovered this in an old photo album from my 1998 travels in Central America. It is from Nicaragua, celebrating 1 May, International Workers’ Day. I believe this may be my first ever ghostsign photo, predating the fountain pens one in Stoke Newington by about eight years. ‘The Revolutionary […]

17 Nov 2013

Housefront Coronation Mural Uncovered

Here is John Shaw in Burton scraping the final bit of paint off the front of his house which revealed this home-made mural from 1953 celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A bit more about the discovery in this article from the Burton Mail [Link expired].

12 Dec 2012

Anthony Quinn and the Victor Clothing Company

This huge advertising mural in Los Angeles was painted to coincide with with the Olympics in 1984. Named “The Pope of Broadway”, the mural features a local hero, the actor Anthony Quinn, and was painted by the artist Eloy Torrez. It advertises the Victor Clothing Company which moved to these premises in 1923 after being founded in […]

13 Oct 2012

Was Walter Kershaw “Britain’s first graffiti artist”?

This question gets some coverage on the Guardian in this article about the Rochdale-born artist who rubbed councils up the wrong way in creating his artworks in the North of England. You can learn more about the man and his work, including various global assignments, on the Walter Kershaw website [Link expired]. There is also […]

26 Sep 2012

Walldogs: Murals on Main Street DVD

This is one of 17 murals produced during a Walldogs ‘meet’ in Pontiac, Illinois, in the summer of 2009. These events bring together sign artists from around the world to decorate towns and cities with colourful murals. In this case it was the home of the International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum and a place […]

22 Sep 2012

The signpainting of Anthony Purcell

After finding this fantastic collection of Pittsburgh ghostsigns on the Steeltown Anthem blog [Link since expired] I dug a little deeper and came across another great set of photos. These, including my favourite above, celebrate the hand-painted murals and signs of Anthony Purcell. He also has his own website and this is the Steeltown Anthem home […]

15 Sep 2012

The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum

Walldog is the nickname given to those that once roamed the USA painting signs and slogans on brick walls, roadside barns and any other surface capable of providing a canvass for their advertising art. The International Walldog Mural & Sign Art Museum is a celebration of their work, located in Pontiac, Illinois, The city also houses a […]

31 Jul 2012

Los Angeles murals photographed by Ernest A. Long

Daniel Lohmann kindly shared the link to this archive of Los Angeles mural photography from Ernest A. Long. There is an introductory article on the Getty education blog and the collection contains 200 images, all taken between 1973 and 1883. Like London it seems that Los Angeles also has a proud tradition of mural art, I […]

28 Jul 2012

The restoration of the Brixton Windmill mural

Check out this photo essay from the London Mural Preservation Society documenting their project to repaint Brixton’s Windmill mural.  It is a fantastic achievement and a vibrant and colourful result at the end of this undertaking which involved many people from the community and beyond. Bravo!

9 Jul 2012

Mural walks in Brixton and East London

The London Mural Preservation Society has organised two walking tours showcasing some of London’s most iconic murals.  Check the PDFs below for full details and contact information for the society. East London Line Mural Walk, Saturday 30th June (download PDF with details of East London Line Mural Walk) Brixton Mural Walk, Sunday, 15th July (download PDF with details […]

25 Jun 2012

(P)Imp and the Herbrand Street ‘Mural’ from @nycsouthpaw

I’ve just started watching Game of Thrones (highly addictive) so can appreciate this new piece of street art now covering part of the Herbrand Street ‘Mural’.  Does anyone know anything about the artist and the reaction of the locals which was quite hostile the last time..? PS. Does the Imp remind anyone else of Eddy Izzard […]

26 May 2012

An opportunity to grab a brush or spray can and contribute to the restoration of a Brixton mural

My friends at the London Mural Preservation Society have successfully obtained lottery funding to restore the Brixton Windmill Mural.  The fun part is that members of the public can get involved this weekend (19th and 20th), next weekend (26th) and the Tuesday and Thursday (22nd and 24th) in between.  Find out more, including additonal work […]

18 May 2012

The beauty of cracking paint on Paris’ trompes l’oeil

Adam at Invisible Paris has written this blog post about the changing state of the city’s trompes l’oeil.  This example in partticular caught my eye, the craking and peeling of the paint creating something new from something old.  It is similar to the way that some ghostsigns deteriorate, with the paint sitting on the surface of […]

27 Mar 2012

Hand painted wall signs and murals from Hungary

József László is an artist in Budapest, Hungary, specialising in photo-real hand painted advertising, other hand painted wall advertising and murals.  His work impressed me so I thought I’d share some of the pictures he sent me.  Some of these remind me of Colossal Media’s work, some are more like the signs I saw in Bangladesh, and […]

16 Mar 2012

How-to guide for large scale hand painted advertising

Nice 11-part photo essay from Business Insider documenting the production of a 10-storey hand painted sign in New York. Text here, photos here, sign produced by Sky Tag.

9 Feb 2012

Ghostsigns World Tour

Perhaps being in Cambodia has sensitised me to the world of Ghostsigns beyond my home shores. Or maybe awareness of the project has encouraged those from around the world to make contact. Whatever it is, I thought it was time for a round-up of what’s landed in my inbox and surfaced on my internet radar […]

21 Jul 2011

London Mural Preservation Society

At last week’s Sign Design Society talk I met Ruth who has started an initiative aimed at raising awareness, researching, restoring and protecting the many hand painted murals that can be found dotted across the capital.  These were generally initiated as community arts projects and Ruth has been tracking down the artists who once produced […]

10 Sep 2010

Herbrand Street ‘Mural’

Biking home along the now congested cycle lanes in Bloomsbury I couldn’t help noticing this huge mural on the side of the terrace at the corner of Herbrand Street and Tavistock Place. I went back to it the next day with my camera and took these pictures. At the same time I went up to […]

25 May 2008