Zoe Strauss

OK, I have written before about how dissapointed I am in the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program... here and here. But I will never be done talking about it because I want Philadelphia to have quality art, not half-assed art.


I've painted murals before I-95 and I am not a painter by any stretch. Here's one I painted a while ago. It's been down for more than 10 years, but I wish it would go back up.

Woody Guthrie Mural

And here's an rough outline for a mural that I wish would go up.


Heroin Flow Chart Mural

And here's an rough outline for one that should go up.


Utilities Flow Chart Mural

I am a big proponent of murals that explain our household utilities.

And here's a new one...


After all, we are at war.

What about the idea of having murals that inform, as opposed to interepretations of what's considered "inspirational"? How about a mural of an accurate world map?




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This mural at Broad and Spring Garden is fucking ridiculous. This is a response to youth violence in Philadelphia? I seriously hate this piece so much I can barely look at it. Mural Arts, I BEG you, please stop producing work like this.



There are some murals that I think are fine and I absolutely don't have to love, or even like, the majority of them. But I can't believe that so many of them look like the one above.

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Now, can't we get some of these people to produce murals here?


Steve Powers is an amazing muralist


Image by Steve Powers. His new work in Ireland is killing me. He's from Philadelphia, so why don't we have several THOUSAND of his murals?

What about a mural by Kehinde Wiley?


Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of Andries Stilte II

That mural of the kid reading a Jiffy Lube text book on South Philly High isn't cutting it.

or something by Angela Dufresne?




Look at how great these paintings by Angela Dufresne are! Why can't we have these instead of the majority of crap murals we have?

or something by Mark Bradford?


Mark Bradford, Kryptonite

or Astrid Bowlby?


Astrid Bowlby, Installation view

or one of the hundreds of tremendous Philadelphia artists who would produce work that's more challenging and responsive than what we have going on right now? You know, mural wise.

The above artists produce beautiful and evocative work; and you'll note that none produce images of a "kid graduating" run through a photoshop filter.


Also, David Kessler once told me that he'd paint a mural of a giant rat battling a giant robot rat and I would love to see that.

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Look at these 2 paintings that Philadelphia Museum of Art has inside the main building....



Marc Chagall, A Wheatfield on a Summer's Afternoon

and



Diego Rivera, Zapata

Why can't we demand the same kind of quality art for the public view? Come on!