 
|
||||
              
|
Sunday, September 26, 1999 By Barbara Cloud, Post-Gazette Columnist
Mural, mural on the wall, which one is the fairest of all? I happen to admire murals. I see more and more of them, and I am delighted by what I see.
They make you feel good.
I don't have great patience with amateurs. I like good murals. I guess I'm a snob.
What I like about outdoor murals is the creativity that's there for all to see. When they pop up where least expected, all the better.
Please, I am not promoting graffiti. That's an entirely different ballgame. It could be a future Picasso out there with a spray can, but hey, get permission to decorate a wall or a mailbox that doesn't belong to you. Channel that energy with some responsibility.
Years ago, I observed a painting on a wall on Ellsworth Avenue. It was a fake window with flower pots enhancing it. The look was whimsical. I learned the man who had his office in that building was Ernie Pearl, a wild and crazy guy himself. It made me smile.
Mail Pouch ads on barns around the country are legendary, and while it is not a scene per se, it was a unique idea in advertising. It always made you look. Still does.
Locally, the series of scenes Andrew Vernon has painted on a cement wall below the Sewickley Speakeasy restaurant on Ohio River Boulevard had me standing on the yellow-line street divider one night, snapping pictures as cars whizzed by in both directions.
There are others around the city, but this is the latest large-scale effort.
Glory days of Forbes Field will be the inspiration for a mural going on the walls under the Boulevard of the Allies bridge ramp but only visible if you enter Downtown on Second Avenue, which I often do.
That in turn reminded me of Burton Morris' offer to create a mural Downtown, preferably in the Cultural District, which sounded fantastic to me. What happened?
Not only would we be using a local artist with perfect style for such a rendering, but he also offered to do it pro bono! And guess what? Chatting with him recently, I learned nobody picked up on the offer, and now he is so busy being recognized around the country, he wouldn't have time to do it.
Somebody dropped the ball.
His bold designs, recently on view at the Mendelson Gallery in Shadyside, only gave credence to his talent, and I for one am sorry we aren't going to be able to take advantage of that on a Downtown outdoor canvas. Phooey.
In Minnesota there is a muralist, Gary Butzer, who decorates barns and silos. Fascinating.
Butzer was quoted in a People magazine story as viewing his mission as bringing culture to the masses. People are exposed to art without realizing it, and it becomes part of their lives.
Sounds good to me. Southern Minnesota is dotted with more than 200 Butzer murals.
Deborah Pivaronas, who co-owns Sewickley Speakeasy with husband, Paul, wanted their wall to "be a window" to the restaurant. She also wanted the figures to include people who have meant a lot in getting the Speakeasy opened, like her mom and dad and the restaurant bartender and other friends.
The mural is in seven sections covering 164 feet of wall. Vernon has done murals for at least 43 restaurants and recently completed an indoor mural for a Baptist church in Crafton.
Murals capture a mood when they are done well.
There was always controversy about the late Judy Penzer's sports mural on the building that came tumbling down to make room for the Downtown Lazarus store. I liked it.
The artist lost her life in the airplane crash over Long Island just as the demolition was happening, and perhaps I looked at it with more sentiment than art judgment. It was sad to see her homage to Pittsburgh sports legends disappear.
Philadelphia has many murals on downtown buildings, and three years ago when I visited Toronto, I saw wonderful murals in on exposed walls in an area much like our Strip District. They extended, in oils, the fruit, vegetable and flower vendors on the streets. I wish I had taken pictures of them.
I did take pictures of a mural covering the entire side of a seashore supply store in Stone Harbor, N.J. It faces a parking lot, and it is a massive display of a sandy beach with colorful umbrellas, lounge chairs, toys, even a dog afloat in a sailboat adding to the whimsy.
The scale is huge, but the artists have managed to make it not only colorful, brightening an otherwise dull collection of parked cars, but also fun to look at.
I wish we had grabbed Morris. Houston and Boston have his work, but not Pittsburgh. Let it be known that Butzer gets several thousand dollars for his 25-foot cardinals, horses, cows and hare images on barns and silos.
Morris wanted to give the city a great gift, and we didn't take him up on it. Too bad.
|
|||
