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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
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Photograph by Thomas Crone
On Friday afternoon, the clouds above St. Louis were creating a unique visual experience. With Chouteau as the rough dividing line, clouds to the north were big, puffy, bouyant and white, set against a bright blue sky. To the south was an endless field of varying grays. Rain spat in a short increments along that line, which happened to coincide with the annual painting of the downtown flood walls.
By mid-afternoon on Friday, September 11, a couple dozen early birds were already fast at work on their murals, a fraction of those who’d be through later in the weekend. Included in the Friday crew: co-organizer Brian Van Hoosier and a pair of German artists on a long tour of the US, EFAR and S.KAPE289. The latter pair, who spoke great English (but conversed in German when discussing if they wanted to go on the record) were creating a mural of New York, tying it to 9/11. They’d heard about the event through Meeting of Styles, an effort to get international artists mixing and matching in different environments.
Like some and unlike others, the pair had detailed plans laid out in front of them, which they viewed with one eye while keeping another fixed on the south, where the storm clouds were moving quickly.
Ditto Brian Van Hoosier. Set up south on the south end of the wall, he was in the introductory stages of his own panel, but had a few moments to chat; those are luxury for him during the event, as 300 participants (40 of them local) and hundreds of onlookers have questions and needs.
Van Hoosier said that the event had pulled would-be participants from Tanzania, Argentina and Egypt, but they were all unable to attend, due to visa issues. While that bit of official business didn’t work in Paint Louis’ favor, the the St. Louis City Metropolitan Police Department was on-hand regularly, as were security members of Union Pacific, whose rail cars dot the vicinity.
He pointed out an area further, beyond the “official” wall, where at least three new pieces had been placed, on what’s a miles-long extension of the Paint Louis site. There, in particular, pieces come and go, with large patches of the wall a somewhat-astonishing mishmash of serious work and quick scribbles.
On the main Paint Louis walls, pieces stay up for a bit, but are bound to change. This year, it only took until Monday morning for one of the most-impressive pieces on the wall to be touched; “Lord Knows, Thug Life” was the phrasing, itself quickly fixed by an artist displeased with the new development. Created, defaced, returned to originality. All within a few hours.
For me, the event was an odd one this year, as I was able to visit on Friday (with German guests!) and then again on Monday, when everything was basically done, save for a half-dozen finishing their work and a smattering of photographers slowly moving up-and-down the wall. Those Saturday and Sunday hours, spent lingering in the fume-y shadows of the wall were missed, though catching it from this new before/after perspective was also a cool way to catch the scene.
More pics are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/51252573@N00/albums/72157656313895263.
