St. Pete Mural Tour, Part 2

Detail from "Against Monsanto"
by Pixel Pancho (2016)

Since 2015, the annual SHINE Festival has led to the creation of more than 100 murals on St. Pete's streets. And with an additional 400+ murals gracing walls across the city, you could spend a healthy chunk of time discovering them. 

Thankfully, Florida CraftArt sponsors tours that introduce people to the wide variety of murals the city boasts. A couple of weeks ago, some friends and I joined a bike tour to check it out.  Serious fun. 

At 40' high and 271' feet wide, "Against Monsanto" is the city's largest mural. That's a lot of wall to cover. And so Pixel Pancho enlisted some local artists to help him hand paint the work with brushes and rollers using colors Pancho mixed himself. (I assume Pancho had drawn the outlines first, but didn't think to ask the question.) 

In the mural, the Italian artist provides his commentary on Monsanto's patent on genetically-modified seeds and corporate control of the food chain. The coins comprising the male figure's head are the most pointed visual. (Money makes the world go 'round after all.)  I personally was taken with his fabulous Nehru jacket. The woman sports Heidi-like braids as she confronts the viewer with her robotic eyes. Our guide noted the possible reference to Grant Woods' "American Gothic," sans pitchfork. It works for me. For more of Pancho's murals, click here. 

Sarah with Detail of untitled mural
by Stephen Palladino (2017)

Stephen Palladino's mural is great fun. I'm not alone in enjoying his work -- Lady Gaga, Absolut Vodka and Reebok are among his clients. And here's a shocker (not): He's a big fan of cartoons and graffiti. 

Palladino's creative process is somewhat unusual. He creates the outlines of his figures in black and then solicits ideas about what they should be. (I'm a particular fan of the Judy Jetson-like figure Sarah seems to be mimicking.)  Once the images were done, Palladino added the text. From "Umm, hello" to "The struggle" to "Or else," it's hard to decipher his message. I'd happily visit this artwork again and give it a try. To see more of Palladino's work, click here. 

"Just Belin" by Belin (2018)

Then there's "Just Belin" by the artist -- you guessed it -- Belin. His mural lives near Tropicana Field next to Pixel Pancho's work above. While you can see it when you're zipping by on I-275, I'd recommend waiting until you're out of your car. 

Belin is a self-taught artist who mixes realism with cubism. He counts fellow Spaniards Dali and Picasso among his influences. Belin describes his work as  "Postneocubism." And here's a cool tidbit -- the realistic features were recreated from a photograph of the artist's own face. To see more of Belin's work, click here. He definitely has a thing for eyes. 

Detail of "How to Crack the Strange"
by Morning Breath (2019)

Speaking of eyes, here's a detail from a crazy mural created for the 2019 SHINE Festival. The artists are a duo who paint under the moniker Morning Breath. Sadly, the mural the pair created for the inaugural Festival was lost to construction. 

The Festival website describes the mural as "a scattering of images in the style of a 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' ad spreads out on a wall...as if [it] were an old comic book-style pamphlet held out wide." The expansive mural can be readily broken into five sections. (Click here to see the whole thing.)  I like the eyes featured here as well as the acknowledgment that ideas are, in fact, a dime a dozen. And who can resist a sword swallower? 

The panel to the left of what's shown here features a huge head that recreates the Coney Island Steeplechase Funny Face. It's a fun piece of nostalgia. Less fun is a historic feature of the building to which the busy mural directs careful viewers. The word "LOOK" appears under the Funny Face with an arrow. If you follow the arrow, you discover a cut out in the wall of the old style diner. This is where African-American customers were served before desegregation. Kudos to the owners of the Coney Island Sandwich Shop for not covering up this piece of history. 

Stephenie, Sarah and Steve with "Face the Jury"

I can't leave this post without sharing the sole sculpture installation that made the tour. "Face the Jury" is comprised of 12 chairs -- most of which are elevated -- looking out on a lone chair positioned close to the ground. Yes, we've entered a courtroom. (Not coincidentally, the installation lives across the street from the St. Petersburg Judicial Center.) It's public art at its best. While it's fun to clamber up on the chairs for a photo opp, the work also has a message. The chairs differ in appearance just as jurors do. And yet they -- and the defendant -- are unified by being painted the same striking red. 

Artist Douglas Kornfeld was inspired to create "Face the Jury" by his own two week stint as a juror. Kornfeld's intention is made clear in his artist statement. "Public art is like a message in a bottle," he says. "A public artwork must challenge us with questions, not soothe us with platitudes....It must be a poetic testimony."  

To explore the SHINE Festival website -- with full images and descriptions of each work and info about the artist -- click here. If you're out exploring on your own, each mural created for the Festival has a placard with a QR code that will bring you to the site. (You're on your own to try and make out the artists' signatures for the others.)  And if you're interested in going on the tour yourself, info can be obtained by clicking here. 

Happy adventures!