The Mural in the Park
May 23rd, 2010 by craig
On my bike ride the other day I stopped for a brief rest at Boulevard Park (one of Kristin and J’Neil’s favorite places to walk and to have hot chocolate), and found myself looking over this mural prominently displayed there at the park. I was thinking “that’s not a bad piece of art – probably a local artist or artists….” But then I realized “that’s a clothed bear sitting there.” Then, “is that a naked guy walking in the background?” Now I started looking closely and found the guy with a fish on his head. And then the car in the sky. The leaves morphing into birds is very MC Esher, but it’s the strange things all over that had me scratching my head. I spent several minutes on a veritable “where’s waldo” examination of this mural. There’s a hiker with the head of an alligator, what looks a little like a bird wearing a native american head band, a mermaid type thing floating through the sky, lots of strange animals in strange places and lots more. I just had to share.
Very interesting – and rather cool. I love how many bizarre little details there are to discover.
It appears to be a bit of a take off on George Seuret’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – 1884.” You can view that painting here and will no doubt note a few similarities. The woman with the umbrella is the most obvious.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georges_Seurat_-_Un_dimanche_apr%C3%A8s-midi_%C3%A0_l%27%C3%8Ele_de_la_Grande_Jatte.jpg
The Seurat painting was also the inspiration for the Sondheim musical, “Sunday In The Park With George.”
I love how much art is valued in puget sound….
Things that make you go “hm…” . . .
I noticed the woman with the umbrella right off, and at first wondered if that is what it was… But then I took a closer look at it and it was clear this is its own unique thing. J’Neil & I went and checked it out today and it is indeed very bizarre. Funny, though. I like the guy with the alligator head (or whatever it is) best.
Strange but interesting :o)