The World as a Canvas

1. The World as a Canvas A Gallery by Daniel Randle

2. The Great Wall of Los Angeles by Judith Baca Judith Baca was born September 20, 1946 in to a Mexican American family. She grew up in Watts California and attended California State University, Northridge where she earned her masters degree in art. She first got a job at her former high school but was fired for participating in protest marches. She then went on to get a job for the US Army Corps of Engineers to fix up a part of San Fernando to look better. The Mural on the concrete wall was the result of her project. It was painted by over 400 people over the course of a couple summers and was finished in 1984. I thought the piece fit very well in the gallery because the style is very similar to all of the other sidewalk paintings.

3. Dies Irae by Kurt Wenner Kurt Wenneris an international sidewalk mural painter who is known for his incredible portrayals of 3D scenes. In fact he is credited with creating 3D sidewalk art. He got his first commission at age 17 and has worked for many companies/people since including NASA! This piece is just one of his incredible sidewalk murals and was created sometime in 2007. I chose it because it follows my theme nicely and it is incredible!

4. Last Judgment by Kurt Wenner Here is another sidewalk mural by Kurt Wenner that is absolutely huge! No date provided or location for that matter – Somewhere in Europe! These sidewalk paintings aren’t very well documented. I picked this painting because along with matching the rest of my gallery – it is breathtaking. One man made that. I don’t understand it – How?????

5. The Gates by Christos and Jean Claude Christo was born in Bulgaria June 13 of 1935 and Jean-Claude was born June 13 1935. They met each other in Paris in 1958 and began producing environmental works of arts with each other. It didn’t take long for the couple to get noticed and become very popular. This work here is called The Gates and was created in 2005. The couple spent around $21,000,000 dollars on the project – they had 7,503 vinyl gates installed throughout Central Park in New York. These gates were installed February 12 and were disassembled February 27. I chose this peace because the artists created a massive piece of art on the face of New York City. Nothing had ever been done quite like this before.

6. Taking the Plunge by Julian Beever Julian Beever is a sidewalk artist that has made a name for himself with his incredible optical illusion sidewalk paintings. He is based in England but travels all around the world to paint his murals. He first designs his works on paper and then transfers the piece to the sidewalk – to do this he positions a camera that he can go look in to from time to time to make sure the piece is going as he wants.The piece to the left is just one of his many pieces – it is called Taking the Plunge. The website does not give a date for the pieces creation. I chose this piece it fits with my theme of making art out of the environment around, and because no matter how long I look at this piece I cannot make my mind believe that he is not diving off of the diving board. Fantastic!

7. Meeting Mr. Frog by Julian Beever This is another sidewalk painting by Julian Beever that is called Meeting Mr. Frog. Once again there is no date given on the painting. These paintings just perplex me. I don’t understand how these artists do this. I chose this piece to go with my gallery for the obvious reason that is it is art made on the environment. No cloth/paper canvas here.