- Murals remain one of humanity's oldest art forms, well documented by cave and rock paintings and carvings worldwide. The ancient Egyptians and South American civilizations have left a rich legacy of artwork inside buildings, often portraying scenes from everyday life as well as religious themes. Throughout the Middle Ages in most of Europe, the Church was one of the wealthiest and most powerful entities, building vast cathedrals and paying for mosaic and fresco art, often depicting biblical images. Murals have been used to express political ideologies, and in the 19th and 20th century, as advertising and commercial interests. The technology was developed in the 1970s to mass-produce wallpaper with life-size photographic images, bringing lifelike outdoor scenes into living rooms and boardrooms. The popularity of faux painting since the early 1990s has led to homeowners hiring painters to do murals.
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Mural in bedroomArt is brought to "the masses" by being incorporated into public spaces. U.S. cities as diverse as Los Angeles and Ottawa, Illinois,have commissioned murals from local artists. Municipalities worldwide have encouraged mural art, involving well known artists and school children alike. Universally, it appears that most cultures recognize the need for public art. Cities are beautified by by artwork, and local artists are encouraged. Murals have expressed political and religious ideologies, and have even served as public service messages: in Ireland, murals raise public awareness on subjects like the need for safe sex, voting and tolerating diversity. It has also been noted that graffiti artists and "taggers" are less likely to deface buildings that have been used for murals, and some inner cities worldwide have commissioned public art to stem the tide of graffiti. - Mural art encompasses a wide array of artistic styles and materials. Mosaic, fresco (paint applied to wet plaster), oils, acrylics and collage may all be considered mural art. Murals are not necessarily lifelike; they can be abstract as well. Trompe-l'oeil (French for "fool the eye") murals are very lifelike and meant to give the viewer the impression that, for instance, a sunny window painted on a wall is a real window. Some murals are done directly on the surface of the building, while others are completed in a studio and later installed.
- By definition, mural art is usually art on a grand scale. Entire sides of multistory tenement buildings may be covered with a large painting, requiring scaffolding and months of labor to complete. Typically, a mural is more than just a pretty painting on a building because it generally reflects the building's use or location, depicting oversize sports figures in sports arenas, or urban scenes on inner-city buildings.
- There is some misconception about graffiti, and while many consider it illegal defacement of buildings, the truth is that "aerosol muralists" have often been hired to paint murals with spray cans and spray guns. Graffiti -- unauthorized painting on public buildings -- has been in existence for as long as mural art. Many graffiti artists indeed consider themselves true artisans, and have sometimes been recognized as such by the art establishment, later becoming respected artists. Much of the perception of art is subjective, since experts have never come to a universal definition of "art" and the truth often lies in the eye of the beholder.
Comments
FrazzledNanny said
on 1/14/2009 Thanks for the informative article on Murals. 5*s