I already explained how this mural frenzy started in Penang. So today all we are gonna do, is check out some more pieces.
Somehow there are many murals with cats. No idea why, but it’s fine with me, since I am a big cat lover!
Look e.g. at this gigantic orange cat. Pretty, isn’t it? And do you see the smaller cat ‘sculptures’ on the stake next to it?
Shortly after this cat was painted, around the corner, a giant mouse or rat appeared. It is not known who’s piece that is, but it sure is funny! The rat is proportionally larger then the cat;-).
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| Human sized rat or mouse. |
Let’s have a look at the other cat murals and stencils we found:
And here too, there is a mouse hanging around…holding on to a fish? Trying to lure the cat? Hahaha…funny!
And there even is a third cat and mouse mural!
If you have a closer look, you can see that someone threw something against the wall, maybe a handful of mud?
Hope they clean it!
Unfortunately not all murals are in good shape.
The following one was very pretty, as I have seen on pictures, but it is one of the works that got vandalized. Who does that?! Stupid!
Even without vandals, murals are not there to stay for ever. They are works out in the open. Out there under all sorts of weather and exposed to whoever and whatever passes by it.
Several pieces that we looked for turn out to have faded away already, so that’s why we could not find them!
Look at this one, e.g., at the Chew Jetty. Exposed to sea, salt and wind it faded even faster then the others. From what once was a cute image of two children in a canoe, now only some paint chips are left. Too bad, but in the end many murals end this way, I guess…
Back to murals and cats now, because I was not completely done yet with those furry friends;-).
Last but not least we have this big piece from Bruce Lee and several cats. He looks to be quite cruel to them, which I don’t like, but hey, it’s just a mural…I guess….
The mural itself and the wall it is on, I find very cool, despite that Bruce is kicking around those cats.
OK, now we have seen all the cat murals. Let’s head over to some other ones.
The next one of a Boy Reaching from a Chair is one of the famous ones in Georgetown.
As you can see, here too people like to interact.
The works are so popular. that people, sometimes whole families or groups, queue up to have their picture taken with the mural.
On one hand this can be quite annoying, because you may have to wait a while in order to get a picture with no one in it. On the other hand, it helped us out several times. When searching for a specific mural, we just had to look for queues or clusters of people. They were probably gathering around a mural, thus leading us the way;-).
And of course shops around the pieces are trying to get their sales up by linking to the work.
Apparently Ernest Zacharevic also did the Despicable Me minions that pop up everywhere in Georgetown.
Quite strange to see this different style and subject in comparison to his other works. They are funny, but I don’t really, really like them. To be honest I don’t get the whole minion commerce. I can think of better and cuter animated characters to have on your bag, T-shirt or whatever.
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| This version is still cool. |
Stop already, minion overload!
Time for some other pieces:
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| This one is so fun with those bright strong colors! |
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| Cute mural and what a gorgeous deep purple wall! |
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| Chinese dragon; pretty! |
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| Magic Trick; I really like this mural painting! |
Ernest Zacharevic also did this piece at Chew Jetty, from a grandmother and her son who live there. Fun!
Random stencil art and murals that we ran in to:
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| This drawing is so cool with just one line! |
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| Scribbled door. |
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| Good advice;-). |
We had a great time, strolling through the town, on the look out for mural paintings. And while doing so, you come across lots of other nice things. A temple here, a cool cafe there, heritage architecture and what not. More about that in my upcoming posts about Penang.
So what do you think? Which mural is your favorite?
I do like the one of the kid on the chair and I love how the enhance the 3D effect by including real pieces such as the chair and window in the paintings.
I also like that scribbled door. Something I could see in a NY loft.
I painted a large tiger in my high school some 25 years ago. When I go back out west I will often visit it to see the large painting still overlooking the library. It is fun to know a piece of me will remain in the school.
bisous
Suzanne
Yes, I really love the adding and integrating of real 3D objects!
How cool that you made a large piece and that it is still there. Awesome!
Thanks for this tour of murals in Penang. My favourite is probably that super huge orange cat in your opening photo, but each one has its charm. There’s a by-law here in Vancouver that building owners must paint over graffiti quickly or face a fine - I don’t think they distinguish between tags and paintings.
Wow, what a contrast with Montreal then, where I lived for 6 years! I did not know this about Vancouver.
I understand fully that a city does not want ugly tags everywhere. I also oppose against graffiti-ing (without permission) on private properties, monuments, etc. But using blind walls as a canvas for a great mural, that I love!!
In Singapore it is illegal:-(
I am very partial to the large mural of the orange tabby cat, but that is probably because I had two when I was growing up. Now I have a very vocal Siamese who can be a bit of a diva. Thanks for sharing your pictures !
Ah, so you are a cat lover too, Sarah! I had a tabby cat and a tuxedo cat, both of which passed away. My nomad life will now remain pet-less, unfortunately, but it is better.
I never had a Siamese, but the ones I met showed me that they are very smart, indeed divas, great singers and gorgeous!
Those cat murals are so lovely! And the picture of a painted boy with real people acting near him is so funny.
Yeah, I think so too, Olga! Guess what; this artist turns out to have applied some works right here in Singapore recently!!!! I went looking for them and think I found them all. They are very cool! Will do a post about them, but may take a month before it appears on my blog. Got lots of other stuff lined up;-). Thanks for leaving a comment, Olga!