Category Archives: WHERE

Art Murmur is cool. And it’s tonight.

Here are some shots from my last Art Murmur back in March.   Yes, March.  I know.  I’m lame.

In any case, this weekend is a big one for ART.  Art Murmur, East Bay Open Studios, the Temescal Art Hop and more…  Maybe I can redeem myself by cramming!  And actually tending to this blog for a bit.

Who’s in?
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We came upon this gorgeous mural somewhere on 26th street. I think we were next to Uptown Body & Fender, or maybe this was part of Uptown Body & Fender… I’m not quite sure. But there was this incredible mural, which looks to me like a collaborative effort. I recognize the work of thomas christopher haag (I have shots of some of his other murals I’ve yet to post). I love his fantastical creatures and use of geometric building blocks that remind me of Chuck Close crossed with Piet Mondrian. Or something like that.


I love the diá de los muertos skull above, and the incredible four-eyed face below. I’m too square to read the tags on the mural, so if anyone knows who else contributed to this, please send some info…

oakland mural, thomas christopher haag, uptown mural
oakland mural, thomas christopher haag, uptown mural
Then of course there were the fancy cars…
vintage cars, uptown body & fender
vintage cars, uptown body & fender
And a nice Eddie Colla piece I hadn’t seen before.
eddie colla, like a sieve, vintage car, little red corvette
And lastly, the preamble from the Declaration of Independence, which begins, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”
declaration of independence, preamble, right to revolution, despotism, we hold these truths to be self evident
And ends with “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Deep.

the wild wild west…

I’ve said it before… the thing I love about West Oakland is that you never know what you are going to find. On a recent sunny stretch down the Mandela Parkway, I came across this muraled building on an empty lot (determined to be an environmental clean up site upon closer inspection of the posted sign and related fine print), next to what appeared to be a small chicken farm… beautiful birds with their own fancy red house and a huge yard in which to strut their stuff.

west oakland, environmental clean up site, mandela parkway

For those too young to “get” the reference in the mural above… see the original photograph and a brief description in my post Diversity is the one thing we all have in common.

rooster in the hen house, red hen house, west oakland chicken farm

west oakland rooster, cockadoodle doo, west oakland chicken farm

west oakland art, mandela parkway mural,

west oakland mural, west oakland pink building with green robot, power salute

Sweater Weather

yarnbomb, streetcolor, yarnbomb install at OMCA

streetcolor, OMCA, yarnbomb, yarnbombing, oakland museum yarnbomb

I’ve been meaning to post these images for a bit now… ever since the weather turned cold, the sandals and summer shirts got sequestered to the back of my closet, and the warm, soft, comforting sweaters I love donning so much each fall were brought forth to their rightful place, front & center.

The pictures above and below are by the same artist, Streetcolor. I shot her a few weeks ago for Oakland Magazine while she was installing her yarn bomb pieces in various locations throughout the grounds of the Oakland Museum of California.  Oakland Magazine will be featuring her in their January/February issue so keep your eyes out for that… In the meantime, you can read all about Streetcolor and her installation, both on OMCA’s blog (Yarn Bombing OMCA) and Streetcolor’s personal blog:

You can also go visit the installation in person, which of course is the best way to experience these incredibly tactile pieces. The installations will be up until December 15th.

The photo below is of an earlier piece she installed at Lake Merritt. There’s a third one just out of frame to the right, but I love this shot so much with its shadows and perspective, that you’ll  have to head to the lake if you want to see the full set…

streetcolor, yarnbomb, yarnbomb bikeracks, yarnbomb oakland

Obey in Oakland.

obey giant, sheppard fairy, downtown oakland obey giant, 14th street obey giant

So above is one of the first photos I snapped after putting my blog on hold. I took it in August. I was on my way to a work meeting and was running late, so I just snapped this one first pic, which was unfortunate because by the time I went back to take a few more shots (a couple weeks later, see below) the large wheatpaste installation by Shepard Fairey had already been tagged.

sheppard fairey installation oakland, downtown oakland obey giant

sheppard fairy installation, wheat paste obey giant

wheatpaste mural 15th street, obey giant mural oakland

Ultimately, some local folks involved in a street beautification project painted over the damaged lower portions and it now looks like this… I shot this last one on the day of the initial raid of the Occupy Oakland  encampment.  Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling the Oaktown love that day…

love oakland, modified obey giant mural, downtown oakland street beautification