Amazing. Jaw-dropping. Yes, they’re strong words, but these new murals in Eastern Market, put up last month by various artists as part of the “Murals in the Market” program, live up to the high praise.
This is the second year where artists from near and far have descended on Detroit to paint some of the biggest canvases there are – the sides of buildings. It proves you can teach an old dog, in case Eastern Market that’s been around for more than 150 years, new tricks.
We focused on the new murals with this post, and if you want to see some of what happened last year, we went through and did a gallery then you’re going to want to check out.
So let’s get started with this sampling – there is even more on the ground than what is in this post, and I highly encourage you to see all this art in Detroit for yourself.
This mind-bender near Detroit City Distillery is by Felipe Pantone.
Zak Meers and friends did a whole wall with various Eastern Market themes, including resurrecting the famous bird that adorned the sheds for years.
Some of the pieces, like the one above by Joseph Konert, are a bit smaller but add color to the streetscape nonetheless.
This one by Shades grabs you from across the freeway.
Hebru Brantley strikes again with another powerful piece. One of the pieces he did last year is at a very visible corner in the market; this one can be seen from Gratiot.
Apexer adds a bit of color to an otherwise drab building.
An artist in the family always said hands are the hardest to draw, and he’d draw hands over and over again for practice. Taylor White’s piece is intricate and grabs you from the street.
Jeff Gress brings “Fate favors the fearless,” which is very true.
Ghostbeard and Patch Whisky collaboration
Let’s take a few peeks at this amazing large wall by Pat Perry.
Next, the amazing Olayami Dabls.
And down the Dequindre Cut we go…
We couldn’t pass up a photo of Chris Saunders’ piece from this angle – it very much looks like a bird rising out of the brush. Sometimes, it’s best to view these in context. The artists have done a great job of melding their pieces with the surroundings – even though most of these are just weeks old, it looks like they all belong.
Lauren Ys in the Dequindre Cut
Paul Johnson in the Dequindre Cut
Freddy Diaz
A wide view of Freddy’s work. Appropriately a train in a space where there was once train service. Some of the tracks are still on the far side of the cut.
This is a fun one on Gratiot by Kevin Lyons.
Kristin Farr took a wall from drab to colorful fab.
This wall by Hueman, along with the wall above, are south of Gratiot.
Another Lauren Ys.
Lolo Ys and Meggs and Taylor White.
