#richmondmurals

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"SLAVE REBELLION"

by Esteban del Valle

Originally from Chicago, interdisciplinary artist Esteban del Valle received an MFA from RISD and is now based in Brooklyn. Del Valle has shown his work and produced murals across the US and internationally and is part of several permanent collections. In 2016 del Valle was invited to Richmond, Virginia for @RVAStreetArt and painted this wall on Manchester Rd. Designed in response to the history of slave trade in the area del Valle's composition features figures "breaking free from the ropes tying them to the ship while using axes to chop it apart mid voyage."  @estebandelvalle112/

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"FLOAT"

by James Bullough

Born in Washington, DC, where he was inspired by the gritty urban graffiti around, James Bullough is now based in Berlin but when not working in his studio he's probably traveling the world painting walls. Bullough's unique fractured portraits manage to combine the energy of that early inspiration with a technical precision born of countless hours studing the techniques of the Old Masters. In 2015 Bullough was just down the road from his childhood home, contributing "Float" at W Broad and N Lombardy Streets for the @ArtWhino Gallery curated Richmond Mural Project.  @james_bullough/  @richmondmuralproject1/

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"FLY ANAKIN & OHBLIV"

by Nils Westergard

In 2017 @Medium called the music scene of Richmond, Virginia "criminally underrated" and after listing a spectrum of diverse talent to come from the city they turned their attention to local producer Bradford Caudle, aka Ohbliv, and his pause-tape beginnings. At that point @Ohbliv was already responsible for 44 @Bandcamp releases. In 2018 @FlyAnakin walked away from a time consuming and life draining job and began to focus on writing and recording. Within a couple of weeks he had about 75% of an album ready and working with Ohbliv he had his first full album ready within another month. Richmond artist Nils Westergard says that after the "Backyard Boogie" album was released he had it on a near-constant loop in his studio, and by Fall of 2018 Nils had painted the pair on this W Clay St wall.  @nilsrva/

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G40 ART SUMMIT, 2012

by Aryz

In 2010 Maryland gallery @ArtWhino launched the G40 Art Summit, bringing together renowned artists for a month long exhibition. After a conversation between gallery owner Shane Pomajambo and Pixel Pancho about the emergence of the new muralism movement the decision was made to dedicate the 2012 G40 to looking at the "Art of the Mural." A few short months later Aryz joined a dozen of the world's top artists and painted this work near the 17th St Farmers' Market—one of 20 new murals painted for the Richmond, Virginia, event. Born in California Spanish artist Aryz moved back to Spain at age three and grew up in the active graffiti scene around Barcelona. While not typical of his more common subject matter of humans or animals, the vibrant cool palette and industrial characteristics of the this painting are common in his work.  @mr_aryz/

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THOTSAKAN

by Brad Bacon

The Wat Arun temple has looked out from the west bank of Bangkok's Chao Praya for approximately 400 years and in the early nineteenth century the distinctive porcelain encrusted prang (spires) photographed by millions of tourists were added. Guarding Wat Arun's main chapel stand two mythical giant demons, Thotsakan and Sahatsadecha. In 2015 Richmond, Virginia, Thai street food establishment Sabai asked local muralist and hand lettered sign expert Brad Bacon to bring his flair to its W Broad St restaurant. Bacon's Thotsakan has apparently been a reliable guardian of restaurant and diner alike and in 2017 Bacon was asked to also paint two cargo vans.  @bradbaconart/

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RICHMOND MURAL PROJECT

by Aryz

Born in Palo Alto, California, Aryz parents moved to Barcelona when he was only three and then a few miles north to Cardedeu. In high school he was invited to "go paint some wall" and while he says the first results were "a really huge mess," he told @Widewalls "since then it’s been like a personal challenge.” When a finger injury led Aryz to start painting more with rollers he broke off painting with a crew and began taking on more and more ambitious projects. While in recent years Aryz has experimented with new techniques and color palettes he is probably still most closely associated with large murals depicting figures and strange creatures in surreal colors, and in 2012 he painted two walls for @RichmondMuralProject1 —the first a still life on N 17th near the Farmer's Market and this second piece at N Plum and W Main Streets.  @mr_aryz/

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RVA STREET ART FEST, 2016

by Brad Bacon and Marshall Higgins

In 2016, after a three year hiatus, the @RVAStreetArt Fest returned to Richmond, Virginia, transforming the Southern State silo complex on the south bank of the James River. Facing Manchester Rd one the first pieces visitors see as they enter the complex is this collaboration between multi-talented local designer/artists Brad Bacon and Marshall Higgins. Higgins has taken on just about anything that can be done with paint, pencil, or pen, from logo design and sign painting to portraits of people or pets. Specializing in hand lettered signs and murals and interested in all things typographic Brad Bacon told @bartonington that for him lettering and illustration have always gone hand in hand. It's interesting to see how the skills of both artists has been applied to this non-typographic wall for RVA.  @marshallhigginsart/  @bradbaconart/

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RICHMOND MURAL PROJECT

by ROA

Recognized worldwide for his large scale animal creations, and skeletal or dead creatures reflecting his low esteem for much of what he sees in society, @Wdwlls says Ghent-based ROA protects his anonymity to "make sure both his artwork and spirit remain uncompromised." A tireless worker ROA arrives on scene well in advance of his projects so he can get find inspiration in the location and research animals native to the region. When @RichmondMuralProject1 was first launched in 2012 to bring artists and tourists alike to Richmond, Virginia, ROA was on hand to add two works—this one on the side of @BeauvineBurger at W Main St and Plum St.  @roa_artist/  @rvastreetartfest/