So I figured that most people's "scenic" pictures involving the E were Mountains , Deserts, Forests, Lakes, etc. While those pictures are very cool and usually very pretty, what I enjoy most about my E is driving around the city - and I wanted to take some pictures for the "urban" E owners on here.

I took a roadtrip to Kansas City (my hometown) and took a few pictures of some of the great graffiti in that town. I figured, "what better way to show off my town and my car at the same time". So here they are:

http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC4.jpg
This is a wall that gets painted pretty frequently. It is located in Westport (an area of Kansas City) and is the outside of a failed bar. If you look at the top, you can see the multiple layers of paint that have been on here.



http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC1.jpg
A view through my doors to show closeup detail of the character on that part of the wall. The guy who does all of these cartoon-ish images is Scribe/Skrybe/Scrybe, and he is probably the most incredible artist I have ever met.



http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC5.jpg
This is taken next to a failed Stereo shop. You can't see too much of the mural in this picture so...


http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC8.jpg
Here is a better view. I tried to work with the "road" illusion and take some cool picture, but it just wouldnt work.


http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC2.jpg
This is a great one. It has UFO's coming down and "beeming" these little frog things on earht (in the lower left hand corner) and some kind of Shylock Fox and Rabbit are in the center looking at a map.

Cont...

http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC6.jpg
A close up of the frog. This is a huge mural.


http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC3.jpg
A closer view of the characters in the center.


But the best part was right around the corner...

http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_thumb.jpg

You might notice just how large this thing is. And you might notice the logo in the lower right corner.

and here are larger versions if anyone wants wallpaper:

http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_800x600.jpg
http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_1024x768.jpg
http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_1280x768.jpg
http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_1280x1024.jpg
http://sier.home.comcast.net/GGM_1600x1200.jpg

And just to give a little credit where it's due, here are the other guys who did the artwork besides Scribe:

http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC7.jpg

So, do they do that to all of the failed businesses in K.C. ? When I was growing up in St. Louis, we always "knew" you people were a little different! :)

I like the second one best! Good lenswork, sier.

lovely shots, and your e fits right in!

i like them just as much as the e in the mountains!

Thanks for the different perspective. Interesting.

definatly different... looks good, where did u find it?

cool frog....match your E.

I love the frog, but this one is by far my fav:

http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC1.jpg

Now especially THAT one just above, would make an EXCELLENT Element ad.

The versatile E is so perfect in so many settings. Now if only the ad agency was as creative as the E designers. Maybe there is a creativity rivalry there between those two sets of rival designers and mayb THAT is why there is such a blackout on E ads.

Great shots and great artwork. With more graffiti like THAT, I wouldn't mind graffiti.

With more graffiti like THAT, I wouldn't mind graffiti.

I agree with ya, Honu, although I'd never call something as skillfull as that "graffiti." Maybe there needs to be a new label for this kind of stuff, like "urban art."

Rob

So, do they do that to all of the failed businesses in K.C. ? When I was growing up in St. Louis, we always "knew" you people were a little different! :)

I like the second one best! Good lenswork, sier.

Deckeda, what part of St. Louis? I grew up there as well....lived in Kirkwood (graduated from Kirkwood High in '92)...lived in Creve Coeur, Maplewood (hood
:roll: ), and Des Peres for little stints as well....anyways, just wanted to comment on that one...and great pics of the E and the mural by the way for the original poster :grin:

Dave.

is that 'artwork' illegal? or was it authorized? I ask because of the time and detail that went into it and it seems like it would be something that would be requested (as far as a mural) Cool either way IMO though.

On further inspection, I think I've decided that this awesome and cool li'l dude is not a frog at all. I think he's a gecko. Maybe the artist called him "Wizard Lizard?" :-)

http://sier.home.comcast.net/KC6.jpg

I think its a cross between a frog and a gecko.
And that was some wild party that produced THAT mating! Yikes!

I never did respond to any of these comments and I just realized it...

Yes, the artwork, for the most part, is all legal and authorized. Most of their work is done on head shops, karate dojo's, skate shops, music stores, etc. They get about $10,000 per wall (paint included).

I wish I had gone to a few more spots while I was up there, because this quality of artwork is truly *everywhere* in that city. A lot of people dont appreciate it, but living down here in Atlanta I really miss it.

I think the "Wizard Lizard" is exactly what they were doing there. Those guys LOVE to put little things like that into their work and I wouldnt be surprised at all if thats why he looks the way he does. Nice catch =]

They dont really call it "graffiti" in the circles. It's just referred to as "doing a piece" or "doing a wall". Most people think of graffiti as either gang symbols or just random text spray painted on some wall (Jesus Saves/Wanda, Marry Me/etc) so those guys try and push themselves away from that crowd. They are all about 30-38 years old and are professional artists, but they only work with spray paint...

Around these areas though, you have a lot of other graffiti writers that hang out when they are putting up the artwork, and those guys will do illegal pieces all over the place. There is sort of a credo between most of these guys and that is this -

If its an abandoned building, have at it. It's ugly anyway.
Don't paint any natural formations (rocks). You cant paint those back.
Don't paint over eachother.
Pick up your cans/trash when you are done.

It's usually the jerks that ruin everything (that can be applied to pretty much anything in life).

I've seen that guy's work before (the one who did the dinosaur mural and, I guess, parts of the other). He's shown/sold his work at galleries in Cincinnati. He's really good, and well known in the contemporary art comunity. He uses a graffitti style, but is usually commissioned to do his work by business owners. It's really awesome - you must see it in person.

Actually, there are many graffitti artists that have "graduated" to the "legitimate" world of contemporary art in the last decade.

Yeah the guy who does all the cartooning is Skrybe/Scrybe/Scribe (depending on how he spells it that day). The lettering and a few small characters were done by Gear/Kwisp.

These guys are so heavily into graffiti that they dont even go by their real names to their girlfriends. It's nuts. I did graffiti for a few years with some of the ATT crew (which includes these guys), and my friend Brandy was dating Gear. She had no idea what his real name was - no one did. You just called him "Gear"...its hilarious. Whenever he gives interviews he says his name is (phonetically speaking) "Gear Iz-Gree-At" so its spelled "Gear Isgreat".

They get around quite a bit and do frequent the art houses. Scrybe did a painting on some wood that was about 25 feet long. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen. It was all landscape with a bunch of rhino's walking around in a pasture, but the clarity and quality were astounding.

Nice idea, putting the element in a new ... ummm element :-)
The one with the face staring though the doors is kinda scary :(