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Wikipedia Street Painting
Anamorphosis
J. Beever's HomePage
Edgar Mueller's HomePage
Street Painting Festival
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What is Pavement Art?
No, it's not just really fancy sidewalk chalk drawings on the pavement.
Known also as street painting, this form of art got its origns in Italy during the 16th century. Although there are 2-D works that look like they were painted instead of with just chalk, perhaps the most spectacular ones are those that create 3-D illusions.
How Does It Work?
Someone standing on the work might look down and see just a blob of color. But when viewed from just the exact angle, the image looks like it's actually a part of the sidewalk it's done on, say what could be underground, or a huge hovering butterfly. The best illusions work when a person can stand on the work and look like he's interacting with the flat chalk.
It uses the idea of anamorphosis, which is when an image is distorted and achieves its true shape only when viewed from far away and not where our brains would expect to see the full picture. This idea actually happens everyday on road markings. Top artist Edgar Mueller says it's all about extending verticals and finding where they meet. The longer the work, the longer the extension and why sometimes it stretches for up to a block.
Who Does It?
Although street painting is done by many, few do anamorphosis. The two most popular are Julian Beever and Edgar Mueller.
Julian Beever does most of his work in Europe but is the most well-known. He is known as the 'Pavement Picasso.'
| Julian Beever |
Edgar Mueller |
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Edgar Mueller is from Germany and started street painting when he was 16. He didn't start doing the illusions until much later.
Where Can I See Some?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to see the art on this site in person. Even the slightest amount of rain completely destroys the work. Each year, there is a huge festival in Curtatone, Italy where the best of the best compete. Even though this art form is really old, popularity here in America only began a couple decades ago.
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