Speaking of Skulls....

I have a few minutes left, so I'll make a bonus posting.

Since I've been talking about Psychonautes and skulls in the last few posts, I thought I'd keep on that theme one more time and share a skull sticker by him that has been put up all around the city.

This particular example was in the Pine Street area. The photo was taken by me in September 2012.


 

Dark Thoughts

Following on from my last post, I thought I'd share some photos of the "Dark Thoughts" piece I mentioned there. It was located on a wall at Magic's Tattoo Studio on Robert Street, off Oliver Plunkett Street, in Cork.

This was a collaborative work between Psychonautes and another artist called Psyn RWK from New York.

The piece is posted on Psychonautes' Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7716988422/in/photostream

These photos were taken by me in September 2012. "Dark Thoughts" has since been painted over.





 

 

 

Work at the Camden Palace Hotel - Part 1

There is some great urban art painted on walls at and near the Camden Palace Hotel on Camden Quay in Cork. Here, I'll look at two pieces painted on the front of the building. I'll cover some of the other pieces another time.

Below are two fantastic portraits. The first is by Psychonautes. I've seen a lot of his stuff around town and really like his style. I know this piece is called "Mode2" as Psychonautes has a picture of it posted on his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7716950062/in/photostream
 

The second piece just has a small skull and crossbones painted beside it (pictured below). A piece very similar to this one was painted on a wall at Magic's Tattoo Studio on Roberts Street, off Oliver Plunkett Street, in Cork. I know from info on Psychonautes' Flickr page that it was a collaboration between Psychonautes and another artist called Psyn RWK from New York:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7716988422/in/photostream

If you look at the link, you'll see that it is the same picture with the addition of a skull in a thought bubble. I know the skull is a Psychonautes specialty, so the portrait part of the piece is by Psyn RWK. The Magics Tattoo version of this portrait is called "Dark Thoughts". I am not sure what the Camden Palace version is called.



The above photos were taken by me in August 2012. So far, these pieces are still "alive and well"....

While writing this entry, I realised that I did not take a general shot of the two pieces in situ on the front of the Camden Palace Hotel. Doh! However, I see that Psychonautes has posted one on his Flickr page that shows Psyn RWK working on his piece: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7675316794/

Have a Heart!

This stencilled piece is a nice variation on a Síle na gcíoch, an ancient symbol for good luck or fertility.

I found this on York Street in July 2012. Artist unknown.

Here is a link to an article on Wikipedia about these types of symbols....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheela_na_gig




Unicorn Steak Anyone?

Two posts in the same month? I'm dangerously close to getting on a roll here!

This piece is a poster I found pasted up at the Camden Palace Hotel on Camden Quay in late September 2012. The poster had deteriorated a bit by the time I found it, with the colours smudging, etc. But thankfully the sunshine and rainbows can still be seen. I wonder if the unicorns are free range?
 

 



The artist here is unknown. However, I did find a very similar picture on a website called ThinkGeek where they were advertising "canned unicorn meat" for sale.

The cans supposedly contain "14 ounces of delicious unicorn meat, canned for your convenience imported from a small independent cannery in County Meath, Ireland". Sadly the unicorn is out of stock at the moment....

Anyway, the link to the relevant webpage is thus: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e5a7/

Going Fishing

Hi, just a quick post today. This is a subtle one, a sign on a quay near Water Street that has been "enhanced".

According to the Irish Road Safety Authority, this type of sign warns of an "unprotected quay, canal or river ahead". Someone had added a ramp and a fish, which are nice touches.

I took this photo in mid-July 2012.




Bus Eireann Mural, Cork Bus Station, Parnell Place

The mural says it was "designed in collaboration with Bus Eireann staff and painted by Isabel Donovan and Mike Greenlaw with help from Michelle and Charlotte".

I'm not sure when the mural was painted, but I found a 2006 blog entry by a fellow named Donal that mentions the mural being a recent work.  The blog also includes pictures of sections of the mural that don't exist any more, so I'll include a link to it here: http://www.donal.ie/2006/09/13/cork-bus-station-mural/

About half of this piece disappeared in 2008, it seems, along with the section of wall that it was painted on. It is sad the mural has been so badly damaged....

These photos were all taken by me in October 2012.