The rock star mural has, at best, been an inconsistent art. Some Freddie Mercury’s dazzle with the supernova star quality of the great man himself, others have about then more than a faint air of Roger Rabbit. Some Elvises could be screen grabbed direct from Jailhouse Rock, others have been done by artists that clearly believe The King faked his death in 1977, changed his name and went on to a successful career as Ross in Friends. So in honour of the majestic new Bowie unveiled this week in Sarajevo, here’s the best and worst rock murals in the world…
David Bowie
Best: Morley’s Department Store, Brixton
Painted in 2013 by Jimmy C, drawn away from his usual patch of East London by his research into Bowie’s roots, this Brixton mural became a focus of mourning and celebration of Bowie’s life in the wake of his death in January, despite picturing Ziggy caught in the middle of some sort of anarchic table tennis contest.
Worst: Dublin
If it didn’t say B-WIE, you’d assume this mural, which appeared on Dublin’s Richmond Street two days after Bowie’s death, was an advert for Trainspotting 2, or at best a tribute to Lady Gaga’s Bowie tribute.
Elvis Presley
Best: Hollywood Wax Museum, Tennessee
Elvis came from an era when street artists didn’t ‘do’ faces. So the best street King we have is crammed between Marilyn and John Wayne on the back wall of the Hollywood Wax Museum in Tennessee, also home to the Great Ape Of Pigeon Forge which, we believe, might well be the town’s only homo sapiens.
Worst: Milan, Italy
World’s worst Elvis mural? Jesus, take your pick. Never in the field of human endeavour has so much effort been thrown at so many walls with so little talent. But for fright factor alone, the worst has to be this two-headed Frankenelvis – Presley merged with Napoleon – by Ron Engish in Milan. One look and you’ll never take ketamine again.
Jimi Hendrix
Best: Seattle
Rising 18-feet above the store where Hendrix bought his first guitar, Dan and Mae Hitchcock’s eye-catching Hendrix with eyes for hair captured the late guitar legend’s psychedelic aura perfectly, until new owners whitewashed over it in 2000.
John Lennon
Best: Litherland, Liverpool
The first piece of work of The Liverpool Mural Project, begun in 2008, Lennon’s iconic ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ album sleeve stance was recreated in an arch by one of the city’s busiest roundabouts, alongside the ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ mop-tops of all four Beatles. Stay classy, Litherland.
Kurt Cobain
Best: The Alley, Chicago
For decades, street artists have chosen to represent Kurt’s internal agony by making him look a bit wonky. Take this grizzled portrait adorning an alleyway in Chicago, over which the authorities have placed a parking warning to reflect Cobain’s sense of being clamped by drugs and fame and towed away to the existential metal compactor of commerciality. Deep.
Worst: Lau N. Son Co, New York
Little is known of the budding Michaelangelo behind this Cobain tribute adorning the shutters of a NYC fruit produce company, but we can only assume he or she was under the mistaken impression that Chad from Nickelback had sadly passed.
Michael Jackson
Best: Graff Lab HQ, Los Angeles
To commemorate what would have been Michael Jackson’s 52nd birthday in August 2010, artist Rudy ‘Rude’ Martinez splashed an image from his This Is It press conference across the side of the Graff Lab headquarters in Downtown LA, swathed in Prince-esque purple.
Bob Marley
Best: The Brockley Barge, London
In the spiritual home of the Jamaican reggae legend – Brockley, South London – a picture of Bob that adorned the MOT Centre for 40 years was destroyed by housing developers. But the locals raised £5k for a stunning new Marley by Dale Grimshaw on the side of a Wetherspoons. A lifelong fan of pound-a-pint Stella, it’s what Bob would’ve wanted.
Worst: Whatever the hell this is
No details exist online about this street portrait, but we suspect it’s one of a series of works merging the images of pioneering music stars with that of Boycie from Only Fools And Horses.
