Street artist ATM paints naturalistic representations of endangered birds on empty walls in London. The birds are not tiny like birds generally are, but magnified to cover large expanses of brickwork or concrete. Take a look at his birds, they are quite brilliant. Set against manufactured surroundings, each bird’s colour and form seems strikingly exotic and alien, which is ironic considering they are our native species. It’s hard to think of a better or more effective marketing campaign for the protection of biodiversity. So our thanks go to ATM for his talent and application.
Yet they are birds and we are curating plant-centred art here. So we were pleased to come across the work of San Francisco based muralist Mona Caron. She paints big plants on walls or plants on big walls. Like the birds, these art works are a good advertisement for local species. Common plants are a theme, where so called ‘weeds’, often not noted for their aesthetic charms, but no less important for biodiversity, are rendered on surfaces close to where they grow. The scale, plus Caron’s own artistic abilities, show just how exquisite and essential these wild plants actually are.
The artist’s website gives a super account of her work: Little maps locate her public pieces; professional, aerial photography and video digitally show them off; and, Caron herself offers-up a rationale for subjects and sites chosen. Very nice.
