Typographic Mural

These murals painted at the new Queens Metropolitan Campus in Forest Hills (including Queens Metropolitan High School and the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning Middle School) in New York by Paula Scher caught my eye as being  graphic, colorful and even having geographic significance when you read all of the wording. See for yourself. It’s a map of Queens and then some.

As the artist state:

“These works marry my love of painting maps with my love of environmental design,” says Scher. “When the viewer enters the atrium, they have entered the painting. They are enveloped by it. Space is altered by it. For that moment in time, all perspectives are skewed. The viewer gets to inhabit Queens in a manner at once, totally familiar and bizarre.”

I find her layout, what every practical muralist should do, even more mesmerizing in that it appears to have been followed to the tee, so that what appears to be random graffiti is actually very thoroughly and thoughtfully planned.

And since this is painted at a school, it is incorporated nicely into the setting as such.

Also, using Golden Paints is wise and I even hope they were donated for such a fantastic, educational project. I think they are fabulous and the most accommodating for all types of mural situations. I have used them for tinting in decorative painting and for outdoor murals and even their anti-graffiti top coating in anticipation of some tagging. Fortunately, there hasn’t been any.

Here’s a 3D view of the entire mural via Creative Review:

Mural at Queens Metropolitan Campus from Pentagram on Vimeo.