If you wanted to relive the quote by Chris Geiger all you would have to do is put on your walking shoes and find yourself lost in the streets of Kharkiv on a sunny day. You wouldn't necessarily need to keep your eyes peeled, because just as Geiger says it, the art will come to you.
In recent times, the city has embraced the public appreciation for large pieces of art painted over walls, both forgotten and praised, and has started commissioning murals over what were once only old and mundane-looking plain walls of concrete.
I can confidently call this change as it is because just 6 years back in the Kharkiv timeline I witnessed a lot of "cleaning up the city" where most of the walls in the city center and downtown were ripped off the timeless art painted on them. All good, bad, and even satirical murals and graffiti were given the good ol' rub and scrub treatment.
It's 2021 and the only way of confirming that is to walk down the once shady alley that passes down from the infamous Radmir club to the mellow residential club and see a bright spotlight hanging over the "bee" mural. If you are curious, then you aren't allowed to be lazy. Scroll down my posts to around 2 years back where you'll find a post with that mural.
My all-time favorite is a gigantic mural of what looks like a birthday party balloon in the shape of a rabbit floating over a hat. I'll go down and get a picture of that later this week.
I honestly appreciate the murals. Some of them are simply a work of genius. Incredible talents. Surprisingly I have never seen one being painted. As time passes, more and more murals are popping up here and there. Some of them are "3D". Yeah, need to get a picture of that, too. But then there are some typical graffiti.
I usually hunt for the most obscene and talentless work. They are usually the best. It is as if the artist knows they are doing an unbelievably bad job at creating the piece so they intentionally try to camouflage the lack of talent with humor.
This block, for example. It is within a residential territory and looks like the hangout spot for all the kids that are sent to the "corner" when they do something bad. Evidently, it is completely covered by the most horrendous and offensive collection of graffiti. But on top of it is an extremely well done 3D "TOILET". Someone took the time and sprayed "TOILET" on top of all the garbage painted on this block of cursed concrete and rods. Tell me that's not hilarious!
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If art is a form of expression then I am paying attention to everything being expressed. Or at least I assume. I always try to picture a backstory to the art. Especially the small ones that are in the oddest places. Like this tiny 4x4 graffiti. I feel like it was done by someone who is really creative and a free soul but is being peer pressured into rebellion. What else could explain such a tiny, confined piece of the entrance of a museum?
Maybe the artist of this cute and tiny devil-girl is someone pursuing a career in environmental studies and the family doesn't agree with their passion for art. So they go around the city with a clickable marker pen and scribble out their feelings. Nothing major, but not small enough to not be noticed. The devil-girl is how they see themselves. Woooo, we have a cheeky, exciting little environmental studies major in our midst.
But the real panty twisters are these sorts. Remember the cursed aisle with the worst graffiti job ever? The street leading into that area has this marvelous collection of murals. It would be a perfect cross on the T if the same guys did this and the ones on the cursed block.
Just look at these! In a span of four-ish walls, the murals have successfully shown what Kharkiv really is. A beautiful city with incredible architecture and beautiful souls represented in the sky blue color. But everything is done over crumbling walls, which is poetically fitting!
Is this city turning into an enzyme for rebels? No. Are there incredible pieces of art painted on walls here and there? Yes. Are all of them commissioned by the public? Not really.
But you cannot take away the fact that there are some really well-done pieces scattered around the city. And even if not well-done, they still demand your appreciation.
Like this one. A beautiful attempt at a 3D balloon text of what I can only read as "Mikik" painted over a terrible cover-up. I must say, the amateur 3D balloon text looks like a better fit on the wall than the bland and lazy gray cover-up on the bright yellow wall.
Have to appreciate the artist's good eye for bad cover-ups and quick fixes.
Or this one. I don't even know what it says. But do you know where it is painted? On a red brick wall with no apparent way of climbing up on it. But some artist out there was so determined to get their work recognized that they either hung down from the roof of the redbrick building or used a jetpack to hover in the air and do their painting. (TBF, ladders aren't that tall. So, ladders are out of the question.)
And how can you hate on such determination?
Or finally, this piece done by a wannabe West Coast Customs graffiti artist who grew the courage to paint something acceptable in a sea of lazy and below-mediocre graffiti. Also, this is right next to a church. Ah yes, the courage of youth!
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