We’ve recently noticed two new directions that large image or mural communications have gone recently, both very focused on “realism.” One form is writing about “nothing” or the perceived need to give people a “break” in billboard communications and the other is taking the ability to create realistic art to the extreme of actually tricking the eye by painting what might be perceived not as art but as disaster. The former type of minimalist communication is intended to turn billboard works around, to communicate by not communicating. It reflects the very real “message overload” world we living — in the United States and other capitalist countries how people in those cultures have subconsciously trained their minds to not look at obvious attempts to advertise and the recognition that breaking through this new subconscious pre-occupation is possible simply by reversing what is expected to a minimalist result.


The second ultra-realistic form of mural communication has been most shockingly and recently portrayed by an artist named John Pugh and his trompe l’oeil or “trick of the eye” style of painting. My mother was an art teacher for 32 years in a small town in the State of Oregon in the United States. Growing up I was exposed to all forms of painting and artwork from oils to watercolors to ink and from impressionism to realism. By far I always was drawn to the more realistic art works because the more real they appeared, the greater ability they had to “trick” your eyes into believing something was there that was not. I always perceived that realism is much more difficult to create for the artist — impressionism has no measure by which to judge its quality except the image held in the mind of the artist. Realism has the very definitive measure of the real subject being painted with which to measure quality.


John Pugh and muralists like him have taken realism to an entirely new level. This artistic form is even more exciting to me than realism paintings in that it strives to be so far away from impressionism as to both make the mind accept the setting of the art as real and some shocking part of the artwork then becomes as close as possible to believable based on the realism of the entire piece. The fact that these pieces of ultra-realistic art are done on such a grand scale to in huge murals is even more impressive. And, Mr. Pugh has evidence of just how realistic his work is. As reported in the UK’s Daily Mail, John Pugh with the help of 11 other artists created a mural of a giant wave in Honolulu, Hawaii, “so realistic that just as it was near completion, it attracted the attention of the fire brigade … [who] jumped out to rescue the children [drawn so realistically] in the mural. They got about 15 feet away and then doubled over laughing when they realized what it was.” How perfect is that? This is the optimum path mural art should be taking in my mind — if the public art is so real as to fool public service professionals then how could the viewing public around such works of art possibly object? Impressionistic art – or art that seems like a “fuzzy dream” with unreal looking characters and content is open to all the interpretation both good and bad of any creative work, but realism pulls interpretation out of the equation. Murals that look real can hardly be criticized based on the artistic likes and dislikes of the viewer pertaining to the form of the art; to criticize an ultra-realistic painting or mural based on its form (realism) alone is to criticize reality itself. Of course, critical judgment can certainly be rendered on the subject matter or content of the piece.

That’s where ultra-realistic “trick of the eye” murals go one step further to dodge viewer interpretation. The real beauty of this type of mural construction is that the viewer must first resolve what is and is not real before criticism can be rendered. This may have the ultimate effect of enhancing adoption into communities along with the increased attractiveness of the locations where these works are constructed. We applaud this type of mural creation and sincerely hope this form of public art increases in popularity in the future.