Reykjavik Wall Poetry

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by DEIH XLF.

Reykjavik is a city with a lot of cool street art, but some of the more interesting large scale murals in town were painted from 23 September to 4 October 2015 as part of the Wall Poetry exhibition. This was done in collaboration with the Iceland Airwaves music festival for November 2015. Ten street artists were paired with ten musicians and bands, and the street artists created a piece interpreting the music, a title, a poem, a quote or book that greatly influenced their work.

I did my best to try to find all the of the pieces on a blustery afternoon in Reykjavik on 1 July 2016. Several of the artists who created these works also painted murals that I have photographed in other parts of the world. Cara To, aka Caratoes, is a Hong Kong-based artist whose works I've spotted at Wynwood Walls in Miami and most recently as part of Pow Wow DC.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Tankpetrol. Reykjavik, 1 Jul 2016.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Caratoes. On Laugavigur.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Evoca1.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Ernest Zacharevic.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Close-up on mural by Ernest Zacharevic.

The mural by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic on the side of a building next to an empty and junk filled lot under construction. When you look closer at the mural, you see the incredible detail of three separate paintings created to look like old withered photographs. I've captured shots of his art before, of a different mixed media style in Singapore. The mural above illustrates the song "We'll Meet Again" by Dikta, an Icelandic band I've enjoyed listening to since my stopover in July.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Close-up of mural by Ernest Zacharevic.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Close-up of mural by Ernest Zacharevic.

The mural below by D*FACE is located across the street from the flat I rented during my stopover and will use again for the marathon next month.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by D*FACE.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Li Hill.

A tv or movie production truck was blocking part of the view of the ghostly mural above by Li Hill. Incredible detail in this one, I almost missed it but spotted this while walking back from watching the end of the exciting Wales v Belgium game in the EURO 2016 tournament in the city's central square.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Ugly Boys.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by the Ugly Brothers.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by ELLE. Reykjavik, 1 Jul 2016.

I will have a separate post of cool street art spotted around Reykjavik not part of the Wall Poetry series. I am really looking forward to the return trip next month.