A stone-inlaid mosaic design displays the creativity of an artist in a in a side street wall in south Philadelphia.
Artistic Design
Tag Archives: Philadelphia
Mosaic by the Door
There are mosaics of faces, or just a face, perhaps even an eye or mouth; birds, fishes, flowers, scriptural verse, clowns, nudes, poetry. At first glance the works might be mistaken as nothing more than an odd collection of a madman, until closer inspection reveals what they truly are, creative artwork. The more attention you pay, the more captivating they become. A side of Philadelphia that is obscured by all other tourist attractions.
Art and Flowers
A simple art mosaic on a side alley in Philadelphia is enhanced by flowers and even a small elephant statue on the left bottom corner.
Colorful Mosaics by Zagar
Isaiah Zagar is an award-winning mosaic mural artist whose work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout the city of Philadelphia and around the world. These mosaics will never be confused with intricate medieval mosaics found in places like the Basilica of Notre Dame in Lyon, France, but they are captivating in their own right, not the least of which are the sheer volume and unusual compilation of materials. The mosaics are composed of tiles, mirrors, colorful glass bottles of every shape and size, ceramic coffee mugs, plates, silverware, bicycle tire rims, broken cookery, and a myriad of other items typically found at flea markets, antique shops or junkyards.
Decorative Walls
There are two styles of mosaics in Philadelphia: ornate, Italian-inspired work using small squares of colored glass called smalti, and the colorful works of Isaiah Zagar, the artist behind hundreds of Philly mosaic murals and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Mosaic artwork on walls by simple entrances are eye-catching indeed.
Mosaic Art in Philadelphia
Mosaic is a style of visual art that involves affixing many individual pieces of material called tesserae, typically glass or tile, to a surface to create an image. Unlike mosaics behind velvet ropes in museums, the scale and setting of these large-scale public works mean you can often get nose-to-nose with the art in the streets of south Philadelphia.
Faces in Mosaic
Ranging from meticulous works in the classic Italian style to the avant-garde sculptures of a countercultural artist and community advocate, Philly’s mosaics, quite literally, reflect its character — past and present. Any visit to Philadelphia could quickly turn into a treasure hunt for these jewels. Here are examples of large scale faces in mosaic art.
Philadelphia Street Art
There’s a softer side to the Philadelphia – City of Brotherly Love — and it can be seen in the innumerable pieces of gleaming glass that comprise Philly’s mosaic art scene. The sparkling, multicolored side of a rowhome will stop you in your tracks. Innumerable tiny mirrors — reflecting the light and surroundings — lay in brightly painted grout, creating large-scale faces and figures. Here is an otherwise nondescript alley in south Philadelphia with many decorative art pieces. We will be posting examples of such art.
Mosaic Mural on a Philadelphia Street
On a recent visit to Philadelphia, PA we saw amazing mosaic murals on the streets and side alleys in the south side of the city.
Eliza Kirkbride School has a mosaic mural that adorns the front of their school. Kirkbride students worked with COSACOSA art at large, Inc. to produce the mural, titled “Philadelphia: Love & Liberty.” COSACOSA is a non-profit organization that engages people of differing backgrounds to work together toward a common goal through participatory art-making.
The artwork celebrates both Philadelphia’s role in the founding of the nation and the hopes of its youth. Students investigated connections among the ideals expressed in our nation’s founding documents and immigrant stories from their families, their school, and their neighborhood. Kirkbride students represent more than 30 different ethnicities, and many are new immigrants.
