Chromazone
- Title
- Chromazone
Collection Items
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Crown Our Prince
Hiero Veiga's portrait captures three different “looks” of Prince. He uses vibrant colors, natural forms of floral patterns, and intricate details to emphasize the uniqueness of the artist’s identity and persona. Scale immediately impacts where viewers choose to stand as they view this piece; because of its size, we will take a step back, in hopes to “take in” all the mural’s qualities. All three of the depictions of Prince are far larger than life size, with the image of Prince standing with a guitar taking up more than half of the entire piece. The image of Prince that appears closet to the viewers because it is brought to the foreground of the mural (also known as overlapping), gives a sense of personal connection to the musician, and allows us to make eye contact and absorb every detail of his purple top, jewelry, strands of hair, etc. Veiga is once again paying attention to form in the context of detailing, as the ends of each strand of hair and the feathers of his pink scarf are very delicate. Veiga also chose to make the image of Prince that is most iconic or identifiable as the primary subject, so cars driving from multiple blocks away, or those walking on high floors of a building, are still able to easily understand who the mural is dedicated to—those that are standing below it, of course, get the full experience. Veiga also made the stylistic choice of having the largest depiction of Prince looking straight on to the audience with a fierce gaze, amplifying the emotional power; however, the smaller Prince images have their heads slightly turned sideways or showing his side profile, which creates a more sensitive or realistic version of his day to day persona. Though he is posing in the far-right image, we can see his facial hair is fuller, and his hair is styled more freely, which exudes a feeling of rawness or humanization to the mural. -
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Kobra has kept his signature kaleidoscopic effect for this mural as he does for all his murals. The triptych composition creates a visual timeline to depict Bob Dylan in the three stages of his career over the five story 150 feet long piece. The size of it transforms Bob Dylan from a private figure to a public icon for anyone that passes by downtown Minneapolis. It’s meant to ensure everyone can see this piece. The kaleidoscope effect uses bold geometric patterns like the lines and diamonds we see on this piece. These intersecting lines from the background look like patchwork. Additionally, Kobra used bright and vibrant colors to contrast monochrome portraits to emphasize the tension between individuality and cultural diversity. The guitar being in the middle is to display the transition in Bob Dylan's Career, however Kobra thoughtfully adds a monotone line through the middle of it. He does this to display the guitar as a part of Bob Dylan for his entire career, not just part of it. -
Sometimes Water Keeps Us Grounded
Sydney James’ “Sometimes Water Keeps Us Grounded” mural was painted as a part of the Chroma Zone art festival in the Creative Enterprise Zone district of Saint Paul, MN. Painted on a plain white wall, the mural depicts a detailed portrait of a young Dakota girl wearing a red shirt decorated with cartoon-like characters. She is only seen from mid-torso and up, showing mostly her head, neck, and shoulders. The characters on her shirt are a teal color and have a pinkish-coral hair color. The character on the left appears to be a woman holding and looking at a baby, presumably her own child. The other character on the girl’s shirt is a woman wearing purple robes; her hair is a lighter shade of pink than the woman on the left. She has horns on her head, as well as a halo hovering behind her head and wings on her back. The horns, halo, and wings are all painted in yellow, complementing other features of the t-shirt design. The angel is holding out her hand to show a small boy holding a star. Beneath the angel’s hand, “Hey Momma” is painted in white with a heart as well as a dedication, “Sydney’s Homage to Birdcap XOXO.” Birdcap is another street artist whom James wanted to honor in her mural. Behind the girl is her shadow painted in various colors. The horizontal lines of colors include shades of purple, blue, pink, green, magenta, and red. The girl’s shadow is given texture through dots of different colors and shades, as well as lines that give the appearance of stacked squares. -
The Horrors Persist But So Do I
The mural —painted on a sky-blue wall— depicts the artist’s interpretation of the Chinese wood dragon with a solar eclipse in totality. The dragon seems in motion snaking across the wall. The dragon is surrounded by stylized black, starry clouds as well as several colorful leafy and circular motifs. There are also depictions of butterflies and the wind on either side of the dragon. On the far left is the previously mentioned solar eclipse.
Composition: Very horizontal, designed to fit the long and low height of the “canvas”. Viewers’ eyes are immediately drawn to the dragon head, which is then led across the entire piece by the movement of the dragon. The composition is asymmetrically balanced. The detailed head of the dragon on the left is counterweighted by the length of its body and tail, which stretches across two-thirds of the mural. The solar eclipse acts as a visual anchor for the mural. Line: Bold contour lines are used to define the body of the dragon, as well as its horns, scales, and facial features. The flowing quality of the mural contrasts with the rigid and angular brick wall background.
Color: The palette is very vibrant and saturated. The dragon is drawn in cool shades of purples, greens, and teals. The black of the surrounding clouds is very important to the piece, as it functions as a negative space that helps “push” the colorful dragon forward, making it pop out even more.
Light: The mural does not use realistic lighting. Instead, it is graphically lit. The forms are flat, defined by color fills within the black outlines.
Depth: Depth is implied through overlapping. The dragon’s body weaves in front and behind the dark clouds. This simple layering is enough to separate the elements of the mural. Form: The forms are fundamentally two-dimensional and graphic.
Texture: The actual texture is that of the rough brick wall, which breaks up the illusion of the smoothness of the painted lines. The implied texture, however, is very soft, evident in the rendering of the dragon itself. -
‘Pitzik’ Q’ij: Courts of the Sun
Cadex Herrera's mural, Pitzik’ Q’ij: Courts of the Sun, is a mural located on a gray urban wall, framed by a thin, black and thick green lines on top. The mural takes up about a third of the wall. Visually, it is clearly divided into three different sections: two symmetrical outer panels and a colorful central panel. Herrera depicts the stability of Maya culture and tradition while capturing the energy of the ancient ballgame. The two outer predominantly green sections act as a mirrored frame, solidifying the dimension of the mural and creating imaginary margins. In these panels, Herrera depicts four male figures in traditional Maya clothing, including head decorations with leaves and ankle accessories. Each holds a musical instrument, such as a drum or a horn. Herrera positions these musicians in a stable, triangular stance, rooting them to the ground. On the left, perspective is used to draw the eye to the figure with a lion mask, while the right panel mirrors this composition, creating a powerful, balanced symmetry. In contrast to the green panels that serve as a framework, the central section explodes with a vibrant intense yellow, drawing the viewer’s attention to a scene of dynamic action. The area is dominated by a large sun, from which a red and yellow ball emerges with a sense of depth. Five individuals are depicted in front of this solar background. Unlike the grounded musicians, Herrera gives these central figures a sense of weightlessness and movement. He also creates a three-dimensional space by turning two of the figures away from the audience, putting the viewer into the scene, and creating a sense of interaction among the players. -
WE (#3)
This is a piece that was commissioned by CromaZone and took about 2 weeks to put onto the wall. The piece was first created and laid out on a piece of paper and then transferred using a doodle grid. The piece is made out of spray paint and latex paint using a crane to reach the top of the wall as well as stencils for each person's face. The piece is composed of 2 sides, one containing multiple faces of people smiling, representing faces of everyone in the community varying in race and age with bold letters, and on the opposite side clearing saying “WE”. The whole piece is in a grey scale with a blue border. The background of the mural is graffiti abstracts, which are off centered as well as out of context. Throughout the piece there are paint drips, non blended messy lines and shading and all of the people blending together, where the words are bold, sharp, thicker and more clean lines. This helps the piece have a composition of balances between messy and clean along with abstract and real, which is done in order to convey the message of this mural. The black and white were done to help convey the message and make it abstract where the grey was added for depth and more of a real feel. The blue border was to help frame the piece and make it pop. The abstract feeling represents the dysregulation, misunderstanding, struggle and controversy between different races as represented on the mural. But through this discontinuity, a beautiful synchronous piece is made. These challenging elements in the background work as symbolism of a supporting element, representing that even with our differences there are similarities and common ground. The black and white helps represent the grey area we live in and that regardless of skin color everyone can be happy, everyone goes through challenges and can still thrive. None of the faces are bolded or even finished and all overlapping showing that no one is more important than another, but a community and exist all together, but what is more important than a single person is ‘we’ that the community is bigger than a single person.
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Biomorphic Spheres and Flowing Patterns
This mural covers part of a side of a three-story building and spans the full height of the building. It is vertically oriented, consisting of overlapping circular forms. Spherical shapes dominate the center and bottom of the mural, while curved lines move with curves and circles across the background. Several spirals also take up some of the foreground and background. The mural is on a flat surface, yet many elements create an illusion of depth. Overlapping forms and shadowing make the spheres in the center appear to float in front of or behind one another. The background goes to a vanishing point using a fading of colors and smaller lines. The mural contains many geometric and organic forms with spheres, ovals, wave-like curves, and cellular forms. It is primarily made up of curvilinear lines that swirl, interlace, and outline forms, portraying motion and form. Contour lines are used to identify where shapes overlap, while other lines create texture and rhythm. The color palette of this mural primarily consists of cooler colors like blues, purples, and greens. The mural is on somewhat of a color gradient where the colors get warmer closer to the top with yellows, oranges, and pinks. There is an illusion of light coming from the upper right of the mural by using lighter and warmer colors. There is also some shading on many of the spheres and shapes that give them a glow and suggest there is light coming from somewhere. The tones change from deep blues, greens, and purples to pale yellows, greens, and blues, contributing to the volumes and depths of the shapes. The mural gives the illusion of textures such as bumpy holes or rippling liquids. This mural contains elements of patterns as first seen through the rippling lines in the background of the mural that continue until they disappear. Many of the spheres contain patterns within them, like repetitive holes or smaller ovals. -
If Only I Were a Bird
Formal Analysis: Composition and Structure: The horizontally oriented mural displays many unique characteristics, considering the two main characters, a woman and a child. Intertwined by embrace, they take up nearly the entire mural, creating a strong sense of unity and togetherness for the viewer to receive. The mural displays movement, with them both moving from the right of the mural to the left, almost as if they were in a hurry since the back of the woman’s elegant and colorful top is flowing in the wind behind. In the background, there is a two-tone gradient flowing of turquoise and blue and these multiple layers seem to indicate hills of land, or sky. In the forefront, and emphasized on the Chroma Zone website, is a concrete fence, which is in place to create a sense of forbidden-ness. The mural itself is divided into 2 parts of composition, as it features a more solid color part, and more geometric oriented part, with many elements symbolically blending the two together. Color and Line: Kalaka made a very distinct decision to place the vibrant warm color palette in the forefront, with rich tones that create energy with the deep reds, greens, and oranges, while placing the cool and modest secondary colors in the background. The linework of the piece is very crisp and flowing, both to create a sense of structure and to enhance the volume. The folds and sense of dimension add to the mural by giving it a more realistic 3-dimensional aspect, both to hammer into the viewer the artists’ message and to highlight its emotional intimacy. Space and Scale: The stylistic compression of having the composition be shallow, gets rid of background details that would have been unnecessary when thinking about the message of the mural. By keeping the focus on the forefront the artist’s message is more straightforward and heightens its emotional value. Texture and Technique: While the mural is on a flat blank wall, Kalakas use of shading and layering conveys a perspective of dimensionality. The background is purposefully created to have depth, and overall the mural has a smooth yet controlled texture. -
Untitled (Little Ancestors)
This mural shows two children smiling with a background of mountain trees, and a rising sun. Focusing on the elements of the painting, we can immediately notice the scale of the various objects and characters in the photo. The mushrooms and children are scaled larger than they are in real life and appear bigger than the mountains and the trees, forming the focus around them. Furthermore, this mural is composed of a symmetrical arrangement that draws the viewer’s eye towards the middle of the mural, where the sun appears over the mountains. This mural is composed of character-like images and nature elements that lighten up the mood, interacting with all ages. Povi Marie’s bold graphic forms are shown with bold dark outlines; her forms are simple but still clear and stylized so you clearly pick out the elements. The pictorial space in this mural is shallow because of the thick lines, which make it look compressed and flat, and enhance the graphic look; this leads to it having no 3-dimensional aspects. There is a strong presence of lines in this mural. They are clean and help define the cartoons and other elements in the mural. The lines for the rays of the sun are noticeable, as well as the birch trees at the front of the mural. Color is a very important feature in this mural. The bright reds, yellows, blues, whites, and greens evoke happy and warm feelings and catch the viewers’ attention. The light and tone in this mural is consistent throughout the whole mural. The overall lighting is uniform, reinforcing the 2-dimensional nature of this piece. The overall tone is controlled with a few shadows and contrasts in the water and sky/mountains. This mural has minimal texture, and looks smooth in the characters, the trees incorporate more texture on the trunks and branches. This mural has a very geometric and traditional pattern using many shapes such as circles, squares, and triangles. This mural incorporates many elements, making it an eye-catching design. -
Luna Llena
The mural is located on the side of an industrial building and features figures rendered at a large scale, with all forms depicted as “larger than life.” The composition is symmetrical, centering the goddess of maize, who receives colorful corn in her hands. On either side of the central figure are rabbits. An ornate grey moon frames the goddess, and behind this, a patterned field of pink corn is visible. The arrangement of these elements establishes a clear focal point and organizes the visual space.
Pictorial space is created through the layering of foreground and background elements. The goddess appears in the foreground, while the moon and patterned corn recede, contributing to a sense of depth. The form of the goddess is modeled with shading on her skin, clothing, and headdress, providing a three-dimensional effect. In contrast, the rabbits and background elements are rendered with less modeling, remaining more two-dimensional.
Line is used throughout the mural to define shapes and add detail. Strong lines outline the moon and the central figure, while finer lines are used for the headdress, clothing, and the rabbits’ fur. The color palette consists mainly of muted tones: dark purple for the background, grey for the moon and rabbits, and gold, red, and green for the headdress. The goddess’s dress and headband are white, and the corn is depicted in yellow, red, and blue.
Light is suggested through the use of shading on the goddess, which differentiates her from the flatter surrounding elements. Tone varies from the dark background to lighter highlights on the central figure, creating contrast. The texture of the mural is generally smooth, with implied texture in the depiction of the rabbits’ fur. Pattern is present in the repeated pink corn motifs in the background, contributing to visual rhythm and unity.