Nether and New Community Murals This Summer In Baltimore

August 30, 2014 Artists

A colorful harvest of local folk on walls here as we bring you images Nether has been painting this summer in his native Baltimore by himself and with friends. A mix of community projects and independently initiated walls painted on Baltimore’s surplus quantity of abandoned buildings, the style brings to mind community murals of the past, but it also has a genuinely new spirit. Nether and others like Gaia, LNY, and Mata Ruda are among some who are influencing and ushering in what BSA is calling “the new muralism”.

Nether. “The Fight For Building Blocks” Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

The new muralism has evolved in the last five years from clusters of Street Artists who were originally interested in getting their name out and to advocate in some cases for their sociopolitical viewpoints but who also are often responding to calls from communities for intermediaries who can help them tell their stories. Taking root in this city and others like Newark, Jersey City, Atlanta, Bushwick (Brooklyn), and others, artists take into account local roots and are creating themes and portraits of everyday heroes and heroines and telling their stories. These are US eastern seaboard names but we have seen and heard these sentiments from cities as far as Honolulu, Berlin, and Delhi. This is what happens when people talk to each other.

Nether. “Tangled” Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

In cities where “Street Art” or “Urban Art” festivals have been hosted, artists and producers have heard criticism that the international circuit of visiting artists are not always sensitive to the culture and the history of the locality. Their point is enhanced by a certain homogeneity of styles recurring on walls in many cities that is somehow separate from the culture, like a chain store or restaurant. Many organizers have responded by being more inclusive of the locals and today we are seeing a mural making tributary of Street Art that is maturing with an altruistic, intention-driven interest in empowering neighborhoods and their various populations that is reflective of the local in addition to the global.

Nether. “Fingers Crossed” Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

Nether. A tribute to the author and poet Maya Angelou in Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

Nether paraphrased this quote near this portrait;

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

– Maya Angelou

Nether. Vulpes Vulpes. Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

Nether. Detail. Vulpes Vulpes. Baltimore, MD. (photo © Nether)

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