Is this poor work for someone who is studying/has studied fine art? **title edited by MNHQ at OP's request**

[Gingernaut]

There is building works going on around Wolverhampton.

Massive changes to the local shopping centres with lots of closed down shops and noise.

There are attempts at brightening up the space with 'art'.

One shop space has been turned into a 'gallery' 'curated' by students/recent graduates from the local uni which isn't much more than decals and picture boards stuck to the walls.

There has been work done on murals in the wider open space with one taking one woman days to produce.

Days of climbing up and down a ladder surrounded by barriers, carefully painting a large mural with a huge blank space in rhe middle.

On and off, she has spent weeks working on this opus, painstakingly creating the city's motto against a backdrop of a hellish industrial backdrop.

Today I saw the finished, um, thing.

It turns out she's been working on panels elsewhere to stick on the blank bird/angel space in the middle of the mural.



Ladies and gentlemen!

Allow me to present Wolverhampton's one and only

FLAMING PISSED OFF TURKEY FROM HELL

Seriously?

WTAF?

To my eye, it honestly looks like a not particularly talented teenager had a go a scaling up a picture she saw in an art book.

Please tell me this wasn't paid for???

[ImNotJoeMyNameIsHarry]

It is to scare off potential shoplifters. The evil turkey is always watching.

[Gingernaut]

[pieceofpurplesky]

That's one fat turkey Phoenix. Looks like an adult colouring book. Still everyone has different views on art ....

[Gingernaut]

It's on display in a public space.

It's like someone who knows nothing about art saw the design and said

"That's better than nothing, we'll have that".

We used to have a Hepworth statue here and now we're supposed to be impressed/honoured that an actual artist has deigned to give us this crap.

[ImNotJoeMyNameIsHarry]

I would love to do something like this. Don't think I'm that much of an artist though.

[VioletBam]

That's the cities motto I believe. I think you're being needlessly mean and rude to be honest.

She got commissioned for it...she's done her best...you don't like it.

I think it's not half as bad as you're making out.

It's not a permanent piece by the look of it so going on about "We used to have a Hepworth statue" just makes you sound snotty really.

[Lorelei76]

Well your description made me lol!
But sadly I am sure the council will have wasted a huge amount on this. Contact them and ask. If they can't even stretch to weekly bin collections, there's no spare money for "art" or indeed art.

[BlueFolly]

It's face is quite funny, but is she's a student your attitude seems a bit mean.

[Lorelei76]

Now the thread reads like the city motto is "the evil turkey is always watching". I am hold g my sides laughing

[PurpleTango]

Art is in the eye of the beholder. I think its better than a row of blank builders boards tbh. Just :D

[PerspicaciaTick]

I rather like it

[VioletBam]

The council won't have "wasted a huge amount of money" on this. Many councils have bursaries and grants available to emerging artists to create installations and art pieces to make public areas more interesting.

And thank GOD they do.

Mostly, things like this garner the artist about 500 quid tops not including their materials. Artists work for minimum wage or free sadly.

I long for a world where we really foster art and keep it coming. The world would be bloody drab without it.

[Rulerruler]

I know someone who did some artwork on boarding on a disused building - it cost the council the cost of the paint and the money came from some sort of grant. All their time was given for free. I think you're being quite rude and small minded about this to be honest.

[Wincarnis]

The bird's head is a little bit strange imho, the banner with the motto has been done very nicely- it could be a hell of a lot worse with the letters all squashed up at the end. Overall, not too bad at all!

[AliciaMayEmory]

So teenager works hard at piece of art and you decide to publicly shame and ridicule her work? Nice...

[WanderingTrolley1]

You're being mean.

[Gingernaut]

I've seen better.

I get it, this is private property and the owners can get who they want in and they can do what they see fit.

There is graffitti art in a dump called Heath Town which, imho, knocks spots off this.

I'm just sick and tired of incompetence and mediocrity.

Expensive pedestrian paving already broken and pock marked with tarmac as lorries still need to access the shop fronts, a market almost a thousand years old reduced to Portakabins in a God forsaken, windswept square, no apparent thought or planning about where the coaches pick up and drop off passengers (one coach stopped and half the city ground to a halt) and so on and so forth.

This just seems to be yet another "that'll do" which is utterly unnecessary.

[Tootoofunny]

This is an incrediblely mean post. So publicly mean, so easily searchable. The person you are ridiculing is just trying their best to do their thing. Not parked in your driveway or said something mean at the checkout and you have publicly humiliated her.

I urge you to spend weeks, probably months creating something.

[VioletBam]

This art is nothing to do with planning or roads or management of heritage places OP. Your post is unkind and misguided.

[Atenco]

Why does the OP have to be kind? If you do a piece of art for a public space I do think you are open to criticism.

And there are so many good artists who don't get this type of opportunity.

[VioletBam]

Atenco if "good" artists don't get this kind of opportunity then it's nobody's fault but their own. They need to go out and LOOK for them as this artist has done.

Posting on social media to say "This is shit" with pictures is not criticism in the traditional sense but really, a type of bullying.

A more measured criticism might include what it is about the piece that the OP doesn't like. Not the mean comment...."this is shit"


and the sarcastic

days of climbing up and down a ladder surrounded by barriers, carefully painting a large mural with a huge blank space in rhe middle

On and off, she has spent weeks working on this opus, painstakingly creating the city's motto against a backdrop of a hellish industrial backdrop.

Today I saw the finished, um, thing.

It's an attempt to belittle and humiliate.

[MapleandPear]

I agree, it's a nasty, bullying thread. Horrible.

[FluffyFooFoo]

I quite like it.

[CaoNiMao]

God, that's dreadful. It seems that culturally we are on an inexorable race to the bottom.