Photo courtesy Crosstown Arts
This Tuesday, May 22nd, Denver-based artist Detour, the latest and upcoming muralist to contribute to Crosstown Concourse’s Moonpie Project, will give an artist talk at Food for Thought, a weekly lecture series at Crosstown Concourse.
The Moonpie Project is an ongoing, rotating mural series curated by artist Michael Roy in memory of Brad Wells, a well-known muralist from Tennessee who passed away in 2015. Wells was known worldwide for his talents and had projects featured at Bonnaroo, Six Flags, and Disney World, to name a few.
Michael Roy, otherwise known as Birdcap, is a muralist who lives out of his suitcase, painting murals throughout the world. Some cities he has worked in include New York City, Tokyo, and Memphis (you may have seen his and Derrick Dent's six-story mural on the MLGW Downtown Community Office building at Main Street and MLK Jr. Drive).
Roy’s Moonpie Project has featured murals by various artists, including Vitus Shell, Brandon Marshall, and Kevin Bongang, in an alley across the street from Crosstown Concourse. Three years ago, when the project began, six temporary pieces were featured a year; but now, four permanent installations are featured in a year.
This month’s featured artist, Detour, uses various tools and mediums to channel concepts and issues about the urban arts culture through portraits.
“The portraits tackle issues ranging from the serious, to the bastardization of a culture, to the light-hearted, to breakdancing,” says Detour via Crosstown’s website. “Some portraits open a window into the inner workings of a certain community, while other paintings simply try to enhance the audience’s experience.”
Detour will speak on the Crosstown Concourse Theater Stair between noon and 12:30 p.m. He is due to begin his mural early next week.
