New 150-Foot-Long Mural in San Jose

The fact that a mural this size can be completed in 5 days is pretty astounding. Check out some "making of" photos over here and the full description from Empire Seven Studios below.

From Empire Seven Studios:

Andrew Schoultz new mural in San Jose, CA

A couple weekends ago, we brought out Andrew Schoultz to San Jose, CA to paint a large scale mural. Completed in 5 days measuring at 150ft long x 24ft tall, this is the 11th mural part of the E7SWallSJ Project.

Below is an statement by the artist:
"Generally speaking, my approach to murals happens somewhat spontaneously and organically on location of the mural. I enter in with general ideas, and maybe an initial starting point image. In this case I wanted to begin with the idea of the vessel. To be more specific a vessel on its side or tipped over. A vessel's purpose is to carry water. In this picture there is not much water falling from the vessel, instead there appears dust clouds instead. I try very hard to incorporate social and political ideas into my public works, but I strive to keep it on a subtle level, that encourages a viewer to think about the picture and arrive at their own conclusion. Obvious political and social messages in public art and murals becomes nothing more than a message that preaches to the choir, and eliminates a viewer who does not subscribe to those particular politics or social messages from even considering or thinking about what they see.

With this particular mural, that I am loosely titling "Empty Vessel"  the underlying theme without being too obvious or didactic has to do with the water crisis that California is currently facing. To make a long story short, this is a catastrophic problem. Technically California has been considered in a drought for nearly 6 years, and no one really seems to care on any sort of mainstream level. Its typical in America for there to be huge problems going on, and as long as they do not effect our day to day life, they seem to be easily Ignored. So then comes in the huge Beast, or monster that appears in the mural. Perhaps the idea of there being a giant monster in the room that no one wants to talk about or deal with is a good description of this water crisis. The idea of outer space is also incorporated, in kind of a loose tongue and cheek sort of way, in that there is no water on the moon or in outer space for that matter, and outer space and the moon
are not inhabitable places. Living things cannot exist… etc.

On purely aesthetic level, I do also try to create walls that are fun to look at and create a dynamic experience for a viewer in the public space. I try to push forward with new and exciting painting techniques every time I do a wall. In this case I used a paint sprayer in ways I have never used one before…"

-Andrew Schoultz