Ever wondered how plain facades can be transformed into three dimensional Trompe-L’oeil paintings ? The answer can be found in viewing Eric Grohe’s paintings. Working much like the street artists reviewed in my previous entries, Eric transforms the drab urban landscape by creating exceptional wall paintings on the sides of buildings – inside and out. The thing that sets Eric’s murals apart from “most” other street artists is their subjects and execution – they make a flat wall look like it has three dimensional space and form. Therefore, in most cases, can be considered realistic illusions, much like the work of street artist Julian Beevers.

The photos above depict Grohe’s incredible attempt to transform a barren wall of a shopping mall into a 3-d sweeping view of Niagra Falls. Eric affirms:

“During the remodel of this exclusive shopping mall, the developers were looking for a way to draw attention to their facility from the freeway nearby and engage the thousands of visitors and tourists that disembark from tour buses at the entrance. A sweeping view of Niagara Falls now greets shoppers where once a long, barren wall existed. Painted architectural elements common elsewhere on the existing building façade were used to frame the scene and enhance the illusion”.

While working on large-scale figurative and architectural murals, Grohe prefers to use Keim Mineral Paint from Germany – due to the fact murals painted in the 19th century with Keim have retained their original appearance to this day. It goes without saying, Grohe’s murals are designed to endure, for the enjoyment of generations to come.

Many mural skies in malls do nothing to please the human spirit’s thirst for nature, and the classical architecture rendered in delicious perspective by masters such as Eric are, themselves, only a tip-on-the iceburg of what the public cry out for. I can only imagine what amazing things Eric could do if he were given something more befitting his talents than the all-to-common drab urban boxes we see everyday.

Enjoy the sample views of Grohe’s astonishing murals below.

WebSite: Eric Grohe