Writing on the Wall

Triwedi’s first assignment involved covering the walls of a music club,whose founders were friends,with stencil art of over 100 renowned musicians in black and white. Word on her prowess spread and she soon started working on commission. Since then,her works have adorned the walls of several commercial interiors,predominantly offices of IT corporations.

Design student Habeeb Hamza’s first commercial project sees his works scaling a 65 feet-long wall. “I am working on the walls around the bowling alley in Seasons mall,” says Hamza,adding,“The visuals illustrate a story. Since I am working around the bowling alley,my artwork depicts a love-hate relationship between the ball and the pins. The characters have been rendered with animated expressions.”

In a month,he has finished half the work. “Painting onto a wall directly poses many challenges,” says the young artist who usually works on canvas and paper. “One must be particular about achieving the right consistency. Canvas is cloth and one is aware of its dynamics,but each wall comes with a different surface. For example,if the wall has been painted with plastic paint,one cannot use water-based colours,” says Hamza.

Mumbai-based artist Sayyed Arshad of the art-collective Wallcano,says he began painting walls after graduating from JJ School of Art but the journey began in a strange way. “The client asked us if we did murals. We said yes though we hadn’t done anything of the kind till then,” he says.

Since then,Arshad and his colleagues have taken walls of all shapes and sizes,situated in restrooms,conference rooms,bars,restaurants and every other commercial locale imaginable. “I remember doing the walls of a restroom. I depicted the head with a toilet-seat on the top,symbolising the sudden rush of ideas,” he says.

With ample business opportunities,Arshad says the trend of beautifying commercial spaces has picked up in Mumbai. It is also generating sizeable interest among corporations and private spaces in Pune,say city-based mural artists.