"Reaching for a Star" - A Mural by Don Gensler

  The mural titled "Reaching for a Star" by Don Gensler, created and presented in Philadelphia, appears to be an extraordinary interesting work to me.

 

(Image source: TIME, http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1649278_1421197,00.html)

Don Gensler is a painter, as well as an illustration artist whom involved in large-scaled public art projects. 

Since 2002, he has been a lecturer in public art and mural painting at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. In 2006, he became the Adjunct Professor of public art at RPI school of Architecture in Troy, New York. 

Don Gensler has completed over 35 public art projects nationally, including his mural art works. 

(Source: http://www.donaldgensler.com/resume.html)

"Reaching for a Star" is a piece of mural which is painted on one of the walls of Don Gensler's house. The work perfectly combined the structure of the house itself, creating external virtual windows as if they were new open doors for 'hopes'. 

The background of the the mural, illustrated in simple colours such as light and dark blues, and light and dark reds, painted in pieces of nets and blocks that overlap, give the feeling of piecing the dreams and hopes that were incomplete together. 

The enlarged human figure standing on the left side of the mural with the shinning star pointing out from the space of the work itself, catches the major attention from the audience. The stars and lightning, which are painted in yellow, contrasting with the colours of the background and the human figure, move the spotlights onto these elements immediately. At the same time, the idea of stars also resembles 'hope', and creates an atmosphere of star night.

As Don Gensler himself said,  "That mural is the best thing that's happened around here. For 20 years, this neighborhood's been going down, but when they came and put that mural up there on the wall, it stopped it from going down" (Source: http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1649278_1421197,00.html), the idea of catching he star, which represents 'hope' perhaps has given a direction to the neighbourhood that pushes them forward, gives them motivation to move on.