Kept Light Photography

Photography and Writing by A. Cemal Ekin

by

Off The Wall

A while back, late October 2016, I went to visit a potential client near Dean Street in Providence. Although the route was very familiar to me from my years of driving to Providence College, that particular street was new to me but very easy to locate. After the meeting, I realized the street was one way and I needed to find my way back. As I arrived at the first intersection I recognized where I was, quite amazing for me as I have a very poor sense of direction, and I turned right on Harris Avenue to move towards the entrance to Rt. 10 to get back home. As I drove by the old and seemingly empty building I noticed the extensive coverage of figures, drawings, lines, very much like a graffiti fest, cool abstract art. I made a note of the location to return later on.

Later, on a sunny and comfortable January day Jan and I returned to see the painted wall on Harris Avenue in Providence. The paintings were off the wall, eclectic, wild, and yet carefully constructed abstract art. We spent some time photographing the wall and various segments of it. The wall seems to serve as a promotional piece for a couple of artists who, not surprisingly, offer painting on your car, boat, interior, etc. Owned and operated by two Rhode Islanders, Providence Painted Signs will bring the artistic talents of the owners to solve signage needs of their clients. We enjoyed the crazy, varied, sometimes political, sometimes emotional work on the wall, some kind of public art. We thank the artists for creating the wall which may be visible from Rt. 10 but much better up close on Harris Avenue.

Below are Jan’s and my photographs, all Off The Wall!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Obviously well kept and protected.
    I can already imagine a similar wall over here, with superimposed “text-art” peculiar to our repressed youth culture :)

    Thanks for the lovely photos, Jan and Cemal!

    • Thanks for stopping by Haluk. This kind of “public art” may not be welcome in some circles, especially some political ones I avoided including.

      Cemal

    • Richard, thanks for stopping by. From now on, your comments will be approved automatically and appear as soon as you post them.

      Interesting wall!

      Cemal

  3. Thank you husband and wife for the photos. I think Providence must be full of born artists with a sense of humour.

    • On behalf of the artists who created the works on the wall, and for us photographers who picked some frames from them, thank you Ramazan. We will likely visit the place again. But before that, there is another outing coming soon…

      Cemal

    • Thanks Jim. And, she is legally blind! I think the viewfinder gives her a complete vision of what’s in it which must be comforting. I am glad you enjoyed them.

      Cemal

  6. Cemal-love these! It’s amazing to see how artist find ways of expressing themselves. Something very fascinating about these images. Some appear to be faded, and that gives them a sense of ‘age’ but who knows, they may be newly created, with that intention in mind. Will be planing a visit to see this art in person. Thanks so much for sharing.
    -Sal

    • Glad to hear you enjoyed the works Sal. Some may have faded, but many are created with a particular look in mind I think. It is a sensory overload in some ways, you don’t know which one to look at first, second, ….

      Cemal