KNOX MARTIN & THE WHALING WALL PROJECT

Veteran muralist Knox Martin (b. 1923) has been painting walls in New York City long enough to see some of his public works overtaken by irresistible urban development, such as Venus, a 1970 mural at West 19th Street and the West Side Highway that in 2010 was blocked from view by Jean Nouvel’s high-end condo project.

But the artist is more than a little "irresistible" himself. His newest mural project, and fifth in New York, is The Whaling Wall, an allegorical homage to peace and ecology planned for 334 Grand Street at the corner of Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side. Golden Artists Colors is providing the paint, and the artist’s gallery, Woodward Gallery, is coordinating the project, but funding for scaffolding, rigger and crew is supplied by public donations (to donate, click here). The mural has the support of the Lower East Side Building Improvement District, the New Museum and Juxtapoz magazine. If all goes according to schedule, the mural should be completed next month.

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