The whole splintering city: more murals from Glasgow

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Mural by Cobalt Collective

We’ve been on a couple of mural hunts recently. I’ve wanted to see the one above since it was first painted in 2019 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Glasgow’s Doors Open Days. Its location is slightly off the beaten track on Brown Street, off the Broomielaw, but over Easter we made a special effort to walk down there and were suitably impressed. Created by Cobalt Collective, comprising  Erin Bradley-Scott, Chelsea Frew, Kat Loudon and Edda Karólína Ævarsdóttir, an all-female team formed as a counter to the gender imbalance in the mural scene, it depicts Glasgow’s built heritage along with elements of our coat-of-arms (the bell, the fish, the bird, and the tree). The words are from a Liz Lochhead poem, The Bargain, and are a beautiful description of a Glaswegian’s relationship with her city.

Yes today we’re in love aren’t we?
with the whole splintering city
its big quick river wintry bridges
its brazen black Victorian heart.

That was not the only street art we saw that day: on the way down we discovered this lovely little row of shops by EJEK in Elmbank Gardens, next to the Baby Grand Bar & Grill (which features in the mural).

Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural
Charing Cross mural

On the way back, John stopped to photograph Smug’s swimmers underneath the Kingston Bridge, one of several sport-related murals from 2014 when Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games.

On Sunday we went hunting again for a canal-side mural that I saw on social media. It’s between Applecross and Speirs Wharf, for those who know the area.

Frodik mural
Frodik mural

I suspect it’s not authorised, and I don’t know anything about it other than that the artist’s signature is @Frodrik_ , but it looks cool. After 13 months of varying levels of lockdown, it’s good to know that Glasgow can still surprise me and that I’m still in love with the whole splintering city.

Scotland, UK ,

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  2. Pingback: Glasgow Gallivanting: April 2021 – The Glasgow Gallivanter

  4. Ooh, there’s a few here I’ve not seen before. Glasgow has some amazing murals and looking forward to getting back into the city for further exploring.

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  8. Hi Anabel – what amazing murals – I can see why you’re entranced. Delightful – thanks for sharing with us – Shattering = no, just gorgeous! – Hilary

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  11. I love murals. They are such a beautiful addition to street life. Usually. 🙂 I was first introduced to street art by Lisa Dorenfest, when I met her in Auckland, New Zealand a few years ago. Nice to live in a city you love and that still surprises!

    Did you change your website? It looks different to me. And the comment box is cutting my sentences off, hence this poem-like comment!

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  12. Seems to me that many things have changed since we left Glasgow – the street art for one and pet friendly for another. I am curious though, did you walk all the way from Maryhill to the Broomielaw and Brown Street?

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  14. Nice murals. Funnily enough it’s not covid 19 or the restrictions that’s flattened my mojo directly as such but the dramatic increase in folk enjoying the great outdoors, everywhere….running, cycling, walking…in every view. To the extent that I can’t be bothered anymore. I really miss outdoor solitude,…. as it used to be :o)
    A dying breed- like paper OS maps and printed money.

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  20. Great pictures. I saw the one by the canal a few weeks ago and really liked it. I seem to remember seeing a TV report at the time about the splintering city mural but can’t remember where.

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  23. I love these, especially the Charing Cross ones, they are certainly very colourful 🙂 I was on the street art hunt again last weekend, less than two weeks since my previous visit to Manchester and several new pieces had been done – even part of one of the roads had been painted 🙂

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  24. Everyone of these constitutes ‘art’ if we want to give names to things and I’m so glad that cities are now recognising it for what it is, not just vandalism – although there is some of that around too. You are doing a great job for Glasgow in collecting these photos. John may yet have a book there!

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  25. These are fantastic. We noticed a few around the centre of Glasgow when we were last in the city (2019) but didn’t realise at the time that so many were being painted. Last time I saw so many large murals was when we (very quickly) skirted the edge of Belfast way back in the early 2000s. Subject matter appears to be a bit different thankfully!

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  28. Great murals: they’re really street “art”, aren’t they? Thanks for sharing.
    How does Liz Lochhead come to think of Glasgow as a “splintering city?”

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