Bernie Mural
Completion: 2016
Location: Los Angeles, California
The Bernie Mural is a contribution to a political media installation at Johnie’s Coffee Shop in downtown Los Angeles. Johnie’s Coffee Shop, declared a historical landmark in 2013, is iconic for its classic Googie architecture and its numerous film appearances, including Miracle Mile, The Big Lebowski, and Reservoir Dogs. Located only a block away from LACMA (the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), the building no longer functions as a coffee shop. It was renamed “Bernie’s Coffee Shop” in 2016 while it served as a campaign office for presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, at which time the mural was commissioned. Whether or not the viewer supports Bernie Sanders or even engages in U.S. political dialogue, the mural is an artistic expression of the emotional response supporters have had to the senator’s campaign.
The project was funded in part by the Gold family, who own the coffee shop, but also by an online grassroots initiative that formed the backbone of the communal experience surrounding the mural. Working publicly on a busy Los Angeles street exposes the art to direct and immediate response while still in varying stages of development, and passerby were often very blunt in their feedback. Every day of progress brought both cheers and boos, eloquent critique from artists and passive car honks, even commentary from both news reporters (Hollywodd Reporter article">Hollywood Reporter and Article La Mag">LA Mag) and the local homeless. All the reactions were honest and open, and the sense of community surrounding the painting truly embodied the homegrown spirit of the Sanders campaign.
The mural depicts a modern, abstract rendition of Bernie Sanders in a way that emphasizes his dynamic appeal and the engaging spirit he brings to his politics. The bright, primary colors draw the eyes of both pedestrians and drivers, who have only a limited time to view the image as the building is presumably part of their journey rather than their destination. The lines inherent to the structure of the roof as well as the design of the psychedelic background both also draw the eye to Sanders’s physically distinct face as he looks seriously out on the street in a pose he frequently assumes during his speeches. Sanders’s campaign engaged new, often youthful political activists and re-engaged many who had become disillusioned with national politics, and the modern, playful aesthetic of the mural integrated into a historic building captures this powerful sense of revitalization.