Perry Street Mural
Redwood City, California
SLATE Art Consulting, on behalf of developers Kenson Ventures and The Madison Group, facilitated the creation of Crisantemos, a hand-painted mural by internationally-acclaimed artist Jet Martinez, on the southeast wall of 55 Perry Street, Redwood City, CA. This wall borders the high-traffic Perry Parking Lot, is visible from the neighboring the Caltrain line, and is adjacent to the Commercial Way Mural Corridor.
The 100-foot long mural transformed a bland, blank wall into a vibrant work of contemporary art by a highly respected Bay Area artist with a composition that speaks to Redwood City’s history and hopes for its future.
Artist Jet Martinez writes, “This design was inspired by an anecdote I read while doing historical research on Redwood City. It referenced Japanese American farmers and their immense contribution towards turning Redwood City into (one of) the largest producers of chrysanthemums in the world. Tragically, during World War II, many of those Japanese American families were placed in internment camps. Upon their return, other neighboring farmers (of different cultural heritages) helped the Japanese farmers reestablish their farms by giving them cuttings of their own chrysanthemum plants. I loved this idea of reintegration and making the community whole again through the symbol of the chrysanthemum.
My design is inspired by two separate folk art forms: bark paper paintings from Central Mexico, and wood block prints from Japan. .... While the pairing of these two art forms is not an obvious one, my intent is to use the language of folk arts to create something new. By pairing the aesthetics of two dierent cultures’ folk arts, I am trying to draw connections between two cultures that have contributed greatly to Redwood City’s history: the Mexican American and the Japanese American communities.
In the end, however, the piece should stand on its’ own and be recognizable to viewers of various backgrounds. After all, many cultures around the world have similar motifs of birds in branches. My hope is that viewers will find something that reminds them of their own culture in this mural...”
Jet Martinez is an accomplished muralist and studio painter whose work has been widely shown both nationally and internationally. Martinez is best known for his dynamically-patterned floral compositions that take inspiration from traditional Mexican folk art, which he executes with technical virtuosity, deep conceptual grounding, and an enormous amount of heart. Originally from the small beach town of Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico, Martinez is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and served as director of San Francisco’s celebrated Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) for 10 years. He currently lives and works in Oakland, California.
