British-born artist Jules Muck (a.k.a., “Muckrock“) painted a portrait of recent U.S. Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders on the side of a white van, seen in the photos here parked on a residential side street in Venice, Los Angeles.
Muckrock’s street art and murals are a fixture of the LA’s westside landscape, especially in the neighborhoods around Venice Beach, where the artist lives. There’s also a bird painted next to Bernie on the van, but the significance of the small winged creature escapes us. That only the head of Sanders was painted — aside from the bird — and that the van is like a blank canvas, serves to further draw the viewer in and focuses attention on the subject.
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UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE: A Global Graphica reader pointed out the significance of the bird in this artwork. It’s a reference to “birdie sanders” and an incident in early 2016 when then presidential candidate Sanders was giving a campaign speech and a small bird landed on his podium. We remember the event, but admit we totally missed this reference when we saw this street art!!! This helpful reader also pointed out that the bird depicted in the artwork is a White-crowned Sparrow, not the same type of bird that landed on Bernie’s podium. (Many thanks, Jerry!)
On another note, another reader pointed out that this mural brings another layer to the literal meaning of the word “VANdalism.” Hahaha.
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