CINCINNATI — The moment was 20 years in the making. That was the last time Barron Krody visited Cincinnati, the city he called home for most of his life.
Tuesday, an opportunity for a reunion. Krody visited the mural he helped design 50 years ago, in 1972.
“Coming back and seeing it. I thought, 50 years ago, I was here? It’s impressive, and I’m honored,” he said.
Krody’s creation was celebrated by a who’s who of BLINK organizers and artists outside of the Kinley Hotel. The owners of the hotel repainted Krody’s work shortly after buying the property. That’s something Krody said he appreciated.
“I thank Kinley for repainting. It’ll last another 50 years,” he said.
Krody said he knows a lot has changed over the past five decades. He said when the painters arrived at the ten-story wall they had no idea how to start the mural.
“The head of the crew said well, Mr. Krody, how do we get the drawing on the wall? I said what?! You don’t know how to do it,” he said.
Krody said he wanted to bring something new to the people of Cincinnati. In 1972, he got that chance.
“It was Carl Salway and Jack Bolton who came up with the idea of what was happening in New York, Chicago, and other major cities. Taking plain old walls, which would be better used to bring art from inside the museum to the outside walls of the city,” he added. “Took a lot of photographs of people who were walking by and they’d look up and say, what are they doing? That’s not a Coca Cola sign!”
The 86-year-old artist said he planned to take in all that BLINK has to offer. He is excited to see the city’s newest art installations.
“I’m so impressed that things have changed. When this wall was built they were mixing pigments. Now they’re mixing, and projecting photons,” he said.
At the corner of Liberty and Pleasant in Over-the-Rhine, the finishing touches are being made on a large mural. It will be a BLINK first.
“Doing a piece there by Insane-51. Technique is all based in color theory around 3D. Typically the murals are best seen through 3D glasses,” Andrew Salzbrun, one of the founders of BLINK, said the artist from Greece is hoping to incorporate something new using projection mapping technology.
“This is the first time we’re projecting one of his works. We’re using the projector colors to remove the need for 3D glasses so the masses of audiences can see it in just plain sight. Incredibly technically challenging. Very much an experiment,” he said.
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