Greg Mike
About Greg Mike
Based out of: Atlanta, Georgia
About the Mural
This mural by the artist Greg Mike is on the east side of the building at 915 1st Avenue North. It takes up the entire stretched-out wall, 98 feet wide and 19 feet high. It’s a pop art cartoon, in vibrant blues, greens, oranges and purples.Greg Mike’s signature character is called Loudmouf, with an F. Loudmouf is drawn as a cube with long thin arms and legs and a wide-open mouth. His nose is a horizontal oval with an off-kilter white dot, as if light is shining on it. His eyes are round and white with big, brightly colored irises, floating just above his head.
Loudmouf’s mouth is drawn as a square or sometimes as a rectangle, lined by four teeth top and bottom and a bright red tongue that’s always visible and often hanging out. The second tooth from the right on the top row is often chipped.
This mural features five different versions of the Loudmouf character, against a fantastical, colorful background.
On the top left is a long light-blue Loudmouf, tongue hanging out. With a single row of four top teeth, a black nose and one blue eye with an arch. To the left, floats a round eye with a green iris, looking up and away.
Below and to the right, is a squared-off Loudmouf in green, with both rows of teeth. A blue jet of saliva shoots from the center of his tongue, off to the left.
Two large white eyes with orange irises float above his square green body. A brown hat with a gray band floats above his eyes. The left eye is splashing toward the right, as if he’s receiving a cartoon blow.
This square figure has two long arms. The right arm reaches up. The left arm reaches towards the bottom left corner of the mural. A puffy white glove holds a wooden sign that says “Smile” in light brown letters, painted as if they were carved by a knife.
The Loudmouf figure is echoed twice more on the right side of the mural. Toward the roof and tilted at an angle is a figure with the tongue hanging out. The tongue itself has eyes and a smiling mouth. This figure has one green eye and one orange eye. His left hand reaches up, holding a pink gem. A cartoon word bubble is attached to his mouth, filled with a red heart.
On the far right of the mural is a Cheshire Cat-like Loudmouf, much larger than the other figures. With a row of teeth on top and two fangs on the bottom, the mouth in a mischievous grin, and two tall, arched eyes that look eager, and excited. His round cheeks are dappled in green, and he has a round black nose. This face is framed by cartoon shrubbery, and two orange, angled stripes.
At the center of the mural is a different version of the Loudmouf figure. Starting halfway up the wall is a tall, arched mouth, like a doorway, with four teeth on top and two large teeth on the bottom. This mouth is wide open, so wide that the throat is painted at the back, as if the character is screaming. A single giant green eye hovers at the top, like a full moon. The iris of the eye is green, but unlike all the other eyes, the green is different shades of green, growing darker toward the center.
A brown set of stairs is painted below this figure, with two dark doorways at the bottom. Each doorway has an eye inside, looking up. To the right of the doorways, in dark brown letters, is the artist’s signature.
Greg Mike draws inspiration from skate culture, the street art of New York City, and mid-century American cartoons. He lives in Atlanta, where he runs a design studio and gallery.
Throughout the mural, bolts and bricks and swirls of color are scattered. A pair of round eyes float alone, an isolated smile. A tongue hangs off a lightning bolt. Grey sprawling smoke, or maybe water, is scattered across the wall.
A fragment of a bright blue sky with puffy clouds is painted on the upper left, obscured by a swirl of orange. The many faces of Loudmouf peek out of a chaotic landscape of color.
