on seeing odds & ends in art on the streets of lyon

It has hard to enter a museum when the sun is shining and the day is warm.

I wander daily, at least once, each day, somewhere, anywhere, so long as I walk and watch.

The other day I joined a free tour of Lyon. Many of the sites we saw, I had already seen, so it was her stories that made the trip worth the tip at the end. Also, she had a wonderful appreciation for street art and showed us some of her favorites.

The following images are not from that walk, except for the wall of chairs. My conversations with the guide did inspire, however, this posting of some odds and ends of wall sculptures and wall paintings that I have seen.

The next two images are panoramic shots patched together from two or three photographs of wall art.

The first is a inelegant image with a rush or colors and aggressive images. It seems to want to challenge the viewer. One part of the painting blends into another without a reason. Unwanted graffiti is painted over it in places.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

The second panoramic image is sedate and carefully planned. It is one of many fresques, or frescos, that were commissioned by Lyon or by the businesses who own the walls of the buildings. This particular painting is called la fresque de la Bibliothèque de la Cité. It is about books and authors. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

On other occasions I have mentioned la fresque des Lyonnais and la fresque des Canuts.

Le Collège Hôtel is situated in the historical district of Lyon. It is a school-themed hotel and is furnished “with vintage desks, chairs and chalkboards.” The management has turned a wall into a sculpture and attached chairs to it. Each day when the sun shines on the wall, the chairs cast ever changing shadows across its face. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

Monkey faces. Painted patches. Mosaic pieces. These are examples of art that might appear on a wall. A favorite of mine are the legs that jut from a surface. There is an expression in English, “to hit a break wall.” In French it is, “droit dans le mur.” In French and English it means, “to reach a point where you are physically or mentally unable to make progress or to continue doing something.” The sculpture is a humorous way to illustrate it. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

These two images face each other on a wall outside a chic business. I do not believe they represent anything that is sold inside the building. For example, I do not believe I stood outside a fish restaurant.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

One day I happened to look to my left into an entrance, into what I thought was an entrance, like many in major French cities, that would lead to an inner courtyard of that building. What I saw instead was a narrow alley or medieval street with stairs at the end of it. It was painted in blue. Did it represent the sky and clouds? Was it the ocean with jelly fish? It was startling to look back and down from the top and see no vestige of the painting. It had disappeared, and the steps were now a bleak gray.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

(This is not the only stairs that have been painted in Lyon. Another one can be seen at la rue Prunelle.)

The images here are no more than pleasant moments with color and light and mixtures of odd items that seem pleasing to look at together. I happened upon some rainbows flashes of color on a church floor. I saw a restaurant window with a painting. Some graffiti caught my attention.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)