Insect Street Art

Julian Beever is a street artist who is best known for chalk drawings using a perspectival anamorphosis technique. He creates images that appear 3 dimensional from a single perspective but are necessarily distorted from other angles. Photos of some of his art are posted on his website. Beever uses chalk as a medium and his art is ephemeral. He considers the final product to be a photograph taken for the correct perspective.

Like many artists, Beever uses images from daily life that occasionally feature insects. His art has been featured on the TV show “Concrete Canvas”. In an episode in Mexico City, he used the appropriate Monarch Butterfly, a migratory insect that overwinters in massive numbers in a small area of Southern Mexico. His drawing shows attention to details of the body, the wing venation and wing color pattern.

In the picture below, the butterfly looks as if it is in flight. Not so. It is a two dimensional drawing that produces a realistic 3-D optical illusion.

Chalk art by Julian Beever

Chalk art by Julian Beever
Photo: http://www.julianbeever.net

About jjneal

Jonathan Neal is a retired Associate Professor of Entomology at Purdue University and author of the textbook, Living With Insects (2010). This blog is a forum to communicate about the intersection of insects with people and policy. This is a personal blog. The opinions and materials posted here are those of the author and are in no way connected with those of my employer.
This entry was posted in Art, by jjneal. Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Insect Street Art

  1. Jenny says:

    I am in true love with this. Thanks so much for sharing!

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