We all know one man's trash is another man's treasure, but sometimes one man's trash bin is another man's canvas.
Such is the case in a new series of murals that recently popped up in Gastown, titled “waste wear," by B.C.-based artist Tyler Toews (AKA Ty Mural Guy, or @canadianmurals on Instagram). The project was created in partnership with the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver Mural Festival.
The seven-painting series "addresses issues surrounding pollution and climate change, both in our communities and the wider world. The collection seeks to spark conversations around the current and future impacts of garbage on the planet, and the need for not just greater awareness, but action," wrote Toews in an Instagram post.
Each of the paintings adorn large garbage bins, and appear as if to be 3D. The images depicted range from a polar bear riding an empty, plastic beverage bottle, to a humpback whale trapped in an enormous plastic bag, to a child sitting in a mound of plastic and a flower growing out of a discarded plastic straw, to a grown man dressed in a suit with his head obscured by a plastic bag, while seagulls take hold of the plastic.
.jpg;w=960)
Mural painted by Tyler Toews, in partnership with the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver Mural Festival. Photo submitted by Keith Bell.That piece in particular, Toews explained, is titled “Capitalist Daydreams” and intends to depict the figure in a business suit "dealing with a hangover from a capitalist/consumer bender."
The paintings are located in an alley off Powell Street, beside Italian restaurant Robba da Matti's newest location. Stroll through the neighbourhood to check them out in person (while keeping a two-metre distance between yourself and others, obviously), or have a look using Vanmuralfest's new app.
.jpg;w=960)
Mural painted by Tyler Toews, in partnership with the Gastown Business Improvement Society and the Vancouver Mural Festival. Photo submitted by Keith Bell.The Vancouver Mural Festival's fifth annual iteration is currently underway, set to run until Sept. 7. This year's celebration of street art will result in 60 new murals in 9 Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods over just 3 weeks.
