A mural showing Donald Trump tumbling from Mount Rushmore has appeared behind Islington Mill in Salford, just days before the official announcement of Joe Biden’s triumph.
Manchester-based street artist Russel Meehan came up with the idea in the final days of the count, after he re-called the rumours that Donald Trump would appear alongside the past presidents on Mount Rushmore.
Meehan said: “I thought maybe I could have his head toppling, because inevitably he was going to lose the election. The idea of Nelson from The Simpsons coming into it made it even funnier in my head, because they’ve had a history of predicting things.”
He combined that idea with the ever-growing theory that The Simpsons have successfully predicted several points in history, including the election of Trump back in 2016.
“I just wanted to do a little bit of social commentary and look at a funny aspect of what was going on. I’m not a Trump hater or a Biden Lover, but in this instance the joke was just too good not to share.”
You can spot Russel’s street art tag ‘Qubek’ throughout central Manchester and the Northern Quarter.
A really nice touch from @graffiti_russ in Salford.
My pic doesn’t show it, but this faces onto the train tracks, allowing passing passengers to see the message on their way to and from Manchester.#ClapForTheNHS #clapforourcarers #NHS pic.twitter.com/1bdipDzqlp
— 🅂🄰🄼 🄲🄻🄰🄲🄺 (@Clack_Sam) May 7, 2020
Salford is not necessarily known for street art. However, Russel hopes that following this, other artists could follow suit and turn the blank walls of Salford into colourful canvases.
“Hopefully the more it’s accepted, the more it will move out of the city center.”
“I’ve also got a shipping container here, that I’m going to do an art project on and invite artists to come every couple weeks or months to come and paint on a large scale. It’ll give people an opportunity to get involved with this kind of art form and get their work out into the public. This is kind of an art hub in Salford, it’s a really important part of the area.”
Meehan is also the man behind the Manchester bee memorial in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. The memorial shows 22 bees, one for each victim of the terror attack that took place at Manchester Arena in 2017, where a suicide bomber detonated an IED at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
He said: “When I finished it there was about 100 people behind me, and when I finished the last bee representing one of the people that had passed away everyone started clapping. Everyone came together which was really nice to see.”
You can find Russel’s artist page on Facebook: Mural Life MCR
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