Discover the Wonderful Murals of San Gregorio [Part 2]

There are so many murals and other pieces of public art (like statues) in the small lake town of San Gregorio de Polanco. We recommend a visit to the north of Uruguay if you are interested in public art. This is our second gallery post from there.
Murals in San Gregorio: sidewall of a shop with different elements of an historic painting made into a collage.

Murals in San Gregorio: sidewall of a shop with different elements of an historic painting made into a collage.

 

This is our second gallery showing the public art in San Gregorio de Polanco. There are so many distinctly different murals that it was impossible to squeeze them all into one post.

We came to town for the murals but were also rewarded with a beautiful camping spot, right by the lake shore. You might have seen Yasha’s post about how our style of overland travel quite frequently affords us desirable ‘waterfront living’ . Well, just after we published it, we found another spot worthy of inclusion. The sandy beach, shown in our last post about San Gregorio , was right at our doorstep!

San Gregorio: how's this for waterfront camping? Only some shade was missing...

San Gregorio: how’s this for waterfront camping? Only some shade was missing…

We visited during ‘Semana Santa’, the Easter holiday week, or ‘Semana de Turismo’ as they call it in Uruguay. Later we heard that the coast was packed with tourists during this second most important vacation period. Although there were a good number visitors in San Gregorio, it never felt really busy during this time.

But back to the street art, which is what this post is about. Most murals in this second gallery can be found in the lower part of town, around the central square and nearby roads. If you go to San Gregorio you should explore all the side streets – you never know what you might discover.

Don't lose your thread - another mural in San Gregorio, Uruguay

Don’t lose your thread – another mural in San Gregorio, Uruguay

Throughout town we were amazed by a number of wall art pieces which, in one form or another, played with three-dimensional perspective.

It starts at the water tower, where clear shadows are painted for the ribbon and the water pipe. A bit further down, a corner house has its plain walls distorted by Escher-like stairs, columns, and other elements. Painted onto the hotel façade is a paint drum, which leaks onto the foot path. In the side street to the left of the hotel, you will find the stylised bow of a ship on the corner of a house. Part of it is shaped in plaster, and pulled out into the footpath. (All aforementioned murals are in our first gallery. )

When we came to the town square we found an older corner building on which all of the mural motifs were moulded in plaster before being coloured in. This is a style we had previously seen in Pan de Azúcar with the tango corner .

This corner building at the plaza was covered in several 3D pieces. Here are some typical Candombe drummers of the carnival celebrations.

This corner building at the plaza was covered in several 3D pieces. Here are some typical Candombe drummers of the carnival celebrations.

A corner building covered in several 3D pieces: this is a nice Uruguay themed illustration. The Gaucho drinking from his mate cup, a simple country house in the back, his horse to the right.

A corner building covered in several 3D pieces: this is a nice Uruguay themed illustration. The Gaucho drinking from his mate cup, a simple country house in the back, his horse to the right.

A corner building covered in several 3D pieces: to the right of the drummers you find this fisherman carrying his catch home.

A corner building covered in several 3D pieces: to the right of the drummers you find this fisherman carrying his catch home.

One of the longest murals in town covers the corner building on the other side of the square. It wraps around the entire corner, a shop and the local pub both covered in scenes related to Uruguay’s history and landscapes.

Murals in San Gregorio: how's this for a facade for the local pub?

Murals in San Gregorio: how’s this for a facade for the local pub?

Despite this now being two posts we still haven’t included every piece of public art we photographed. Now you can come and discover the others for yourself…

Additional Information about San Gregorio’s murals [all links in Spanish]


Can you decide? Which of the murals is your favourite?
Tell us in the ‘comments’ below!

Juergen

webmaster, main photographer & driver, second cook and only husband at dare2go.com. Freelance web designer with 20+ years of experience at webbeetle.com.au

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8 Responses

  1. Linda Bibb says:

    You guys! So glad you linked this to #TheWeeklyPostcard; Uruguay is such an under-covered destination. Haven’t been there yet and it’s nice to read about places to see besides Montivideo and Punta del Este. I hope you like wine and steak (both are amazing there) and tell us all about it. :)

    San Gregorio obviously has more than its share of talented artists, doesn’t it? My favourite has got to be the one you shared on the top. It takes a certain genius to duplicate another artist’s work so closely. The original artwork is titled The Milkmaid and it was painted by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. He is one of my favorite artists because his paintings always feature some light coming in from a window. The resulting lights and shadows are amazing.

    Which murals did you each prefer?

    • Juergen says:

      Thanks for enlightening us regarding the painting “The Milkmaid”. I had in the back of my mind that the original is a rather famous piece of classic art but didn’t know where to start looking… When it comes to choosing favourites I always have a hard time, particularly if (like here) there are so many different styles to choose from. I like the simplicity of this piece and the overall concept of the pub facade, which was impossible to capture in a single photo.

  2. What a great campsite! It’s absolutely beautiful and I really dig your rig, too!

  3. Anda says:

    Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! I love these murals, there is so much creativity and talent there. I would really love to find something like this to photograph.I especially like the one with the Gaucho drinking from his mate cup.

  4. San Gregorio is just packed with the most amazing murals. Keep them coming, I love examining each and everyone.

    • Juergen says:

      Then you will have to go and visit for yourself because we didn’t show every piece we found in San Gregorio… ;)

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