Some of you may recall a comment I made about the first picture posted below, that due to a bunch of guys hanging out in front of the store, I was unable to get a picture of the mural on the front of it and took one of the side instead (below). Well, we tried again on Sunday, and most of the group was gone, so I managed to get this drive-by shot. We also went past it again, when I snapped a not-so-good pic of a mallard mural on the other side through trash cans, fences and a car. Will (maybe) post that one later.

According to The Washington Post: “A tiny corner store called Friendly Food Market is one of the most photographed bodegas in the city thanks to the bright mural that wraps around the building. The vibrant artwork is from Eric B. Ricks, who immigrated to the area from Liberia as a teenager.

“The piece, ‘Love Supreme,’ involves several elements. A black-and-white swirl [partially shown below] representing the neighborhood’s racial divide turns into vibrant colors. There’s a circular mandala, standing for the community’s spiritual cleansing — a call to remember the past, respect the present and hope for the future. The girl represents all of us, he says, and the lotus flower stands for the beauty that arises out of mud, a charge Ricks hopes defines the neighborhood. There’s a duck [out of view here] and a window Ricks calls the 'delusion of grandeur,' depicting a girl with a Nationals ticket peeking from her front pocket [very hard to see but it’s there]. While she slips out to the store, the Nationals win the World Series — an amusing vision given the Nationals’ real-life World Series win [that] year. These elements together form a single piece, bringing a gallery to the people, making art accessible to all.”

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly
unsharp.

'Love Supreme,' aka the Friendly Food Market mural:



‘Birdsong,’ posted earlier: