A Fresh Look at Michael’s Mural

Three months ago, on this same page, you read news about a mural of Michael that the creator couldn’t find a place to install. But now, after Michael’s death, things have changed.

Kent Twitchell had been working on Michael’s mural for three years, but he couldn’t find a wall to hang it on. The mural is 48.30 meters long and 29.18 meters wide, and it was created in the early 1990s. In April, Kent Twitchell barely managed to place his gigantic Michael Jackson mural on the walls and floor of the Luke Gallery in Los Angeles and display it. But visitors had to pass by the mural’s huge, multi-part sections before reaching the work he created of Steve McQueen.

Now, the manager of the Luke Gallery, Jerry Lewy, says his phone keeps ringing. Some people are looking to buy Michael’s mural, while others ask when the next showing will be. And now it’s no longer Twitchell’s turn to keep potential buyers under observation. He says:

“It’s good that this mural is finally getting sorted out. But I don’t want to start acting like a street vendor, finding buyers and making this piece look cheap and low-value. I’m an artist, not a dealer.”

At first, the mural was intended to be installed on the wall of the historic El Capitan Theatre building in Hollywood, and Michael and Twitchell worked on it for three years. But in 1993, the installation of the mural was canceled, and Twitchell was never told the reason. However, he suspects that the accusations made against Michael that year were the cause.

Twitchell remembers Michael: “The nicest man in the whole world. Realistic. Not at all pretentious or arrogant.”

This mural is a depiction of Michael in the outfit from Smooth Criminal. For this mural, Twitchell took more than one hundred photos of him in that outfit in different poses. At first, Michael wanted to wear a black leather outfit for the photo sessions, but Twitchell told him he wanted the mural to be in the style of 1930s Hollywood, and Michael agreed: “Ah, okay. I understand.” That was Michael’s answer to Twitchell. He called him Twitchell.

The preparations were done at Neverland, Michael’s former home. Kent went there 5 or 6 times, and there he talked with Michael about music and art, and played with the animals at Neverland. He then took Michael to a studio in Hollywood so he could get more photos of him.

“I asked Michael to spin so that the tail of his coat would stay suspended in the air, and I could take his picture. I wanted to capture a great hunting scene.”

Michael promised Twitchell that his mural would be the best work he had ever created in his life. Twitchell says the colors he used in this mural are the most original and the best among his works.

Source: eMJey / AP