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'David Bowie 7 Times'. Painted for Boomtown Brewery, Los Angeles.
I was painting live at a small concert in Los Angeles, when a man walked up to me and said that he would love it if I would paint something for his soon to be opening taproom in downtown Los Angeles. About a week later I visited the site, which was still under construction, I designated my favorite wall and after coming up with a few blueprints we greenlighted this David Bowie concept. One day while preparing to work on the wall, my eyes happened upon a discarded buzzsaw blade laying on the ground gathering rust. With a bolt of inspiration I thought I should install fresh buzzsaw blades on all three Ziggy Stardust foreheads, instead of the painted circles I was planning.
This was the first commercial commission I had been invited to produce and was also the largest project I had done to date. The mural is 30 feet long and 11 feet high, and is still running strong to this day. It has become a well known feature of Boomtown Brewery and is routinely photographed and tagged on their social accounts. One thing to note, is that the work, having been painted on very rough stucco, will take on differing qualities throughout the day and looks very different when shot in the morning versus when viewed at night with all the brewery lighting hitting it. Below you will see a photo that captured it's full length, shot just before it's completion. - Richard Arthur
A collection of some of our favorite public art projects over the years. We can't wait to add you to our gallery of clients! To access more info about each mural, you may click the images or the button beneath each image.
A gallery of some of our favorite standalone artworks. All of the works exhibited here have been acquired or exist in private collections. Included in this gallery you will find a commissioned portrait of former US president Barack Obama with blue neon, which was featured in the October, 2021 issue of Architectural Digest.
'Medusa Three Times' - Painted for Kryon Gallery, Amsterdam. 2017.
I took a trip to Amsterdam in the summer of 2017, with no particular itinerary. I happened upon a gallery situated between Rembrandtplein and the Amstel canal. I offered to paint the owner a small mural if she would cover production costs and lodging, and she agreed...the gallery became my temporary home. I installed neon works and color gels, transforming the entire gallery space for what was to be my first ever solo show. The 'Medusa' wall was painted using Montana spraypaint in fluorescent pink, silverchrome and acrylic. This was painted directly to the smooth plaster of the gallery wall and was situated in the front facing window. It had an ultra-temporary lifespan , and was to run for only as many months as the gallery remained open, which was only a month or two after I returned home to the US. - Richard Arthur
Here you will see examples of small portraits done in graphite on toned paper. This was a series created to survive the economics of the 2020 era. After renowned actress Selma Blair shared the portrait I had done of her son Arthur, the series went mini-viral on instagram story shares and I wound up doing over 500 of these for clients all across the country. I am still occasionally commissioned to do these, mostly for return clients, though my focus has shifted to the production of large scale projects. - Richard Arthur
'Carmen's Marfa Hotel'. Marfa, Texas. 2024.
In the early spring of 2024 I was invited to design a concept for the facade of Carmen's Boutique Hotel in Marfa, Texas. I approached this project with the concept that I was wrapping the whole building in West Texas themed gift wrap. Each wall was painted with it's own unique motif, the largest of the three walls being the street facing entrance wall...which is approximately 60 feet long and was painted with a singular white Stetson cowboy hat, repeated in varying sizes across the entire wall. The client requested a portrait of her mother, the building's namesake and former owner of the location during its former life as a beloved local restaurant. - Richard Arthur
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'Obama with Blue Neon'
A commissioned 'Floating Head' for iconic fashion figure, Law Roach. Law and I became acquainted through a mutual friend and collector of my early work. This work was featured in the October Issue of Architectural Digest, in an article featuring the home Law had recently purchased and renovated. Below the featured photo you'll find a link to that story on AD's website. Spraypaint and acrylic and shaped panel with glass tubes and blue neon gas. Los Angeles, 2021.
'Pink Triangle Number One'
Wood panel canvas, spraypaint, acrylic, glass tubes and pink neon gas. Produced in 2013 while I was in London. This was one of two works created as a conceptual show pitch for Storm Model Management. This work appears to be floating in space, an effect which was achieved by installing the work on a panel of white fiberglass. We carved a hole through the panel to conceal the wire, which gives the work an appearance of levitating on its own. Spraypaint and acrylic on shaped wood panel with glass tubes and pink neon gas. London, 2013.
'Cupid Rekindling The Torch of Hymen '
This was a private commission for a television producer in Beverly Hills. This work is based on a marble sculpture of the same name by 20th Century English sculptor George Rennie. I had seen the work in person while in London on a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Something of note in this work is that the head of the taller figure (Hymen) was custom built to extend beyond the rectangular frame of the wood panel canvas it is painted on. Spraypaint, acrylic and wood stain on birch panel canvas. Los Angeles, 2018.
'Silver Line Mural' for The Concourse Project. Austin, Texas 2024.
Owners of the Austin, Texas dance music venue 'The Concourse Project' happened upon my artwork for Carmen's Hotel on their visit to Marfa. We happened to run into each other at a local restaurant the same day, and shortly thereafter they approached me to paint this minimalist concept that spanned the length of three shipping containers. The idea was to paint a single silver line that referred to industrial signage. I flew to Austin and created a concept loosely referencing the design aesthetics of Manchester, UK record label Factory Records, whose art director Peter Saville made use of industrial signage in almost all of the label's packaging and also for the interior of the legendary Hacienda Club. At the client's request, I painted 5 oversized safety-yellow warning glyphs. This mural was completed in 4 days as the stage sets were being built all around me. I wrapped this project mere hours before thousands of concertgoers poured in for 'Seismic Dance Event' 2024. I stayed on in Austin an extra day so I could watch electronica legends 'Orbital' perform. A very fun... very strange project. - Richard Arthur
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'Green Triangle Number Two'
Produced in 2013 while I was in London. This was one of two works created as a conceptual show pitch for Storm Model Management. This work appears to be floating in a black space, an effect which was achieved by installing the work on a panel of black marlite, a kind of material used in set design. We carved a hole through the panel to conceal the wire, which gives the work an appearance of levitating on its own. Wood panel canvas, spraypaint, acrylic, black glitter, glass tubes and green neon gas. London, 2013.
About BASECOAT
Basecoat Design Group is known for producing bold, contemporary, site-specific mural projects intended to integrate seamlessly with architectural environments and complement brand identity. Projects are produced in close collaboration with each client. Basecoat Design Group aims to enhance the visual aesthetics of commercial spaces with mural projects that result in highly marketable engagement conversion through social media tagging and posting. Murals are 'site specific', which means that each project is designed with careful consideration of the given architecture, how light fills the interior space or hits an exterior wall, what kind of colors and shapes best fit with the geography of the location, the cultural history of the surrounding land and it's features. All of these aspects lend themselves to our mural design process.
Founder - Richard Arthur
I am a Southern California born artist and designer whose artwork evokes a stylistic parallel to mid century American Pop Art while simultaneously drawing aesthetic inspiration from the 'Light and Space' movement, whose artists abandoned the square canvas altogether in favor of utilizing light and shape as the primary media. My commercial art practice is focused on 'site-specific' mural making.
I painted my first mural in the year 2013, during a visit to the art soaked avenues of Brighton, UK. A local artist said I should try to paint my own wall, so I did. After that trip I returned home to Los Angeles, and began to produce concepts for large public art projects. I approach mural making with one important conceptual influence inspired by the artist Robert Irwin, in that I tailor each artwork for the site as it is given, allowing the unique qualities of each location to inform the direction of the design.
I now live and work in Marfa,Texas, producing large painted artworks on custom shaped panels which fuse fine art painting techniques with industrial design, elements of abstraction and neon light fixtures.
'Floating Head Number 7'
This work is part of an ongoing series of works titled 'Floating Heads', painted artworks on silhouette shaped panels, which are outfitted with neon lighting and require special installation to conceal all electrical wires. This work is shaped in the silhouette of the painter Jean Michel Basquiat. Custom shaped Baltic birch, housepaint and spraypaint, glass tubes and pink neon gas. Completed in Marfa, Texas. 2025.
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