Fall of Icarus

The Fall of Icarus is an allegorical mural of Los Angeles painted by John Wehrle in 1978 at the end of Market Street. The work posits a deserted drive in theater with an onscreen apparition of an astronaut floating upside down near the planet Mars. This magical daytime projection is being observed by a couple of Cowboys and several Angels. Prescient in its desert LA landscape setting, the painting features the Art Deco Design Marquee from the local Fox Venice Theater. The artist admits to a certain influence from Pieter Bruegal “ I intended Icarus to be a metaphor for the City of Angels at a time of denouement following a period of social change. Los Angeles is, of course, a desert, and generally under populated by angels…”

The work was funded by a special projects grant from the California Arts Council. Permission was obtained from Fern Violette, the building owner and Carl Borack, a film producer, her tenant. During this same year, Terry Schoonhoven was painting his solo magnum Opus on the opposite wall facing Windward Avenue.

The Fall of Icarus was executed in oils using glazing techniques, layering thin transparent colors over underpainting. The color was brilliant at first, but unfortunately linseed oil binder reacts chemically to sunlight, fading and peeling, and the painting was doomed from its inception. In subsequent works the Artist used more permanent materials, notably Keim Silicate paint and some of those have fared better. Icarus held up well for 10 years before it was tagged; an early graffiti, “fifth and hill” applied with a brush, before aerosols spray cans became the taggers choice. By then Wehrle was living and working primarily in Northern CA, and was not present to witness the slow demise and eventual obliteration. Popular in its day the work was featured in several films, notably Agnes Varda’s poetic mural documentary, MurMur. The work survives today only in photographs and a memorial plaque on Venice Boardwalk.Unfortunately the mural has since been destroyed. Photo © John Wehrle