A Bookish Mural Bringing Local Book Lovers Together in the Netherlands

Ever stared at a friend’s bookcase and decided there and then that they were your kind of person? Maybe they had all of your favorite books on there, or they were organized in such a way that just appealed to your bookish heart. Either way, it’s no secret that a person’s bookshelves say a lot about them.

So how would you feel if your bookcase was put out on display for all to see? Would you want to hide away? Or would you be happy to start a conversation about why you love the books you love, or, more importantly, why you hate the books you hate?

The Idea

The bookcase is inspired by the community and their books, so there is a range of texts present within the piece. There are books in eight different languages on the wall, as well as a couple of fakes. Both of the mural artists’ names appear in the art, as does the original smiley face!

The English titles on the shelf include:

• Sapiens
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
• The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime
• Pride and Prejudice
• The World According to Garp
• Jumper

Other titles include Fred, Jan Is De Man, Het Miselfe in De, De Bekeerlinge, Le Petit Prince, and Lampje.

The Artists

The two artists involved in this project were Jan Is De Man and Deef Feed. The two of them are Dutch street artists renowned for 3D interactive murals full of whimsy and heart — just like this. Jan Is De Man is particularly known for using an art technique known as trompe-l’oeil.

Trompe-l’oeil is French for ‘to deceive the eye’, and pieces of trompe-l’oeil art do exactly that. Just like Jan Is De Man’s work on this bookcase (and elsewhere), this style of art is designed to make us think we’re looking at the real thing. Almost like an illusion, it’s supposed to make us believe the art. Whilst we might not believe this one wholeheartedly purely because of the size of the mural, the shadows, the artistry and the work put into it definitely make it a believable-looking masterpiece!

Deef Feed, on the other hand, is a slightly smaller artist. He works as a photographer and tattoo artist, and a lot of his works are slightly less realistic, but just as interesting and creative. His tattoos, however, he uses to really show off his realism abilities with portraits, black and white realism, and incredible illusion pieces!

Other Bookish Murals

Utrecht is far from the only place with a bookish mural, though. As great as the Dutch art is, it’s one of many global bookshelf and bookish murals. In fact, you could do a World Tour of Books, if you wanted.

On your World Tour of Books, you’d have to take a trip to the City Library Parking Garage in Kansas, Missouri, USA. This building’s facade is covered with signboard Mylar and is home to art that showcases 22 book spines. The art measures around 25 feet long and 9 feet tall, and the books on it were chosen by Kansas City readers.

They include: Catch-22, Goodnight Moon, The Lord of The Rings, Winnie The Pooh, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Fahrenheit 451, Green Eggs and Ham, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Little House on the Prairie, O Pioneers!, Their Eyes Were Watching God, To Kill A Mockingbird, Invisible Man, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Charlotte’s Web, Romeo and Juliet, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Kansas City, Virgil Thomson, I Was Right On Time, Independence Avenue, Stella Louella’s Runaway Book and more.

You could then head over to Tyumen, Russia. There is the School gymnasium Building painted by Boris Nypomnyashshiy. After that, you’d need to head to The Municipal Library in Lyon, France, where there’s a 400 square meter mural on the facade of the building. You could head back toward the Netherlands after that, and take a look at The Bookcase in Amsterdam, made up of ceramic tiles to make it look like books!