A new ArtWorks mural by Detroit-based artist Louise "Ouizi" Jones is abloom at the corner of Seventh and Vine streets, on the side of downtown's adult store Hustler Hollywood. Backdropped by black, a bundle of flowers — orange, purple, white, green — sprawl across the brick wall.
Having begun work on the mural Sept. 23, it is expected to be completed by next week, depending on weather conditions, just in time for the anticipated light and art experience BLINK. (The work will not be lit up for the event.) In line with the block's nature-based imagery, Ouizi's work is just a glance away from "Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon" (at 15 E. Eighth St.).
Known for her large-scale floral murals across the world — she has work everywhere from her hometown of Detroit to Los Angeles, Chicago, Shanghai, China and Ljusdal, Sweden — her work draws from her background in drawing and printmaking, according to an ArtWorks release in which she cites painter George O'Keeffe as one of her inspirations.
Prior to this mural, a work depicting hot-pink silhouettes of two ladies sporting high heels, with purple smoke curling upward in the background, called the Hustler Hollywood-adjacent spot home. (RIP to two Queen City legends — gone but not forgotten.)
“We are excited to work at this location,” Tamara Harkavy, ArtWorks artistic director and CEO, says in the release. “We’ve wanted to have a mural on this wall for a long time. It is the main focal point to the community, and we felt Ouizi’s style and subject matter would complement our other mural on this block."
