The Blue Nile By Charles McGee

The People Mover’s only true painting presents McGee's Noah's Ark theme executed in an African style. The colorful, unpredictable mural features eclectic configurations of people, animals, and abstract elements with an unusual surface treatment using outdoor enamel paints and other components.

This artist is a painter but he could not paint on canvas because canvas would not hold up to the weather and temperature changes. Instead of canvas, he chose alucabond (pronounced A-luke-a-bond). Alucabond is actually a very strong, long-lasting material used on the outside of buildings. It’s two very thin sheets of aluminum with plastic sandwiched in between. For paint, he chose industrial enamel. The artist is expressing that all living things are equal – from the smallest insect to man himself. Notice the “newspaper hat” on one of the figures in the painting. Mr. McGee also works in collage. Collage is an art form where actual materials and objects are pasted onto a surface. However, a real collage would most likely not stand up to extreme weather conditions. So, even though the hat looks like a real piece of newspaper, it actually is painted on.

Funded by: The Hudson Webber Foundation, City of Detroit, Detroit People Mover Art Commission