Feather patterns and color play a significant role in determining the beauty of a particular bird. Complex patterns and brighter color usually mean the bird is considered more beautiful and appreciated. This is why pigeons, which have overwhelming grey color, are often unfairly left out of this conversation.
But there are some people who are willing to look past the grey surface and uncover the beauty beneath it. One of them is Los Angeles-based street artist Adele Renault.
Renault deeply appreciates the rich colors and astonishing patterns that the iridescence of pigeon’s feathers offers. As a matter of fact, she is so fascinated by it that she dedicated a whole series of giant murals, titled Gutter Paradise, to pigeons.
At first glance, her colorful street art looks like a representation of an exotic bird. But Renault actually paints plumage of pigeon feathers “zoomed in”, capturing all intricate color transitions that might slip past most people.
“I started zooming in more and more on the neck feathers until a ‘detail’ became the main subject. That’s how this series was born,” she shared in a recent interview.
Renault’s astonishing murals from the Gutter Paradise series managed to find a home in various parts of the world, including United Kingdom, South Korea, and multiple cities in the United States. Check more of them below.
