Arnold's Bar and Grill

About This Location

Established in 1861, Arnold' Bar and Grill is located on Eighth street, between Main and Sycamore. It frequently wins Cincinnati Magazine's Best of the City award. Is a friendly spot with decent prices, live music and has a great the outdoor courtyard. During lunch time, be sure to try one of the char grilled sandwiches. If you visit in the evening, try the Guiness Swiss Steak. Note that Arnold's closed Sunday.

About the Mural

The larger image on the left of the mural is from Global Warning, originally released in late 2009. In it, a woman holds a copy of another of Fairey' work Sun Paper. It's an excellent example of Fairey's more recent work. His early work was ambiguously political, this is much more clear.

The collage of images on the right includes two images from his RISE ABOVE series: Rise Above Fist (which is also the title of his show at the CAC) and M16 vs AK47. This series focused on rising above violence and towards a revolutionary peace. Also included are Your Eyes Here and Eye Alert Cream. Fairey created them as a statement about his disappointment in the healthcare system in the U.S., which is more focused on money than saving lives. Jasper Johns Red which celebrates Johns, one of the first American contemporary artists who began using popular culture references in the 50's and 60' in his work. Finally, there is a version of Fairey's more traditional work, Propaganda Engineering.

While this mural is more political than most of his work, it still is an example of a theme that runs through Fairey's work: encouraging viewers to question the motives of our political and commercial authorities.