Mul is a graphic designer and street artist from Newcastle. He studied graphic design at Northumbria University and is one of the most well-known (and loved) muralists in the North East. His art brightens up buildings, walls, and even pavements (have a look at his floor mural on the quayside!) all across Newcastle, the UK and Europe.
Mul is probably most famous for his Running Hearts series, begun in 2020. Near the Tyne Bar is one of these murals with the caption ‘Young Hearts Run Free’, inspired by the disco song. He created it as a “gesture toward joy within a period of uncertainty [lockdown]”, while displaying his ‘DiscoVibes’ style and nodding to one of his main inspirations, music. Another piece depicting music’s importance to Mul lies above the Dog & Parrot, quite well-known by students, with Bowie lyrics and signature lightning bolt, representing the sort of music you often find inside.
On the wall of what was restaurant Peace and Loaf is Mul’s favourite of all his murals, Peace & Love. Another on the corner of Guildford Place has text ‘I’m a dreamer’ and ‘from Heaton with love’, likely fairly personal due to Mul’s High Heaton roots.
One of Mul’s most impressive works (though it is nearly impossible to pick!) has to be the phenomenal two-tier mural outside the Baltic. Here he not only has his Running Heart characters, but also depicts the newer Disco Ball character (with text ‘the music sounds better with you’—honouring disco and music once more). Painting this was probably a full-circle moment, as one of Mul’s major inspirations was the Baltic’s first ever street art exhibition, Spank the Monkey, featuring work from big names like Invader and Banksy.
So, take a walk around Newcastle to see Mul’s uplifting artwork full of psychedelic colours, ‘DiscoVibes’ and fun patterns.