Portrait of Perry Kohu

Located in the Steeple Lane between 110 and 114 Maunganui Road. It faces the epic work by Cracked Ink.

Created for the 2017 Street Print Mauao Festival

Montreal-based artist, Kevin Ledo is known for his artistic practices that have crossed back and forth through the boundaries of mural, street art, fine art, and art installation, focusing on the human form interlaced with geometric abstraction.

Ledo created this portrait of Perry Kohu, Ngai Tamarawaho Kaumatua and deputy chairman of the Otamataha Trust.

On his Facebook Page this is what Ledo say about this piece:

“My mural for Street Prints Mauao in New Zealand! Depicting Perry Kohu, a Maori elder who is a leader in the community, and one who welcomed us to Mount Maunganui with a traditional opening ceremony on the top of the mountain at sunrise. Perry does a lot for the community and fought hard and sacrificed a lot for the treaties to be respected, and land be given back to his people. By pure coincidence I had his 3 grandkids help me with this wall, Ma, Aniku and Tai, and they were so excited to have him depicted in his town, and felt he really deserved a monument to him.

This mural is anamorphic, which means it only really works from this particular angle, in order for passersby to see it from the sidewalk. If viewed from straight on, the image is massively stretched out. As you can see the lines which I like to imagine as water, relatively maintain the same weight as the building shrinks in perspective. This was the first time I tried an anamorphic mural, and it was a good challenge in the end.”

Information from Kevin’s Facebook page.