Parting Shot: Do You See What I See?

If you happen to be walking down Main Street in Los Gatos, Calif., and come to a building with a gaping hole in it, don’t panic. It is the work of trompe l’oeil artist John Pugh, titled “Siete Punto Uno” (7.1). Originally commissioned by the city as a public art piece, it took on a whole new meaning after the 7.1 scale earthquake that rocked the area in 1989. “The Loma Prieta earthquake certainly inspired a different direction and concept for the piece,” said Pugh. The finished work illustrates a wall crumbling to reveal a sacrificial altar block with two Mayan jaguar gods (thought to be the propitiators of earthquakes) morphed with the images of the two cats of Los Gatos. A “woman” peers around the hole left in the wall.

Web Exclusive: Click the thumbnails below to see a before and after of Pugh’s most recent work, “Mana Nalu” in Honolulu, Hawaii.