By Colossal Media, the New York crew that paints giant ads by hand, has started a GTA 6 mural in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on the corner of Wythe Avenue and North 11th Street. For now it’s a pencil outline on a white wall with a lift parked underneath, but the picture is already readable: Jason and Lucia from the artwork on GTA 6’s vinyl album.
What’s on the wall so far
Photos of the wall started going around on October 1. Here’s what’s known:
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Where | Wythe Ave and N 11th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York |
| Who | Colossal Media, a company that paints outdoor ads by hand |
| Stage | Pencil outline on a primed white wall, no colour yet |
| Picture | Jason and Lucia from the art on the GTA 6 vinyl, with palm trees around them |
On the wall you can make out a man on the left, a woman on the right with her hands raised, palm leaves at the edges and the outline of big lettering between them. Put it next to the inside of the vinyl’s gatefold sleeve and the figures line up: Jason standing, Lucia on the hood of a red car. Blood Records sells its edition of the album with the same art as a poster.
Painted, not printed
Colossal is a Brooklyn company that still does billboards the old way, with brushes and rollers from a lift. A wall like this usually starts as a drawing transferred at full size, often with perforated paper patterns and chalk dust, and then the crew fills it in colour by colour. The pencil stage is what you’re looking at in the photos.
Rockstar and Colossal go back years. Rockstar was one of the company’s early clients: a first GTA wall drew crowds of people taking pictures, and after that Colossal painted street-level GTA ads across Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Hand-painted GTA walls are a New York tradition by now, and Rockstar itself is a New York studio.
As a tech artist I’m curious about one thing in particular. The vinyl art is a flat illustration with soft pink and purple gradients. On a screen that’s one click, but on brick you have to fake those gradients with paint, by hand, at the size of a building. That’s the part I want to see when the colour goes on.
Vice City in New York
This is the third time GTA 6 has turned up in public space in a couple of weeks. The album took over a screen in Times Square, and a Welcome to Vice City sign went up on the roof of Miami’s arena. The screen is gone in a minute and the sign is for Miami. The wall in Brooklyn will stay up for weeks, and you’ll be able to walk past it on your way to get a coffee, which is exactly how a city ad should work.
FAQ
Where is the GTA 6 mural in New York?
In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on the corner of Wythe Avenue and North 11th Street.
Who is painting the GTA 6 mural?
Colossal Media, a Brooklyn company that paints outdoor ads by hand and has worked with Rockstar on earlier GTA walls.
What does the GTA 6 mural show?
Judging by the outline, Jason and Lucia from the artwork on the GTA 6 vinyl album, with palm trees and big lettering.
When will the GTA 6 mural be finished?
There’s no date. On October 1 it was still a pencil outline, so the colour should go on in the coming days.