A massive tiger pushes up off a boulder with its two front legs and looks back over his left shoulder with an open mouth, white-capped waves lapping at both the rock and his feet.
You can find that tiger as part of a mural at North California Avenue and West Altgeld Street in Logan Square. He was painted by muralist and tattoo artist Chris Orta, and the image stretches from just above street level to more than 20 feet in the air.
Orta’s mural was inspired by the Japanese imagery that he often incorporates in his tattoos, including three that he did for friend Eric Blanck, one of the chefs and co-owners of Jinsei Motto, the sushi restaurant that is relocating to the space from its previous home in the West Loop. The restaurant is expected to reopen in its new digs early next year.
As a sushi restaurant, the imagery seemed like a good fit.
“He’s always mentioned that if they do something like a restaurant he’d commission a mural, and it finally happened,” Orta says.
Orta, of Albany Park, is co-owner of Sunflower Tattoos in Avondale. He’s no stranger to murals, though. His work can be found in Humboldt Park, Pilsen, and in an alley off State Street in the Loop, among other places.
For this tiger, “it’s all spray paint and a ladder,” chuckles Orta, who used a tall rung ladder to reach the top of the tiger that stretches about one-and-a-half stories into the air. He painted the entire mural over a few days in November. “It was kinda sketchy at first, but it worked out.”
Orta encouraged Blanck and Blanck’s partner, fellow chef and co-owner Patrick Bouaphanh, to use a neutral palate to match the more reserved personality of the other buildings on the block. As a result, the tiger is illustrated in shades of gray, black, beige and soft red.
“It’s a beige building, It’s also on a very popular corner. I told them it’d be nicer if we did something a little more muted,” Orta says. “I wanted it to blend in a little bit more so you would have to look twice to know what you’re looking at.”
The rising tiger, Orta said, stands for rising up, which Blanck and Bouaphanh say is exactly what they want for their restaurant.
“We were like, ‘Yes, that’s amazing.’ It’s a huge statement — literally, huge,” Blanck says.
Bouaphanh says, “Chris was like, ‘Yeah, the tiger is going upward.’ That means strength and courage. It signifies long life, all the things that we want to embody.”
For Orta, the mural goes beyond the restaurant. He always thinks about how a mural will contribute to the neighborhood as well as the business before he paints it, he says. He thinks of the pedestrians and motorists who will pass by and take it in, maybe feel inspired.
“The fact that that’s there on such a busy corner means there’s definitely going to be some young person who’s going to be like, ‘Damn dude, I want to do something like that one day.’”
As for the final product, Orta says. “I’m stoked. I’m super stoked.”
