Tell someone you’re from Chicago, and there are questions you’re sure to hear. Cubs or Sox? Do you really put — or not put — ketchup on your hot dog? And what’s the deal with Bears fans anyway?
There are things that just scream “Chicago” no matter where you’re from. Jappy Agoncillo, a muralist from the Philippines who now lives in New York, splashed some of those symbolic images on a wall in Logan Square next to a “welcome to Chicago” mural that’s long been there.
“I thought: What if I could not overshadow that mural but complement it with something that would have the same spirit,” Agoncillo says. “I wanted both locals and tourists to come and see the mural and, even if it doesn’t say Chicago on it, feels like Chicago.”
The mural — created as part of the Titan Walls festival — replaced one that featured music legend Quincy Jones.
At the center of the new piece is a baseball player, fitted in Cubs’ blue and red. Below him, a bovine that will look familiar to Bulls fans peeks out.
And there’s a bear, inspired by the city’s pride and joy. No, not the football Bears but “The Bear.”
Agoncillo says he became obsessed with FX’s “The Bear” and how it presents Chicago to the world. The show, which follows a fictional Italian beef-joint-turned-Michelin-hopeful restaurant, was his “entry point into being so interested in Chicago.”
“It was, like, I want a bear in there because that’s what I understood about Chicago at that time,” Agoncillo says. “What connection does Chicago have to bears? Oh, that’s their football team.”
So he worked the team’s navy blue and orange colors into the background, too.
The visiting artist included some non-sports Chicago references, too. Flames seem to burst forth from the bottom of the mural — those represent the Great Chicago Fire. There’s a Teddy bear that resembles Chicago-raised rapper Ye’s “College Dropout” mascot and a hidden “3” for Chicago’s Chance the Rapper.
Agoncillo says he fell in love with the Chicago flag while he was in the city, calling it “the best-designed flag in the United States.” He scattered the flag’s four red stars throughout the mural, creating a kind of I-Spy for people to find them all.
Agoncillo says passersby offered mostly positive reactions, some pointing out images they recognized, though some were disappointed that the Quincy Jones mural was being covered up.
“That’s street art,” Agoncillo says.
Mateo Conner, co-founder and vice president of Muros, the company that puts on the Titan Walls festival, says it focuses mainly on Chicago-area artists but also brings in artists from around the world.
“I think it’s helpful not only to the city but also to the artists’ community here to have exposure to arts and culture from around the world,” Conner says. “We saw that as an opportunity, working with this artist specifically from the Philippines, based in New York, really coincided with the culture I see here.”
Agoncillo hopes to return to Chicago soon.
“I’m looking for any good reason to come back,” he says. “My friends are, like, ‘Oh you can move here, it’s like New York but cheaper.’ But it’s also like New York but colder.”
