Explore the cityscapes of Glasgow with local street artist Rogue Oner

“Buildings might change on the ground level but up here everything seems to be the way it was,” says Bobby. “Old chimneys, old tiling, various gargoyles and statues that you don’t see unless you look up.”

If you’ve ever set foot in the glorious city of Glasgow, you’ll know that the place is teeming with amazing street art, as well as having a rich history of the fine arts that fill its galleries. What you might not know is that we’re big arts fans at Native too, and you’ll see it in the way we decorate our aparthotels. We’ve already featured some of our brilliant Bankside artists, here, but we thought Native Glasgow deserved something just a little bit different.

We’ve long been devotees of Bobby McNamara, the graffiti street artist known as Rogue Oner. He’s one of the Glasgow’s most famous and beloved mural artists. In fact, if you’ve ever been stopped in your tracks by a huge, striking, unforgettable mural around town, it’s likely to be his. So, of course, we wanted a piece of the action.

After visiting Native Glasgow, Bobby created an incredible piece for us called Look Up, inspired by the joy of gazing upwards at the stunning Anchor Line Building, home of Native Glasgow. We asked him to paint it in one of our penthouses, where he could have the best view across the city, and Look Up encourages all our visitors to stop, take a moment and look up at the beautiful buildings of the city.

Bobby’s accustomed to attracting a crowd of awe-inspired fans as he works, so he was happy to talk to Native Glasgow guests while he created Look Up, answering questions about where he finds his inspiration.

“All sorts of things inspire me,” he said. “Music, culture, fashion and life. I love the culture that’s in the city between the music and clubbing. The architecture. Quirky wee things that makes you fall in love with it and enjoy it.”

We told Bobby that we wanted to inspire all our guests to wander the city and take in all its amazing street art. So, once he’d finished working on this fantastic new mural, he kindly agreed to give some Native Glasgow guests a local’s tour of the city.

Join us on our wander with Rogue Oner.

Native Glasgow – Art Wander with Rogueoner from Native on Vimeo.

Rogue Oner’s mural trail

Follow Rogue Oner’s mural trail and keep an eye out for some of our favourite spots to Look Up:

The World’s Most Economical Taxi

Start your tour Mitchell Street adjacent to Buchanan Street, where you’ll find this fantastic floating taxi. Fun fact – Rogue Oner actually painted on the brick wall effect behind the taxi. While you’re there, be sure to look out for Smug’s mural on the same street called Honey, I shrunk the kids.

Billy Connolly

Rogue Oner created the mural of much-loved Glaswegian comedian Billy Connolly to celebrate Billy’s 75th birthday back in 2017. You can find another of Rogue Oner’s Billy Connolly murals in Old Wynd Car park.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Rogue Oner, along with Art Pistol, created the mural of Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birthday. It looms over the Clutha & Victoria Bar at the end of Stockwell Street.

Crazy Cat Lady

The mural of 3 cats playing beneath the feet of ‘the Crazy Cat Lady’ can be found on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow city centre. It’s on the site for the former Victoria’s nightclub which burned down in 2018.

 

If street art is your thing, then why not check out People Make Glasgow’s city centre mural trail.

If you’d like to see ‘Look Up’ for yourself, you’ll find it in its current home at Platform at Argyle Street Arches.

Book a stay in the city of street art in our aparthotel on St Vincent Place.

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