Photos: the evolution of a massive HENSE mural at Midtown’s Icon tower

Atlanta’s tallest recent sky-rise nears finish, with goal of being colorful gateway to city’s arts district.

By Josh Green@JoshGreen1234 Nov 15, 2017, 4:12pm EST

Photo of Hense mural happening in Midtown Atlanta. — A rapidly changing 14th Street.

Atlanta’s biggest, boldest, public-art statement in recent memory is a wrap. For the most part.

At Icon Midtown, Atlanta’s tallest new tower in a decade, the muralist HENSE has completed an untitled piece that measures 86 feet tall and 65 feet wide. For a 3-D effect, circular aluminum panels dot the work—spanning up to 24 feet themselves—and will be backlit to produce a glow.

HENSE, aka Alex Brewer, was a prolific Atlanta graffitist who transitioned to mural and gallery work and now claims commissions around the world.

Lording over West Peachtree and 14th streets, his first piece to incorporate lighting is an array of geometric abstracts that nods to his recent sculptural work.

“It’s exciting just to work on a commission of this scale—and a project that’s frankly changing the feel of the city here,” Brewer said on site last month. “It’s not something you do every day.”

The $118-million venture is Florida-based Related Development’s first foray into Georgia. Upscale Icon will offer 390 apartments ranging from studios up three-bedrooms flats (from 601 to 1,478 square feet). Rents, we’re told, are still being finalized.

“I’ve always seen this as the gateway to [Atlanta’s] arts district and Piedmont Park, so we tried to incorporate art,” said Ed Allen, Related’s senior vice president of development. “The building is sculptural itself.”

Allen expects the 39-story project to wrap in early 2018, with a highly anticipated Whole Foods (and pub) at Spring and 14th streets. Elsewhere, a 4,000-square-foot restaurant slot will be situated along West Peachtree. The site was formerly two surface parking lots.

Lighting elements are pending, but the final paint strokes were applied to the HENSE mural within the past week. Here’s how the two-month project came together: