Restaurants Murals
City of Liverpool Mural at Taco Bell
More information about this mural can be found on the Liverpool City murals page.
Spice City Mural
Paul worked on two murals in his local curry house, Spice City. The murals were of two Indian girls dancing in front of the Taj Mahal.
MATRIMONIO ALL'ITALIANA
Marriage, italian style
A mural paying tribute to the 1964 classic Italian film by Vittorio De Sica starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The mural is at The Italian Club Restaurant on Bold Street, Liverpool.
The film is a 1964 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Set during the World War II era, the film follows a cynical but successful 28-year-old businessman named Domenico (Marcello Mastroianni), who, after meeting a naive 17-year-old country girl, Filumena (Sophia Loren), during a bombing outside a Neapolitan brothel, starts an on-again, off-again relationship spanning 22 years.
From the very beginning, Filumena is deeply in love with Domenico, but her love is not reciprocated. After Filumena expresses her wish to be solely his woman, Domenico arranges a leased home for her, with Rosalie as a maid and Alfredo (Aldo Puglisi) as the butler, and arranges a job for her in his shop. He eventually takes her into his house as a semi-official mistress under the pretence that she is the niece of Carmela (his mother's former maid) there to take care of his ailing, senile mother. Domenico's mindset about Filumena's past keeps him from taking their relationship seriously.
After having fallen for the 20-year-old cashier in his store, Domenico (now 50) plans to marry her. But he finds himself cornered when Filumena feigns illness and, while "on her deathbed", asks him to marry her. Thinking she will be dead in a matter of hours and the marriage won't even be registered, he agrees. After having been proclaimed his legal bride, the shrewd and resourceful Filumena drops the charade of feigning death. This sends Domenico into a fit of rage, as he feels that Filumena tricked him for his money. But Filumena reveals the real reason for the marriage: she did it for the three children that she bore (Umberto, Riccardo, and Michele). As the children were coming of age, she wanted them to have Domenico's family name.
Domenico won't accept this and decides to contest the marriage. The law rules in his favour and the marriage is annulled. Filumena accepts the annulment but tells Domenico that he had fathered one of the children. She does not say which one, as she considers all of them equal. However, she gives him a hint that his child was conceived on the night Domenico said "to pretend we are in love" and gave her a 100-lira note on which she wrote the date of that night. She gives that note to Domenico. Domenico is visibly rattled by this revelation but can't solve the clue.
Domenico tries desperately to figure out which child he had fathered. He visits the children at their workplace and tries other means but hits a dead end.
He meets up with Filumena and tries to force an answer out of her but she reveals nothing more. As a last resort, Domenico decides to confront the children directly, but Filumena vehemently opposes this, as the prospect of Domenico's money would drive a wedge between the children. As they scuffle, they tumble down and fall into each other's arms. The couple then proclaims their love for each other with a kiss and decides to remarry.
At the church, the boys wait, and Domenico arrives. Domenico mentions that, because he will be marrying their mother, he will give them his name. He continues to prod them for clues but again comes out with nothing, as they each share some of his traits. Filumena rushes in; Domenico, smiling with joy, tells her how wonderful she looks, and the marriage takes place. Back at home, the sons bid their mother goodnight. As the boys, one after another, say goodnight to their father, Domenico, he smiles broadly at this and says that he will see them tomorrow. Filumena sits and weeps with joy at this. When Domenico asks why she is crying, she states that it feels wonderful to cry.
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Gina Lollobrigida Mural
This is Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida. She was at her height during the golden age of Italian cinema in the 1950s.
"Gina was so glamorous and beautiful, she was a joy to paint. I did this commission for Italian Club Restaurant on Bold Street Liverpool (on the nightshift due to the restaurant opening hours!)."
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Campari Bottles
Making some roller shutters look a bit brighter for the Italian Club Bakery. Doing straight lines on this surface was a challenge for Paul.
This was completed in July 2018, the first mural Paul did for the Italian Club chain.
Campari prints now available to purchase
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Mas House Mural
The girl from Agra mural was painted at Mas House Indian Restaurant shortly after the restaurant opened. Not all of Paul's work is large-scale, but often the smaller ones like this one are Paul's favourite types of murals. Despite being small, this really pops out on the street.
Giant Squid Mural
A striking and unique mural of a giant squid (or is it an octopus) covering a wall in Cargo Restaurant on the Liverpool waterfront. The monochrome black and white effect keeps it bold and maximises its impact. The way the tentacles reach around the serving hatch is a nice touch!
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GPO Mural
This mural celebrates the golden days of (land line) telephones and the postal service. A somewhat bygone age that holds a romanticism of a simpler time.
GPO Liverpool is part of the MET Quarter mall. The GPO section of the mall holds the food court and bars within the shopping centre.
GPO stands for General Post Office. The MET Quarter mall is sited in a historic building which originally served as the main postal office and telephone exchange for Merseyside, England. This historic link made the obvious choice for the inspiration of the artwork.
The centre of the mural is how the building originally looked when constructed in 1899 and was known as Custom House. It was an amazing piece of gothic architecture. Sadly, in WW2, the Nazis bombed Liverpool extensively in the blitz and this building lost its 2 upper floors, which were never rebuilt. So it is nice that customers can now see how the building would have looked in its prime.
The background of the mural consists of an old fashioned telephone exchange switchboard. If you are keen eyed, there is a code hidden in the top line of the numbers which no one has noticed yet.
On either side of the central building, there is a nod to both the postal service and the telephone exchange. The postal service is represented by a sorting office and an old red post-box. The telephone exchange is represented by a telephone operator (who looks a little like the actress, Maxine Peake) and a bright red, analogue, candlestick phone.
The mural was completed in June 2021 by Paul Curtis.
Giant Octopus Mural
Octopuses are a popular choice of mural it seems. The monochrome method used here gives it such a bold appearance. The great thing about them is that the legs give you a bit of freedom when painting, so you can choose how best to fill the space.
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Giant Kraken Attack Mural
A monochrome depiction of a giant Kraken attacking an old wooden galleon and ripping it in two. It's a brooding black and white mural that works well the grey and blue marine style décor of the restaurant.
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Captain Nemo Nautilus Mural
Captain Nemo's Nautilus from Jules Verne's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea - as depicted in the classic Disney Film. Completed at Cargo Restaurant on the Liverpool Waterfront.
"Achieving the underwater look is more difficult than it looks, particularly when painting black and white. The addition of fish and seaweed helped, as did the ripple reflections on the top of the submarine."