By Sarah Curran
WHERE has Gary Lightbody gone? And what will replace his mural?
These are the questions being asked by the people of Bangor after the much-loved mural of the Snow Patrol frontman was re-sprayed in preparation of a new image.
Johnny Hamilton, known as Jossiepops, is well-known for his pop culture murals across the city, which he says are a part of his masterplan to ‘make Bangor great again’.
Back in 2024, the artist unveiled his painting of Bangor man and musician Gary Lightbody, at the side of Hamilton Morris Waugh’s building on Dufferin Avenue.
For the last two years the famous local face has attracted visitors near and far, creating conversation.
However, Lightbody has disappeared from the gable wall along Dufferin Avenue and replaced with a question mark, as new work gets underway on a new mural.
Battling against the summer showers, artist Johnny was cryptic about the replacement mural, saying he hoped to spark conversation about what his newest creation might be.
“This is a masterplan going on here – I can’t say much,” Johnny said.
Asking people to ‘stay tuned’, he continued: “You probably will pick up pretty quickly, or you might not, what’s going up on the wall because it is slightly different to what I would normally do.”
Giving breadcrumb clues, Johnny said his newest piece would be ‘a bit more abstract’ and may not be a portraiture – which is what he is usually known for with his murals.
Over the last few years he has sprayed onto walls the faces of Frodo Baggins from The Lord of The Rings, local Olympian Rhys McClenaghan, author Colin Bateman and actor Liam Neeson.
He recently put out a call looking for a gable wall to spray golfing legend Rory McIlroy, driving speculation that the professional golfer would be replacing singing legend Lightbody.
But, Johnny has quashed this rumour and says he is still on the lookout for a space to honour the sporting legend.
Speaking about the new mural, he continued: “It should get to a point where it is pretty obvious to people who know what it is. It is all very cryptic.”
Johnny said he will be using the full size of the wall this time for his new painting, with a boom lift ordered for next week, to help him reach new heights.
In the meantime, he will be working on the bottom half of the image, teasing the people of Bangor with what it might be.
“It will be obvious when it is obvious – if that makes sense,” Johnny laughed.
He continued: “There has been a bit of stirring in the usual Bangor Facebook groups, asking what has happened to it and I have had loads of people down torturing me about taking away Gary. It seems to have been a much loved piece so hopefully I do it proud on this one.”
As a ‘massive’ Snow Patrol fan, Johnny said he would miss Lightbody but was excited to get people talking, good or bad, about his new mural.
“Art is subjective, so people will have their different views on it, but in a way that is what I am doing with my art anyway. It’s a talking point. I want people to talk about the art, whether it is good or bad I don’t really care because that is their view on it and everyone is entitled to their opinion,” he said.
“It will be interesting with this one to see if it gets people talking or not.”
