The Elusive Senegalese Sign Painter and a Lost Mural Artwork
Johan Hugo and David Darg’s side quest to find and commission Dakar barber shop sign painter JUL.
Back before Covid, Johan Hugo was working on an EP, a collaboration between Mumford & Sons, Baaba Maal, and Maggie Rogers. This took him to Senegal where, alongside David Darg, he wanted to create a unique piece of cover artwork. The resulting side quest gave the pair some special memories, shared here with thanks to Johan.
Johan and David are both long-time sign afficionados, each with collections of hand-painted work from their travels across the world.
Some of Johan’s sign collection, including numerous West African barber shop signs. (If you can track down a copy, then Ici Bon Coiffeur (1992) by Jean-Marie Leratby is deep dive into these barber shop signs.)
Having visited the Senegalese capital Dakar many times before, the pair had developed a fascination with a particular set of barber shop signs they saw there. These were signed with the name ‘JUL’ and their idea for the EP artwork was to commission a piece by this sign painter. But to do that, they’d have to find him.
Barber shop signs by JUL in Dakar, Senegal.
They searched high and low, asked in barber shops, and sent friends out across the city to try and locate the elusive sign painter. Calls to the phone number that sometimes appeared alongside the signature went unanswered and, after days of searching, they had all but given up: “It was like JUL only appeared when someone needed a barber shop sign”.
Then, one evening, while sitting outside their hotel, they were approached by a man who said, “I heard you’ve been looking for me”. It was JUL, and he had come prepared with brushes and paints. A deal was struck for him to paint a building to be photographed the next day in return for a cash payment and a new motorbike. Johan and David were sold and just hoped that he’d actually come back to do the work.
Johan with JUL and one of his barber shop signs, and JUL with some more.
True to his word, JUL showed up with an assistant and everything he needed to paint the building side for the cover artwork. With help from Johan and David, he worked through the heat of the next few days to get it done in time.
Work-in-progress and JUL posing with the finished piece along with a regular barber shop sign board in his signature style.
He also managed to squeeze in some regular barber shop sign work on the side.
A crowd of admirers gathers to watch JUL work in his street studio.
Johan reflected that, after finishing up, “We left feeling like we’d met a childhood idol. This painter we'd both been obsessed with for years. And we’d finally met him and done a project with him.”
The Blaze of Your Love EP was to due be released with live shows planned in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Paris when Covid struck. Johan explained that, “This happens all the time in music, something gets shelved for logistical reasons and unfortunately never comes out. I don’t think it will ever be released.”
And now the mural is also lost — the last time Johan passed the building, JUL’s artwork had been painted over. However, while the music and the mural haven’t survived, the recording of the EP and this creative side quest to produce its cover artwork will never be forgotten by those involved.
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