Alice in Wonderland gable mural by Vera Bugatti and Carlos Alberto GH, Jernbanegade, Brande, Denmark
Alice in Wonderland
Vera Bugatti and Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez (Carlos Alberto GH) · trompe l’oeil gable mural of a giant Alice in a too-small room, painted in 2016 for the Brande street art festival · Jernbanegade, Brande, central Jutland
Photo: as published by Street Art Utopia, photographer not named
Brande, a small town in central Jutland, has painted its house gables since 1968. In 2015 the local Lions club started a street art festival, and the next year it produced the town’s first new permanent gable of the festival era: a giant Alice, squeezed under the roof of a painted room, by Italian artist Vera Bugatti and Mexican artist Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez. The Danish news site hsfo.dk reported on 16 May 2016 that the two were at work, a year after Bugatti won the festival’s audience prize. The newest dated photo we found was taken on 27 February 2018, with snow on the ground.
5 things to know
- The cake says “Eat me”Alice holds out a small cake marked “Spis mig”, Danish for “Eat me”. VisitDenmark notes that “Alice’s eyes and the cake in her hand” seem to follow you “regardless of your position to the wall”, and reads Alice as “a symbol of the ups and downs in life.” VisitDenmark
- A prize winner came backhsfo.dk on 16 May 2016: “Vera Bugatti fra Italien vandt publikumsprisen ved sidste års streetart-festival i Brande.” (Vera Bugatti from Italy won the audience prize at last year’s street art festival in Brande.) Now she was painting a gable with Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez. hsfo.dk
- The first gable of the festival eraGable painting society Muren: “Det første værk var ”Alice i Eventyrland” (2016)” (The first work was Alice in Wonderland (2016)), the first of several permanent gables that came out of the Lions club’s street art festival, followed by “Vindkraft” in 2017. Muren
- Unveiled to open the festivalVisitDenmark says the gable was “revealed on July 1st 2016, as the opening of the Street Art Festival in Brande 2016.” Lions Brande calls it a trompe l’oeil painting based on the tale of Alice in Wonderland. VisitDenmark · Lions Brande
- Part of a 1968 traditionBrande’s gable painting began in the summer of 1968, when residents invited Danish artists to decorate the town; VisitDenmark counts 23 giant murals from that project, and Brande was named “Town of the Year” in 1969. Lions Brande · VisitDenmark
Check-in guide
- 📍
- On a house gable at Jernbanegade 5, 7330 Brande (VisitDenmark, Street Art Cities). The town guide Uturnart lists it at Jernbanegade 5B (Uturnart).
- 📸
- The painted window to the right of Alice’s feet is at street level; in our photo two visitors sit in it, which shows the scale. VisitDenmark notes that Alice’s eyes and cake seem to reach you from any position in front of the wall (VisitDenmark).
- 🧭
- Brande has many more painted gables, from 1968 onwards; Uturnart and VisitDenmark list them (Uturnart, VisitDenmark). The Maps button searches for the address.
Sightings
- 201616 May
Being painted
- 20161 Jul
Unveiled at festival opening
- 20175 Apr
Photo by Lars Bay
- 201827 Feb
Photo by Lars Bay, snow
- 20249 Apr
Muren: permanent gable
- 20261 Jan
Uturnart town guide
Every stamp links to the dated source. Green stamps are photos with a recorded camera date: two photos by Lars Bay, published by the gable painting society Muren in 2024, whose files carry the camera dates 5 April 2017 and 27 February 2018 (the second shows the gable with snow on the ground). Those are camera dates, not publication dates. Amber stamps are dated reports and listings: hsfo.dk on 16 May 2016 while the gable was being painted, VisitDenmark’s date for the unveiling (1 July 2016), Muren’s article of 9 April 2024 and the Uturnart town guide, last updated 1 January 2026, which still lists the gable. We found no report of damage or overpainting. The newest dated photo we found is from 27 February 2018.
On the record
De forsyner byen med et nyt eventyrligt maleri
“Nu maler hun et gavlmaleri i byen sammen med kunstneren Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.”
“Now she is painting a gable in town together with the artist Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.” Only the headline and photo caption are free to read. By Jørgen Hasseriis, Søren E. Alwan and Astrid Vestergaard.
Alice in Wonderland, 2016
“Alice’s eyes and the cake in her hand, which can be reached regardless of your position to the wall”
The national tourism site on what makes the illusion work.
Nyere værker: 2014 og frem
“Det første værk var ”Alice i Eventyrland” (2016) skabt af den italienske kunstner Vera Bugatti og den mexicanske kunstner Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.”
“The first work was Alice in Wonderland (2016), created by the Italian artist Vera Bugatti and the Mexican artist Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.”
The facts
- Artists
- Vera Bugatti (Italy) and Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez (Mexico) (VisitDenmark, hsfo.dk, Lions Brande, Muren, Uturnart) Checked. He signs as Carlos Alberto GH: the signature “Vera Bugatti, Carlosalberto GH, May 2016” is painted at the lower left (photo at the top of this page). Street Art Cities lists only Vera Bugatti (Street Art Cities).
- Name
- “Alice in Wonderland” / “Alice i Eventyrland” (VisitDenmark, Uturnart, Muren) Checked. Street Art Cities, with photos supplied by the artist, calls it “Everyone in Wonderland is Mad”, after the Cheshire Cat’s line (Street Art Cities) Reported.
- Shows
- A giant Alice squeezed into a room under the roof, holding a cake marked “Spis mig” (“Eat me”), with the White Rabbit (VisitDenmark, Lions Brande) Checked
- Painted
- 2016 (VisitDenmark, Lions Brande, Muren, Street Art Cities) Checked. The exact days differ: hsfo.dk reported on 16 May 2016 that the artists were painting, and the wall is signed “May 2016”; Street Art Cities gives 30 June 2016 as the creation date, and VisitDenmark says it was revealed on 1 July 2016 (hsfo.dk, Street Art Cities, VisitDenmark) Conflicting. We lean towards painted in May 2016 and officially unveiled at the festival opening on 1 July 2016; the two do not exclude each other.
- Made for
- The Street Art Festival in Brande, started by Lions Brande in 2015 (Muren, Lions Brande, Uturnart) Checked. VisitDenmark ties the unveiling to the 2016 festival (VisitDenmark).
- Technique
- Trompe l’oeil (illusion) painting on a house gable (Lions Brande, Muren) Checked
- Place
- Jernbanegade, 7330 Brande, Denmark: number 5 according to VisitDenmark and Street Art Cities, 5B according to Uturnart (VisitDenmark, Street Art Cities, Uturnart) Conflicting. Both point to the same gable on Jernbanegade; we use number 5.
- Our photo
- The photo at the top is the one used in the Street Art Utopia post. The post does not name the photographer, and we could not trace it to its source. It shows the same gable, chandeliers, window, rabbit and signature as Lars Bay’s dated photos (Lars Bay photo) Checked
- Status
- Seen February 2018: photo by Lars Bay with the camera date 27 February 2018, published by Muren (Lars Bay photo, Muren) Checked. Still listed in the Uturnart town guide updated on 1 January 2026, without a dated photo (Uturnart) Reported
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Fairy Tales Come to Life (7 Photos) (12 October 2026), and Everyone in Wonderland Is Mad (5 Photos).
- The other permanent gables from the Brande festival, from “Vindkraft” (2017) to “The Dream” (2022). Muren
- Vera Bugatti’s own site. verabugatti.it
All sources (8)
This work
- VisitDenmark: “Alice in Wonderland, 2016”, listing. Artists Vera Bugatti (Italy) and Carlos Alberto Hernandez (Mexico); Jernbanegade 5; revealed 1 July 2016 at the opening of the Street Art Festival in Brande; the “Eat me” cake.
- hsfo.dk: “De forsyner byen med et nyt eventyrligt maleri”, by Jørgen Hasseriis, Søren E. Alwan and Astrid Vestergaard, 16 May 2016. Bugatti won the audience prize in 2015 and is painting a gable with Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.
- Lions Brande: “Gavlmalerier i Brande”. The 1968 tradition; the 2016 trompe l’oeil painting based on Alice in Wonderland by Vera Bugatti and Carlos Alberto Garcia Hernandez.
- Gavlmaleriforeningen Muren: “Nyere værker: 2014 og frem”, 9 April 2024. Alice i Eventyrland (2016) as the first permanent gable from the street art festival.
- Street Art Cities: “Everyone in Wonderland is Mad”, Vera Bugatti, Jernbanegade 5, created 30 June 2016, artist’s statement and photos supplied by the artist.
- Uturnart: “Gavlmalerier Brande 2026”, updated 1 January 2026. Alice i Eventyrland, Bugatti & Hernandez, Jernbanegade 5B.
Dated photos
- Lars Bay, photo of the gable, camera date 27 February 2018, and a second photo, camera date 5 April 2017, published by Muren in 2024.
Context
- VisitDenmark: “Gavlmalerierne i Brande / The murals in Brande”. The 1968 project, 23 murals, Town of the Year 1969.
Artwork File · Last checked 13 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files