Gloopy Goblins Are Exactly What They Sound Like

Words and photos by Streets Dept Contributor, Eric Dale

Hey Philly, have you seen any grinning goblin heads around recently? I bet you have, because street art newcomer Gloopy Goblin has been wheatpasting around the city.

I briefly met the artist at Tattooed Mom’s first Thirsty Walls event in May, and recently reached out for a little more info via Instagram DM.

“I’ve always been into street art,” the artist told me. “I used to mostly just doodle and do some interactive installations/sculptures and recently with the pandemic I started drawing more and developed a masked humanoid series and sorta stumbled into a goblin character.” Now, it’s become a form of therapy for him that lets him see the city in a new way.

Why are they gloopy though? Well, because they’re literally gloopy when he installs them with wheatpaste. But “doing pastes just felt so accessible,” he said.

I recently came across this Gloopy Goblin on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown. As I stopped to take a photo, a couple also stopped to take some photos. Then, they turned around and went back the way they had come from—so I guess they had come out specifically to see a Gloopy Goblin! When I told them I’d tell the artist he has fans, they said “oh my god, yes!”

The artist is experimenting with different features on the goblins, which are mostly hand-drawn, and is considering coming up with a bit of lore, too. As in, he wants to figure out “who’s been cutting their heads off this whole time” and what a full-body goblin might look like. Fun!