Shalom Habibi, and other things seen in Nippes

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Mary C

Nippes is a neighbourhood in Cologne Germany.

below: Nippes has it’s own mural complete with city skyline on a red background – painted by Robin Von Gestern.

cars parked in front of a mural painted on a metal garage door, red background, the word nippes in calligraphy in blue and yellow by Robin Von Gestern

below: These little Kölner Heinzelmännchen can be seen on the side of a residential building. These helpful gnomes appear in German legends and folklore; they are rarely seen because they do their work at night and in secret.

little gnomes in pointy red caps in a mural

Goodlack Art has painted them falling down the stairs – Ooops, not so quiet tonight!

below: As part of Cologne’s City Leaks street art festival, this mural was painted by Danjer Mola.

large mural in Nippes Cologne, by Danjer Mola, of a female astronaut with either bare legs or brown skin tight leggings

below: This mural is Okik Momoe’s little bird on a branch… in a fishbowl?

mural by artist Okik Momoe of a little bird on a branch.

below: Preparing to paint a new mural by a community garden.

artist with ladder preparing a wall for mural painting, lines drawn on wall, a painting of a bird already exists beside the spot

below: Immediately above the new painting (above) is a large mural depicting daily life in years gone by.

part of a larger mural depicting daily life in the previous century, in Wilhelmplatz in Nippes

below: In fact, there is a matching mural on the other side of the garden lot.

white chair sits in front of a colourful mural, street art, outdoors,

below: Another gable mural, this one by Sat One.

below: A closer look at part of the mural

A closer look at part of mural by Sat One on a gable in Nippes Cologne

below: This cow, painted by The Kuhl Kid, is a common sight around Cologne. Here it is behind a fence

urban art on a brick wall, behind chainlink fence, one is a black and white cow by the kuhl kid

below: Even though most of the cow is missing, it is still recognizable as being the same as the one above. A little red heart glued into a jar lid seems perfectly placed between the cow’s ears.

remains of face of cow, with red heart in jar lid above its head, and a torn red poster over one eye

below: Cars, pipes, and other accessories on a brick wall

below: Cars and flames. Why are flames so often associated with fast cars?

mural of a car crashing through the wall of a building

mural with calligraphy and text — “Wo immer ich bin
vernehme ich deine stimme ihr sinn
Schwingt durch raum + zeit
in sussem einklang
Verbringen wir jede stunde”.
Translation: Wherever I am, I hear your voice, it’s meaning, it resonates through space and time In sweet harmony we spend every hour.

below: Joiny

paper paste up by Joiny of a woman saying Alaaf You, wearing a dress wth green and yellow flowers on it, peace sign nacklace

below: It’s now a little red and blue abstract painting.

below: A much more complex image than the one above, mechanical yet anatomical. Obviously a face but obviously not a living person.

graffiti, of a face but with mechanical or robotic parts

below: Remnants of a 2010 painting on a long low concrete fence.

concrete fence, low, with metal bars above, autumn leaves, old painting from 2010 on the concrete, red background,

below: Tags on the other side of the fence.

construction of new buildings behind a vacant lot, some graffiti tags on the wall

below: Two faced jester? Or two, back to back?

small painting on metal box cover, column or pillar with two jesters' heads on the top, back to back, graffiti

below: Graffiti stickers on metal poles.

Three graffiti stickers on metal poles, all three are monochromatic black and white

below: More graffiti sticker on a pole. Is that a lobster? or a monstrous creature?

sticker on a pole that seems to say dey hummey des schrecken but that doesn't translate into english

below: Owl on a box

Photos taken October 2025

Together on a concrete wall

Posted on March 8, 2026 by Mary C

A while back I posted about street art that I found around Hochstadenring in Bonn (Dec 2025). What I omitted from that post was a section of the wall that was heavily covered with paste-ups, stickers, and other small pieces of street art. This is that section.

concrete wall between street and elevated section of road, with many graffiti slaps and paste ups on it, Bonn Germany

below: A happy blue monkey by Opus.

below: A red frog clings to a character that looks rather concerned about that large skull lurking behind him. I think that this is a good example of an interesting juxtaposition, whether intentional or accidental, that you can get when you have a collection of pieces from different artists together in one place.

paste up graffiti pieces, A red frog clings to a character that looks rather concerned about that large skull lurking behind him.

below: Elvis is in the building!

paper paste up graffiti in Bonn including an image of Elvis Presley. Rock and Roll King,

below: “You’re driving me bananas!”, a young Sophia Loren, a bird in flight, a green octopus dressed in red and white stripes, and many more slaps.

collection of stickers and paper paste ups on a concrete wall in Bonn, one with text that says plus "You're driving me bananas!", a young Sophia Loren, a bird in flight, a green octopus dressed in red and white stripes, and many more

below: Green Taxonomy, and in the bottom corner, Planet Selfie. Made of triangles and other angular shapes is a white protestor holding a sign that says “Yetis geggen rechts” by Metraeda

below: More love on a phone – this time featuring Sulley from the movie “Monsters Inc”.

below: The paste ups that reference art history (e.g. Rodin’s “The Thinker” and other statues) are the work of Jam Paste. In the center, “It’s not dreams that escape me, but reality”.

collection of graffiti and urban art on a concrete wall in Bonn

below: 8arms2hug is all about octopi including this lovely lady in turquoise with the flowers on her head and a necklace around her neck. Beside her, the bunnies with baseball bats were created by CAP aka Cuts and Pieces.

two paste ups, on the left an octopus and on the right, black and white rabbits with a baseball bat

below: Several posters are here too – One says “WAS HATTEST DU AN!” (= What were you wearing!) while another proclaims, “das Kleben ist schön” (which translates to “pasting is beautiful”).

posters and paste ups in a collection of graffiti

below: A Maid in Cologne artwork shares space with Mr. Burns, from the Simpsons TV show, with a French phrase on his cap, “L’Etat c’est moi”.

paste ups, one features Mr Burns from the Simpsons show

below: Another section with a lot going on including a Zastoj character with 2 X’s for eyes who holds a gun that is almost as big as he it. At the bottom, the striped shirt on that shape suggests Sailordude by TRP613 but his head is different – a collaboration with another artist? Perhaps Metraeda?

graffit by Zastoj, sailordude by trp613, and metraeda, as well as others

below: Once again, there is a lot happening here – from Jams Pastes version of the Thinker, to a small woman carrying a protest sign that says “Frieden, Bier, Sonne” – peace, beer, sun. My apologies to the artist of the latter piece – her name is written on the arm in the image but I can’t read it (b. chandre?).
Three of the paste ups are text, made like beer coasters, and these are by Bierdeckel Street Art.

paper paste ups including sign that says Society sucks - be careful, a copy of Rodin's sculpture by Jams Paste, the thinker, a small woman holding a protest sign that says, in German, Frieden Bier and Sonne (peace, beer, sun) by — The three beer coaster inspired paste ups:
1. “Wickl Dich Nicht Ich”: this translates roughly to “Don’t wrap yourself,
2. “Liebe das Leben”: This green sticker translates to “Love Life.”
3. “Be Kind To Your Mind”

below: One strange looking monster by Sheep Art Cologne (aka Klaus Schaefer)

Photos taken October 2025

signs of Florence….

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Mary C

…. all the work of Clet Abraham

below: David being more modest than usual.

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, white bar is modesty for Michaelangelo's David statue

below: Video vultures

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, vulture sitting on top of white bar, head of vulture is a video camera

below: Cupid’s arrow hits it’s target

below: Strangulation by arrows

below: Guitar smashing frenzy

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, smashing guitar

below: Counting sheep – not a good time to fall asleep!

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, sheep jumping over white bar

below: Breaking through the ceiling

below: Being crushed by a nasty white bar.

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence,

below: More nastiness, grabbing and squeezing this time.

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, black figure being held back

below: As the sun breaks through the clouds…

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, sun breaking through the cloud cover

below: Like weeds growing through crack in the pavement..

daisy flower frowing through white bar,modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence,

below: Two for one! Stop the bombs, guitar hero.

two modified traffic signs, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, T in Stop sign becomes a bomb, white bar in other sign becomes a guitar

below: Yuck!

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, bird crapping on white bar

below: Holding onto the bar (faded, worn, from the original black hand)

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence,

below: Stuck

below: Hot!

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, fire and flames

below: This is one of the signs that I saw in Florence back in 2020. The policeman has faded since then as have the two little red hearts that he is looking at. A better copy of the image can be seen in altered street signs, Florence

modified traffic sign, graffiti, by Clet Abraham, in Florence, policeman

Abraham is from Florence but his work can be seen in a number of places (along with others who have used traffic signs as their canvas). I have posted images from Madrid , and Paris in past years.

Photos taken February 2026

on Chiasso dei Baroncelli

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Mary C

A small collection of graffiti has accumulated on Chiasso dei Baroncelli, a small street in central Florence. This is what it looked like the day I walked past….

below: Frida Kahlo dries her hair… by Miss Quark,

graffiti painting of Frida Kahlo by Miss Quark

below: Painting on metal door by ExitEnter

painting on metal door covering, by exit enter, a family of three

below: This is a copy of “The Schoolgirl” by Swiss artist Albert Anker (1831-1910) with a couple of very subtle changes. The book that she’s holding now appears to be Chinese as does some of the lettering on her chalkboard.

graffiti paasste up of modified famous painting of a schoolgirl

paste up graffiti, woman with arm in air

below: The last few are black and white photos that the artist (WAP?) has then painted a part of – usually just one colour per print.

graffiti paste up made from black and white photo of a man on a bicycle and his dog, going down stairs outside

signed #wap, black and white photo of a man on a motorcycle

black and white photo of a man reading at a table outside, table has been painted orange

two photos, painted, as paste up graffiti

Photos taken February 2026

Ragusa Murals

Posted on February 17, 2026 by Mary C

The previous post, Il Tempo Paso was about 2 murals in Comiso by artists Case Maclaim and Marak Morik. These two have also painted murals in nearby Ragusa.

below: “Familia” by Case Maclaim, 2024

mural by Case Maclaim of two young girls close to their mother who is dressed in turquoise, on the wall of a building beside a playground with a couple of plastic toys

below: Marak Morik, “On the way to Pescheria” (the fish market), 2017

mural by Marak Morik of a man on bicycles, a red umbrella, and a pile of fish.

…..and in the same area of the city is another mural, from FestiWall 2018, an abstract scene (is there a bird in there?) by Alexey Luka,

abstract mural on the side of a building by Alexey Luka

There are many other murals in Ragusa, spread out around the city and most are the product of the annual FestiWalls event. Because of limited time, I only had a chance to check out one more neighbourhood where I found three murals.

below: First, there was a very faded old mural by Fintan Magee; I think that it is a man with a prickly pear cactus.

below: A screen shot from Fintan Magee’s Facebook page – this is what “The Gardener” looked like back when it was painted in 2016 (ten years ago)

fintan magee mural, the gardener, a man with a tomato plant and a prickly pear cactus

below: Agostino Iacurci, “Immobile” – pottery jugs, urns, and other vessels.

close up of part of a large mural by Agostino Iacurci of 4 different pottery jugs on their side, in a stack, along with three little birds, in Ragusa Italy

below: Evoka 1 (aka Elio Mercado), “Resistenza di Incertezza”, 2016, a young girl with an apple on her head as well as six or so more in her hands.

below: A bunny rabbit!

Photos taken February 2026

Il Tempo Paso

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Mary C

“Il Tempo Paso” refers to 2 murals that were painted in the Sicilian town of Comiso as part of the Ragusa Street Art Festival (FestiWall) in 2023 (Ragusa is a nearby city). It was a collaboration between Case Maclaim and Marak Morik.

below: Marak Morik

below: Case Maclaim

Photos taken February 2026

stenciled in Palermo

Posted on February 15, 2026 by Mary C

below: Bouquets of flowers and balloons. Love and romance and whimsy.

below: mmm

below: Instead of her umbrella, Mary Poppins is holding a bicycle

stencil graffiti in Palermo, Mary Poppins holding up a bicycle instead of an umbrella

below: This green crocodile is dancing pretty in a pink tutu. Love diversity!

below: This penguin has packed its bags and is ready to go home – Tourist go home!

below: Yummy!

stencil graffiti in Palermo, text that says eat the rich

below: A kiss, a hammer, and a glass of wine.

stencil graffiti, a couple kissing, a figure holding a hammer and a glass of red wine

below: “Curv a nord inferiore” – Lower north curve, or something like that

below: “Sicily is not Italy”

stencil graffiti in Palermo, male portrait

below: Pulling in two different directions, artwork by Twenty Three

stencil graffiti in Palermo, female portrait

Photos taken February 2026

people on an old wall

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Mary C

Near the Mercato del Capo in the historic center of Palermo Italy there is a warren of small alleys. On a wall in one of these alleys is a small series of faded drawings or painting.

below: Two women’s portraits – a larger classical looking face with a smaller more modern woman in the top corner. The old stones and bricks add a layer of interest to the images that remain.

two women's portraits, faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: He’s painting a large face on the wall and it looks like he’s been doing it for a long time.

a man, seated, is painting a black face on a stone wall, faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: Painting at number1

faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: Blue and red on old brick

below: The brickwork suggests there was once a small window here.

Photos taken February 2026

Let’s make peace

Posted on February 8, 2026 by Mary C

below: Let’s make peace with this nightmare – “Facciamo pace con glu incubi”. She is one of a few paper paste-ups that appear together on a section of wall in Naples (via Santa Maria di Constantinopoli)

below: This is that wall

below: This purple and black watercolour portrait is also included.

below: As are these women and their big yellow flower.

below: Immediately beside the above wall is this little Exit Enter figure and its bright red heart.

below: More red – this time on the other side of the wall.

Photos taken February 2026

other Naples urban art

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Mary C

There was far too much interesting graffiti and urban art seen in Naples to squeeze it all into one post. I have posted some previously and this post attempts to “finish” what I have from February 2024 – before I go back to Naples. Most of these images were taken while exploring the streets of the Spanish Quarter (Quartieri Spagnoli)

below: Electric! … but unplugged.

street art mural of an electric cord and plug lying on the ground

below: La Ditta Fortunato (The Lucky Company)

street art, shades of grey, a man with a sign La Ditta Fortunato

below: Zelda enshrined

a little street art piece that turns a religious shrine into a shrine for Zelda, the video game character and heroine.

below: Dancing in the dark

below: Superwomen sharing a pizza, street art by LiDieSis

street art by lediesis, two women dressed as superwoman eating pizza

below: Couple, staring into each other’s eyes.

street art, two people, middle aged, man and woman looking at each other

below: A street scene in the Spanish Quarter

Street scene, Spanish Quarter, Naples, motorbikes, graffiti, balconies, laundry, doorways,

below: Graffiti paper wheatpaste by Lingual (I think that’s what it says), a man’s portrait in grey tones, with two small green snakes slithering out of his mouth. Is this a political statement? He’s designed like an antique stone bust and carefully positioned on top of a real stone plaque on a wall in Naples

below: Graffiti cat

below: Like the image above, here is another strange woman sniffing flower parts

below: More than one person has left their shoes here…. A runner with a stopwatch in lieu of a head.

below: Very big hands, skinny arms and legs, and a puffball rabbit tail?

below: A small section of Vico Toto where there are some paintings that pay tribute to Totò, the stage name of an Italian actor Antonio “Totò” De Curtis (1898-1967). You can see more of the works here, Toto and friends, an earlier blog post.

part of Vico Toto, a narrow street in Spanish Quarter of Naples

below: Life is short

graffiti urban art, painting of two fish, with a big hook between them and the words life is short

below: Maradona (1960-2020) was a football hero to many and references to him are all over Naples. For more Maradona and football graffiti in Naples see “Football and the ‘cult’ of Maradona“

street art painting of Maradona, beside a blue bench

below: Let your phone blind you and suck your brains out! Graffiti by Inserra.

below: “Sempre la… stressa… cosa” or, in English, “Always there….stress… what” as he tries to balance a precarious load of chair, tire, fan, wine bottle, and more.

below: Punk chicken – except, don’t those feet look like a humn hand??

below: Outstretched hands encircle a shiny orb in a paper wheatpaste by Vivia Cirillo.

below: Perfectly placed skateboarder by Satwerz

below: “mmm”Il faccio mordere” or “I’ll make him bite”

below: Monochrome portrait of a local rapper, Geolier (Emanuele Palumbo), who is from the Gescal neighborhood of Naples. It was painted by Salvatore Iodice.

below: Two young men, by J.P. Gimenez

below: Sophia Loren serves up a pizza and on the right is, apparently, San Gennaro – On September 19, 305 AD, the Bishop of Benevento, Gennaro, died in Pozzuoli, martyred along with 6 others. As for the fellow in the middle – I don’t know!

motorbike parked in front of black and white monochrome street art paintings of three people, Sophia Loren holding a pizza, an unidentified man, and San Gennero who was martyred in 305 A.D.

Naples street scene with people, parked cars, street art, narrow streets, balconies, laundry,

below: Cartoonish interaction between telephone and eyepiece, only a fragment remains.

below: Keyboard player

below: Cyop and Kaf painting high up on a wall. There are many examples of their work on the walls of Napoli! For more images, see Cyop & Kaf in Naples blogpost