In the past few months I have posted three sets of pictures of Bonn murals and graffiti. The images that I am posting here are all that I have left from my time in Bonn. At this point, I have no plans to return so this is “the last of Bonn”. Of course, if anyone wants to send me pictures of more Bonn urban art (because I am sure that I missed some, or that there is more recent art/graffiti), I will be happy to post it with full credit.
below: “Einsusflug” and a tripping pigeon wearing its cool sunglasses.
below: “This zystem is our enemy”. To which someone has replied, “True that”.
below: Many of the sidewalk/traffic/utility boxes around central Bonn have been painted with scenes from the city. This is the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) that dates back to the 18th century. I have always liked how City Hall ‘translates’ to Rat House in German!
below: Another box, this one with very stylized, almost abstract, trees.
below: Images of Johannes Sebastien Bach (1685-1750), the German composer, are all over Bonn.
If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.
A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.
This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….
below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles
below:Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.
below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere
below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art
below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio
below:Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.
below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul
below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile
below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.
below:Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.
below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.
below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.
below: GO train – definitely On the Move!
below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo
below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.
below: Part of a monochrome mural by Nicolas Araneda aka niko.volts that has a lot of very American feet walking all over the faces of other people as lay on the ground…. ‘Trampling’ might be a better verb than ‘walking’
below: Some walk in heavy boots, and others swim with open mouth ….
below: “Not today Satan”. There’s a lot going on here – the Silly Sausage Gang being front and center. 33wallflower33 in her white coat with the fuzzy collar and little decorations by catchoo . There is also a T-bonez (of urban ninja squadron fame) wearing a green shirt and a necklace with a pendant – that’s Sticker Eddie he’s wearing, apparently. The red-hearted pug’s name is Mopsi. Mopsi has something in his mouth but the donut is in the way (for more Mopsi see the Instagram page of his creator, So schoen immer weider)…. And the other dog is a collaboration between TRP613 (check out the reflections in the sunglasses!) and DivadogLA
below: “Get me out of here” and a dose of Instant Karma.
below: Free Iran
below: This painting of a woman with her headphones above and yellow birdie walking a dog below was one of the first murals in Graffiti Alley – the work of Uber5000. Not many originals still exist!
below: Elicser Elliott’s contribution to a larger mural that has been painted below the pink Poser bunny, “Don’t watch me cry”
below: Half a face. He only needs one eye to stare at you.
below: Gold… With a garland of white and blue flowers.
below: A very large and very purple bear is at the door.
below: He or she looks rather cramped in there. Signature says Neem?
below: Another flower garland and another Neem head squeezed into a box.
below: Scowling and smoking with ace in his cap.
below: Skydome forever and ALCS, as well as Vladdy’s number 27 shirt and World Series 2025…. little blue and white pieces of ceramic that celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays that someone lovingly made.
below: One Inch? … And other stickers crammed together.
below: “We are the colours of corn”
below: More stickers and pasteups including catchoo’s dumpster fire that t-bonez from urban ninja squadron is using to dry his socks and underwear.
below: A couple of contributions from Dogmaslaps here (they’re all about dogs in case you haven’t guessed yet).
below: More pasteups, some of which are quite intricate and detailed … especially the top two (vulture and jaguar?) which are both the creations of Ezpektro.
below: Sharing space with the Ezpektro pieces are a few smaller pasteups, some of which were made by artists that are new to me. There is a pink bike in the top right, the same bike that is in the Make Art Not War poster in the above image… BikeDeSuro creates stickers and wheatpaste featuring bikes. From the left, a woman by Fiigueers and then a young girl with the Spanish words, “que nunca se apague la llama de la autonomia” which translates to “may the flame of autonomy never be extinguished”… The collection is rounded out with a guitar player from Sentient Cookie and a cute little green guy from Catchoo.
below:MonkYi cat with a very real looking heart in his claws. Two carp swimming on the pavement in front.
below: Charmander, a Pokemon character.
below: Alfred E. Neuman makes an appearance in a couple of places – he’s the dude from MAD Magazine.
below: By 50 shades of greatt aka Adam McKnight – It looks a lot like Sponge Bob… maybe it’s his cousin? But what’s with that tongue? It looks like a slug is trying to slither out of his mouth.
below: Verity and a happy face.
below: Someone is not impressed…. Lame
below: Green guy says: “In one year’s time, strike your blow, I shall return.”
This is another post showcasing some of the murals in Lynn Massachusetts, most of which are the result of Beyond Walls, an organization that promotes public art including street art murals. There are now more than seventy murals in Lynn many of which have already appeared in this blog (other Lynn murals)
below: This portrait of a young person is the work of Andrew Hem
below: Medio Peso painted a large mural on the upper level of a building, over Omar and Oscar Jewelry store.
below: This artist, Bryan Beyung, is of Chinese-Cambodian origin but is now based in Montreal. Part of it is obscured by the neighbouring building but the mural shows people carrying or pulling suitcases.
below: This is a portion of a colourful mural by Anna Dugan aka Annadidathing that covers one side of the Washington Street underpass. It’s title is “Mga Tagapagtanggol / The Guardians” and it represents Dugan’s Filipino heritage.
below: Edwin Sepulveda, aka Don Rimx,is the artist responsible for this mural titled “Cacique Guerrero”. Cacique translates to something like ‘war captain’ and the title refers to Gonzalo Guerrero, a 16th-century Spanish sailor who survived a 1511 shipwreck off the Yucatán Peninsula. He assimilated into the Maya civilization and rose to become a military leader who fought against the Spanish conquistadors
below: RIP Peter by Hiero Veiga
below: Another portrait by Hiero Veiga (this one needs a good cleaning!).
below: The signature on this mural is NS/CB which is the mark of Nicole Salgar and Chuck Berrett. It is painted on the upper levels of a building which makes it more difficult to see from street level but more easily seen from the train.
below: Hidden behind another building and a fence, is this man with big ears standing in a small paper boat. Sipros, aka Wellington Naberezny is the artist who painted it.
below: “Equilibrium” – A red devil and a blue angel balance each other. A mural by Golden 305, aka Cristhian Saravia, who is originally from Venezuela. Many of his paintings can be seen in Lynn and other cities in Massachusetts.
below: This is what happens when you paint a large sized mural on a building beside a vacant lot… and then a condo goes in next door. She’s a very large woman lying in her bed, but it’s very difficult to get e look at her! Painted by Fonki.
below: Offering a daffodil to a drowning person? “Good Intentions” by BK Foxx.
below: Mike P’s Studio has a man hanging around outside, the work of Ivan Salazar
below: Dance the Dance My Girl,” is located in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver. It is a collaboration between Ari de la Mora and Irving Cano and it was painted as part of the 2017 Vancouver Mural Festival.
below: A woman in traditional clothing and jewelry, holding a very realistic looking heart and a pineapple. The latter symbolizes hospitality and abundance.
below: The Mississippi Mudds is an amateur theatre group based in Carleton Place (Ontario). Why Mississippi? Because the town of Carleton Place is on the Mississippi RIver, the one in Ontario, not the more famous one to the south.
below: mmm
below: Ode to Stompin’ Tom Connors (1936-2013), country and folk singer and songwriter. “Everyone’ll tell ya around Carleton Place – Mississippi dripped off of big Joe’s face…” This quote is a line from Connors’ song ‘ Big Joe Mufferaw’. In the song, a very large Joe was a logger and when he worked, the sweat dripping from Joe’s face was so massive that it formed both Mississippi Lake and the Mississippi River.
below: A mural in memory of Captain Roy Brown (1893-1944), a WW1 flying ace and the pilot who was officially credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as the “Red Baron”. Brown was born in Carleton Place where his father owned a power company.
below: This picture is one of several that illustrate some of the events in the town’s history. They are mounted on the walls of a small building next to the city hall. Ballygiblin refers to Ballygiblin House, North Cork, Ireland where many Irish immigrants came from in the very early 1800s. They settled in Lanark County around the Mississippi River back when Carleton Place was known as Morphy’s Falls. At the time, men had to register with the local militia (mustering). During one of these mustering events in 1824, fights broke out between the Irish of Carleton Place and the Scots of nearby Almonte. There were also religious differences. The fighting lasted for a couple of days with one dead, several wounded and some buildings damaged. Picture by Shaun McInnis.
below: In a couple of places, old style signs have been painted on old buildings. Taylor’s Hardware did exist in downtown Carleton Place and in fact, it was in this building. William Taylor built the store in 1888 and his sons Jack and Frank continued the legacy until the Depression in 1929. At one point it was Taylor’s Department Store and Garage.
below: Just up the street from Taylor’s is the Canadian Tire wall. Here you can find four images from old Canadian Tire ads along with an older version of their logo – probably from 1957.
below: She quietly sits, absorbed in her book
below: “Last Train to Carleton Place #1226 – January 8, 1960,” was painted in 2013 by artist Shaun McInnis on the side of Edwards Grocery building, another old building in Carleton Place. Back in the 1920s trains on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) stopped here on their run between Montreal and Vancouver. There were also many trains to Ottawa, Brockville, and Pembroke.
below: Memorial to Wayne Richards, also known as Wandering Wayne. It too was painted by Shaun McInnis.
Wayne Richards (1936-2016) Wayne believed that “one step at a time” was good for the soul. He will forever be known as “Wandering Wayne” to the town of Carleton Place. He was one of the last milkmen to deliver door to door by horse drawn wagon, working for both the Maple Leaf Dairy and Carleton Place Dairy. If you took the time to talk to him he could tell you more about the town and your family than you thought possible. Wayne asked for the best of each of us in our little town and hopefully we met his expectations. Thanks Wayne for always reminding us to take the time to be kind. May you be walking the clouds in heaven.”
There is not a lot of graffiti in Seoul of the sticker and paste up variety. I think that there is a connection between graffiti and tattoo artists in many places. There may be a few places to get a tattoo in Seoul but it is not common. You can find graffiti but you have to be looking for it.
below: Korean poet, Kim Soo-Young, The bottom text is a line from his poem Grass (풀), asking “Why do I get enraged over such small things?”
below: The Korean text written in the top left translates to “Come to your senses” or “Get a grip”. Seen in the Insadong neighbourhood of Seoul.
below: “WDF” stands for the Welcome Daehakro Festival. Daehak-ro is a famous performing arts and theater district in Seoul, South Korea. Not really graffiti?
below: The wall mural of a vintage red locomotive is a signature feature of Cheolgil Wang Galbisal, a popular restaurant in the Sinchon area. The restaurant is located near the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, a linear park built along an old railway line. You can argue that the engine isn’t really graffiti – but the cat probably is?
below: Another cat, but this time its looking up to the cherry blossoms that are always in bloom.
below: A black stenciled woman in a red skirt with the text “Scattering of Sprites”.
below: Nancy (Nancy Ritz) is a comic strip character created by Ernie Bushmiller in the 1930s. Here she is smoking a cigarette, something that she probably never did in Bushmiller’s day especially since she was drawn as an 8 year old girl.
below: Lucky fox banana virus – choose 4 random words to describe your group! What words would you choose?!
below: A sticker bombed electrical utility box with “Keep Going” in the center where the letters appear to be painted on tin cans wrapped with black paper or tape.
below: Chimps and Burgers – this is actually the name of a burger restaurant in Seoul and the mural, obviously, is associated with it. Not really street art?
below: Bananas!
below: “Live a Great Story” and “Push it a Stop”.
below: A tiger smoking a very long pipe in the presence of two white rabbits – this is a common Korean folk tale image. Tigers are powerful but are often gullible and, therefore, targets of rabbits who are clever tricksters.
below: One small wall with tags – a rare sight in Seoul.
below: Stickers on a pole. Paper tiger jumping through a flaming hoop.
More street art in Drewery Lane. The more famous art in this lane are are the mosaics and images in the Legacy Mural (a street art project to celebrate the centenary of ANZAC) . But there is other art there, and this is some of what I saw. If you have been following this blog, or just reading some previous posts, you might recognize some of the artists and their styles.
below: Temporary bird, angular, surrounded by hearts and music.
below: Looking down the lane at a very large mural by Jaz Mishap
below: The title of the mural is “Chopsticks” such as those stuck in their hair. If you can tell where woman ends and the other begins, you are doing better than me.
below: More people… but very different from those in the above mural. Dancers, ballet?, with Cupid and his arrow ready to strike. It was painted by Barry Drinan.
below: Luke Kasper’s version of a very abstract bird perched on a branch.
below: Also hanging out in Drewery Lane was a very large SQUARE head with a sad face. So sad, even though it is lying in a bed of pink, red, and purple hearts,
below: Up to U! No wait, it’s Up 2 You!
below: This poor chicken (riding on the back of a turtle) has met an unlucky fate. This is the surviving portion of a much larger mural painted by Putos, Siege, and tanea many years ago (pre-2013).
below: “Woman Life Freedom” by, presumably, Asal Nili. At the bottom of the orange poster is a hastag, Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year.
below: There were many of these little beaded diamonds, small and intricate. Here a cow stands on two framed pictures.
below: This photo provides a few clues as to the size of the beaded diamonds. I think that there is a ladybug in the center of this one.
below: A green mantra ray is the focus of this one.
below: And last, seaweed growing on the ocean floor.
A wall of hoardings in Honolulu’s Kaka’ako district that was painted with street art murals during POW! WOW! Honolulu in 2020….. It features a mural by East Three (or East3) at one end, and a painting of a long haired Medusa-like character by Jay Howell at the other.
In between there are contributions by a couple of other artists including farpys_arts
below: Ghetto blasters, robots and fish
below: Stop! In the name of love…. or something like that…..
below: She’s got a goofy grin as well as very long hair that seems to be home for quite a few snakes. Any ideas what she has in her hands?
Eyes on the Streets 