Escalinata Juana de Oro, Cuenca Ecuador

blog_weird_face_drawing
graffiti and street art along the wall of an outdoor staircase in Cuenca Ecuador

below: Cefiro pasteup. Cheer up!

below: The walls along the stairway were painted with a mural (2015 or before?) with a series of characters or pictures connected by pipes and branches.

graffiti beside the stairs, a tap on white pipes, a blue cat

below: Since then, many pieces of graffiti have been added to the wall including these two ink drawn paper pasteups.

2 pasteups on a wall, a purple triangle with a black and white drawing in the middle, and on the left, a drawing of a face

street art mural on a wall beside stairs, partially covered by pasteups and other graffiti

part of a mural

below: Ears that look like those of a certain famous mouse.  … el medio ambiente y qu…. but just out of reach of a wide open mouth

paper pasteup over a mural.  Pencil drawing of a Mickey Mouse type character

below: Pencil marks on paste-ups.  Cual prefieres tu?

paper pasteup graffiti some drawn with pencil, figures and faces with words

below: A handful of feathers beside blue bubbles.  A small paste-up of a cute little dog beside a not so cute creature in black and white, Juanito La Guerra.

part of a Cuenca mural, white background, bubbles coming out of a blue pipe

part of a street art mural beside stairs in Cuenca Ecuador, a large white faced clown with red lips is banging on a drum

below: I don’t think that chicken’s very happy… and is it best to eat the accordion?

below: Faces gathered around the windows

below: Fish in the pipes, running shoes, birds, and a black cat.   And what is that little guy all dressed in black really up to?

blog_fish_pipes_birdsstaircase called Escalinata Juana de Oro in Cuenca Ecuador with graffiti and street art covering the walls

Nahual, Mexican graffiti artist – “nante de ojos abiertos reforestacion crece en las paredes” is approximately the same as: [nante] wide-eyed reforestation grows on the walls

below: Blues. Breathing life into the world.

blue street art beside stairs, leaves, a face rising out of the leaves and blowing swirls of blue air

Photos taken January 2018

more Montreal women

The previous blog post was about a large Montreal mural by Kevin Ledo that was a portrait of a woman called Mary Socktish. There are a number of other murals in the city that have a woman, or women, as the main feature. These are some of them – the following photos were taken on four visits to Montreal between 2015 and 2021 and some of these murals may no longer exist.

below: One of the older murals in Montreal, a graffiti granny, old woman by ASHOP Productions

mural of an older woman with hair in a bun, wearing glasses, and an apron,purple buildings in background on mural,  on a Montreal corner,

below: A mural by five8art, a young woman looking skyward.

large mural of a young woman with longhair, blue background, she's looking up

below: By a Depanneur at Pins and Hotel de Ville, a large mural of two seated women and their scarf by Australian artist Fintan Magee.

At the corner, beside a depanneur, a large mural of two seated women by Fintan Magee, one has blue and white checkered scarf over her face, the other has same scarf across the top of her head.
Close up of mural by Fintan Magee in Montreal, by small window in building, hands of women plus their blue and white scarves

below: A mural by Rone, another Australian artist.

close up of a large mural by Rone of a woman's face in shades of brown, on a brick wall in Montreal, street art

below: Sorry is Not Enough, a mural by Denial (or Enjoy Denial) with a shout out to Black Lives Matter

large mural in Montreal of a woman crying, eyes closed, white tears, red lipstick, by Denial, above her face are words Sorry is not enough

below: From 2018, this mural by Drew Merritt and Sainte Famille and Milton (photo taken in 2018 as well)

mural of a woman on a MOntreal wall painted by Drew Merritt

below: Street artist Nychos working on a mural

street artist nychos up on a lift and painting a large mural in Montreal as people walk by on the street

mural by nychos in Montreal

below: A tribute to Lea Roback (1903-2000), by Carlos Oliva (aka Hsix) in 2014. Roback was a textile worker who became a trade union activist, feminist and pacifist (among other things). She fought for woman’s suffrage in Quebec (1936), she played a role in helping to organize 5,000 garment workers who had been on a three-week strike in 1937, and that is only a small fraction of what she accomplished.

below: by Sandra Chevrier, pop culture references to Superman and Batman

below: A collaboration between Cyrielle Tremblay and Poni (aka Hilda Palafox, painted in 2018. Working in an imaginary garden maybe?

muraal on a brick wall, two women working outside.  One is planting a blue pine tree and the other is pouring water, ther is a cross on a red hill with other blue trees on it.

below: A whimsical black and white of women astronauts, guitar players, skate boarders, astronomers, and others. It is the work of Le Monstr, aka Benjamin Tran.

black and white mural of women doing a number of activites, also some sleeping cats, an astronaut among the planets, a shkateboarder, reading, playing guitar.  Mural in Montreal, by Le Monstr, a k a Benjamin Tran

below: A mural from 2014 putting a spotlight on the call for justice for missing and murdered indigenous women.

on the side of a book store in Montreal, a mural calling for justice for missing and murderedindigenous women, a woman sitting outside, with a blanket around her shoulders

Hallelujah

The song “Hallelujah” is probably Leonard Cohen’s (1934-2016) most recognized work … or at least that’s what I think whenever I hear Leonard Cohen’s name, or see a picture of him. In Montreal, Cohen’s hometown, there is now a large mural of him that was painted by Kevin Ledo, also of Montreal.

very large mural in Montreal of Leonard Cohen, head and shoulders, wearing a fedora, in purple tones, by Kevin Ledo

Hallelujah Lyrics:

Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you dont really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor falls, the major lifts
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well, maybe there’s a God above
As for me all I’ve ever learned from love
Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
But it’s not a crime that you’re hear tonight
It’s not some pilgrim who claims to have seen the Light
No, it’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Instrumental

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well people I’ve been here before
I know this room and I’ve walked this floor
You see I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
But listen love, love is not some kind of victory march, no
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And I remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove she was moving too
And every single breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Now I’ve done my best, I know it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didnt come here to London just to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the Lord of song
With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Queen Elizabeth + Bowie = Banksy NOT!

Rock star status lightning bolt – a now iconic symbol painted on David Bowie’s face for the “Aladdin Sane” album cover in 1973. Here, Banksy Incwel applies the lightning bolt to a younger Queen Elizabeth in a piece titled “Still Sane”- bestowing her with rock star status? It was painted in 2012, the year of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee (i.e. her 60th year as monarch).

behind a traffic light, on the upper level of a building, on a pale grey wall, a Banksy street art.  A black and white Queen Elizabeth 2, younger woman, with a crown on her head.  She has a red and blue David Bowie lightning bolt across her face like the Aladdin Sane album cover of 1973

Lucas Antics, Bristol England

Alex Lucas & Paul Fearnside are the two artists that are Lucas Antics. Among their many talents is mural painting; this blog post features some of the murals that they have painted in their home town of Bristol. The photos are from the spring of 2017.

below: Pineapples and bunnies on The Little Shop, Cheltenham Road.

below: The whole mural.

large mural by Lucas Antics on The Little Shop on Cheltenham Road in Bristol.  A woman is looking in the window of the store.  The mural is bunny rabbits and pineapples, 6 rabbits and 7 pineapples

below: More rabbits at the Stokes Croft Vintage Market

below: A red fox, comfortably sitting on the new moon.

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.” A quote from Oscar Wilde’s play “Lady Windemere’s Fan”

below: A dashing dandy lion in the doorway with his sidekick, a little white mouse. The fable of the lion and the mouse has been told in many variations over the centuries.  In it, a lion spares the life of a mouse.  A short time later the mouse saves the lion by chewing through the ropes of a net that has ensnared the lion.

below: Welcome to Montpelier (a neighbourhood in Bristol)

The next three images are from the same mural, Uncertain World, painted on the exterior of the Cabot Institute at Bristol University.

Bristol Bearpit

The Bearpit is a park in Bristol, circular in shape and with roads surrounding it; It’s like being in the middle of a large roundabout and in fact it is the St. James Barton Roundabout. All entrances are by underground passage.

It is in an area that is the historical center of the city. After being badly damaged by aerial bombing raids during WW2 , not much was done with it until the late 1960s when new roads and office blocks were built. The bearpit was designed as a pedestrian friendly area, a city park but soon became a place where no one felt safe. In 2011 it was voted the worst place in Bristol . Over the years a number of groups tried to clean up the park and make it a welcoming place for people – with mixed success.

In May of 2017 when I was there it was a place to hang out. It was also a place for political protest.

tables and planters at Bristol bearpit, park, with a mural of flowers.  In the background a sign, political poster, and in he background, Debenhams store
VOTE – “It ain’t much, but it’s all we have against the Greedheads” Hunter S. Thomson

May 2017 was in the midst of campaigning for the the UK General Election of 8 June 2017. Theresa May (Conservative) was Prime Minister. May had became PM after David Cameron resigned because of the Brexit vote. Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party. The Conservatives won the election with 317 seats although Labour was close behind. Like most elections, this one can’t be summarized in a few sentences but if you are interested in more details, there are lots of places to look on the internet.

below: A large Corbyn rat poster by political art John D’Oh with the slogan/phrase “Make June the end of May”.

large poster by John D'Oh political humour for the 2017 UK election
political poster save the NHS vote Labour, picture of a woman on the phone, by John D'oh
In paradoy of newspaper Daily Mail, text on graffiti says Daily Fail, with three stencil faces

below: Mural by SP_ZERO aka Keith Hopewell

mural by SP_ZERO,
graffiti of face of young girl with braids tied with ribbons, and wearing a red bandana mask over her nose and mouth, on a green tile wall beside stairs

government is theft graffiti

street art by a tree in the bearpit area of Bristol, a person in a grey hoodie is spray painting a black line, beside a stencil of a man with long beard and mustache that says beard envy
graffiti on a tile wall beside stairs, an electrical two pronged plug with little legs, running, with broken electrical cord as a tail
A group of young men sitting on benches in a park, with a street art wall behind them, space aliens and creatures
street art wall with imaginative and creative space aliens and creatures
The screams of social media users.

below: Mural by LAIC217

Where’s the toilet paper? Is there any significance to the Adidas clothing and shoes?
Mural with orange headed devil with horns, yellow eyes, and skull like face, with bony hnads on shoulder of graffiti artist, caption says For using stencils you will go to hell
For using stencils U will go to Hell.

below: While we’re on the subject of Hell, a poster playing on the word exposure by Georgie aka georgieartist.  I love the fact that someone has written “Story of my fucking life” on it.

below: A broom with heart by qwert art

whimsical graffiti by qwert art of a broom with a white skirt and long skinny arms holding up a red heart where a face would be

below: Mural by Kid Crayon of Eat Crew.  Just above the mural you can see part of the black and white bear sculpture/statue that used to stand in the park.

In 2019 the Bearpit was “cleaned up” i.e. all the graffiti and street art was removed as were the squatters. A quick check of the area on Google Street View shows that as of March 2021 the park was still graffiti free.

faces in pinks and blues

A mural full of odd and somewhat disturbing faces can be found in a narrow alley near the corner of Prince Arthur St. and Saint Laurent Blvd. It was painted by Mono Sourcil, (aka Maxilie Martel) a Montreal street artist. It dates from Mural Festival 2017 and has survived well.

Some of the people look rather ordinary and are doing ordinary things…. others, not so much.

mural by Maxilie Martel in an alley in Montreal, faces in pinks and blues,
part of a mural by Monosourcil, of faces, some odd faces, including a greyish blue face with one pink eye,
part of a mural  in a Montreal alley by Mono Sourcil, faces of people, including man with very pink face and dark pink hair, blue lips, another man with a face that looks more like a walrus
chair behind an empty hut in a parking lot, part of a mural sticking out on the wall of the alley behind the chair