altered signs, Madrid

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Mary C

Altered signs in Madrid are the mainly the work of two different artists. The first is a local that goes by the name Yipi Yipi Yeah, or YYY for short. The second is Clet Abraham whose work is found in most large European cities. Searching for these signs can make a game out of walking around a city!

below: A YYY sign, “pais apatrida busca asilo” while wearing a Spain T-shirt that says “Spain is different”. The words on the white bar translate to “stateless country seeks asylum”

altered yield sign by yipi yipi yeah

below: Another Yipi Yipi Yeah sign with a Spanish theme -this time a crowd is cheering as flour black bulls go after other people.

below: A single matador on the crosswalk with his red cloak leading the way.

below: A yield sign becomes cleavage that is barely held together by a couple of pieces of lace.

below: Fishing. The word is perdigon, a young partridge. I’m not sure if it part of YYY’s work.

man fishing in the white bar of a do not enter sign

below: Swinging on the one way sign.

one way sign, arrow is a tree with a pink swing

The next few are by Clet Abrahams.

below: A similar sign appears in an earlier post on altered signs in Paris.

dead end sign turned into a crucifix

below: Skateboarding on Calle de Fucar.

below: Black dog pees against white wall.

altered do not enter sign with black dog peeing on the white bar

below: Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?

below: Chiselling away at the mouth, an artist at work.

altered do not enter sign,man chiseling out a face from stone, white bar as the block of stone

below: Good morning sunshine.

altered do not enter sign, sun rising above the horizon, white bar as the horizon

below: There are a few signs that are the work of an unknown person, including this xenofobia stencil.

below: And last, also by an unknown person, are these eyes watching over the street.

two black eyes on a do not enter sign, plus other stickers too

other altered sign pages:
Florence,
London,
Paris

cars on garages

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Mary C

I spotted some lovely old cars in Valencia recently.
They were painted on garage doors but they looked very realistic.

street art of an old car painted on a garage door - licence plate says germanies 8

street art of an old car painted on a garage door - black car from the 1930s or 1940s

1950s blue car, American, licence plate says russafa, street art of an old car painted on a garage door

red ford mustang car with double white stripe down the front hood, roof and back

blue car, vintage, large round headlights, front view, painted on a garage door.

Most (all?) of the cars pictured above are all the work of Cabiscol Art

below: One last car, one with less detail, painted by La Nena.

old fashioned car in purple tones.

Are You Dead? and others

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Mary C

Are You Dead? refers to a large number of graffiti pieces around Valencia Spain with those words on it. Some are shown here (photos from March 2018) along with other street art that was in close proximity.

large street art painting in black and white, on the side of a building, as seen from across a vacant lot. Words say Decay Ruin Are you dead? Real Estate

below: Are you dead on the door, with DEIH in blue.

several pieces of street art on a wall including red words on a metal door that say are you dead

below: Are you dead on the left and a piece titled Anemia by escif.

below: As well as “are you dead?”, “It’s never too late” and some skulls, all watched over by a purple bull.

are you dead stencils on a wall in front of a vacant lot, words, skulls, black ink, also a purple bull

are you dead stencils on a wall in front of a vacant lot, words, skulls, black ink, through a chainlink fence, also a purple bull

More of his work can be seen on his instagram page.

more Denver street art

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Mary C

More Denver street art from this past summer.

below: A blue astronaut

an astronaut dressed in blue sitting on a kids swing, mural, two storeys high, helmet,

mural of a chicken standing in a window. sitting on the ground beside the window is a young man in brown pants and blue t-shirt with a chicken mask covering his face

a large mural of a grey rabbit sitting on a green turtle

gate, painted with mural, large blue face, eyes, nose and cheeks, light green highlights,

mural of peace symbol with the angle lines (2) in red paint, a large blue featherin the center, the words #nobannowall

mural on grey wood fence of a very large insect from the side, pincer claws, six little light blue legs and a tail that curves upward, pink body, yellow tail,

mural on a garage door of a large octopus with its legs all tied up in knots.

large painting by @blvdart of a yellow bird with black and white head

mural in bright colours and abstract shapes, one wringly face, an eye and a nose, some squares,

picture of a man in black and white, mount on a wall, weathered, some writing around the edges

we the people poster featuring a young black woman with long dreadlocks and a red t-shirt

faded poster on an exterior wall, picture of young woman with flower in her hair and the words we the people

a metal enclosed trailer is in a parking lot, the back has a portrait of Prince painted on it.

a small mural on an upper storey wall of a small person, naked, sitting with knees up, wearing a large white animal mask

a mural on an upper level of a building, two characters, one white and one green,

large woman's face covering the front of a two storey house, rectangle front, flat, cubist like style

light green mural, black line drawing of an airplane? or a gun?

two metal boxes outside and a meter box, all covered with stickers

genfit store or gym, characters on outside wall in gym or exercise clothes, cartoonish characters

Quito Ecuador

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mary C

There is a lot of street art in Quito. It covers a lot of concrete walls that are part of the city’s infrastructure (supports for elevated roads, walls around buildings, etc). Here is some that I saw in February 2018.

below: Two people, one inside sitting pretty in pink and one outside.

grey and white painted stencil of a man including head, upper body and one arm. on a yellow wall beside a window with a pink window frame. There is a sticker or pasteup of another face in the window looking out. Quito Ecuador

below: A bird in flight. One wing looks like flames while the other wing resembles water. Signed by yo-ho-ho.

street art in Quito Ecuador, a bird in flight, one wing looks like flames and the other wing looks like water, painted by yo_ho_ho. mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Many, many faces in pink.

on a wall with ivy growing over the top of it, many faces in shades of pink , overlapping each other. mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Part dragon and part fish?

on a yellow wall, behind a small tree, a colourful painting of a dragon

below: A painting by BEGO

on a house beyond a white fence, a painting on the upper storey of a woman with red hair and red flower

The next few paintings were on a wall surrounding an house that was falling down.

on an old stone wall, two animal heads, a dog and a cat maybe.

painted in blue, a pig with sunglasses and crossed arms, words say smoky pig

on a crumbling stone wall is a large green face with many pink eyes, and pink liquid spewing from his mouth

below: This is the last of the photos from the ruined building – note the broken bottles across the top of the wall. That’s very common in Quito… although electric fences seem to be replacing broken glass as a means of keeping trespassers out.

mural of a boy's head in profile, short hair, wearing goggles, all in blue shades

below: Crab (lobster?) hands

stylized painting of a man upper body with large crab hands, lack hair and blue writing (illegible) on both sides of his head. ‘

below: Laughing and pointing

large man's face with laughing open mouth, moustache and short hair, pink shirt collar, hand with index finger pointing , mural in Quito Ecuador , Hecho salsa

below: Someone stole an orange cone.

graffiti on a wall

below: Covering his mouth and I don’t think that it’s because he’s coughing.

mural in Quito Ecuador , large red face with a blue hand covering its mouth

below: Me

wall painted part red and part blue. on the blue part is a large ME in white with black border. Quito Ecuador graffiti

below: Pasteup over his face, a mouse and a mousetrap

part of a larger mural with soldier, wearing helmet with three gold stars on it, someone has put a red dot in the middle of his forehead, also a pasteup now covers his face, with a rat on it, mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Another gorgeous bird. Signed by Pagach? (Pagache?)

mural in Quito Ecuador , realistic painting of a bird with a black and yellow head.

below: Painted on a rusty metal gate. Reaching for the skull. I am not sure of the words but if it’s “ponte y las alas” that translates to ‘stand and the wings’ but there are more letters. Any ideas anyone? Painted by Aster in 2017.

on a rusted metal gate that is locked closed, graffiti of a person with outstretched arm, as well as a skull

below: Resiste

small paste up of a face and star with green and red parts

below: Graffiti behind the fence

graffiti on a wall beside an outdoor stairwell, behind a chainlink fence in Quito Ecuador

below: Supay Corpus in a residential area.

below: Someone likes to paint underwear, men’s brief to be more specific.

large black and white painting of a pair of men's briefs, underpants in Quito

below: A very realistic portrait of an old man with one green eye open.

realistic, and large, painting of a wrinkly man's face, one eye open and one closed. The open eye is green.

faded red concrete steps leading to a black door with a metal grille covering it,also some graffiti tags. Two bottle brush trees are in front with their red flowers

circular pattern painted in black and white with a cat's face ferocious in the center circle, painted mural

And last, there were some word stencils….

below: #2mayo and “ecuador ama la vida” which is ‘ecuador, love life’ is now someone’s love note to Mina.

two black stencils, the first is a raised fist with the words #2mayo and the other says ecuador

below: “Sigue to corazon & disfruta el viaje” which means “follow your heart and enjoy the trip”.

black stencil on grey concrete, sigue tu corazon a disfruta la viaje, written twice

below: Natura Insurrecta? and “Mineria responsable cuento miserable”. The direct translation for the latter is “mining responsible, tale miserable”.

green stencil on top and black on the bottom that says mineria responsable cuentu miserable

people on Bristol streets

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Mary C

People in murals and other street art seen in Bristol earlier in 2017.

below: A mural in shades of yellow by tattoo and street artist Sepr (instagram) . These aren’t blackbirds baked in a pie, instead they are blackbirds in a cup and saucer. Let’s have tea!

mural, yellow and grey on black background, car parked in front. Mural is a man holding a tea cup in one hand and a small plate in the other. Two blackbirds in the cup and one on the plate.

below: Jesus Break Dance by Cosmo Sarson

large mural of a man upside down on one hand, only a loincloth on, no other clothes

below: A large mural of a woman’s face in yellow and black, by Stinkfish, Stokes Croft, 2012

large mural of a yellow woman's face, long black hair, on the side of a building, blue and red text graffiti along the bottom

below: The Coat of Arms by Nick Walker

mural on a wall, figure with many arms, wrds that say the coat of arms

below: On the left is ‘Afrika en la casa’ by Feo Flip (Basura Visual) and on the right is a cracked face by LAIC.

two large faces, one man , one woman, with a door covered with posters between them

below: Another piece by LAIC. Most of his street art involves distorted faces,

below: Street art by Dr. Love from Tbilisi Georgia, love holds you up. Girl on swing. Red balloons.

street art piece of s girl sitting on a swing that is being held up by two red balloons

below: Welcome to St. Pauls mural

mural on a wall, city scene

street art, 3 pieces,painting of woman's head in grey and purple, graffiti in pink and green shapes, plus drawing on a door in the middle

below: Alice in Wasteland.

stencil graffiti

below: A little line drawing wonderfully placed around the chain.

small drawing on a wall, man with scowling face, large head and small body,

below: Boxing dog-faced men with bright red gloves.

mural of naked men with red boxing gloves

below: DENX ’09

street art painting of a man with blue face, black hat and jacket and green pants

mural of a witch with wizard hat on blue with yellow stars

under a barred window, a painting of two faces on blue background

resist graffiti words

parking meter man as a monkey, sneering, and pointing, beside a sign that says no parking, words on street art say put the oney in the meter

words that say think local boycott tesco, picture of a man holding a protest sign and a megaphone

street art animals, Bristol

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Mary C

More Bristol street art
This time, focusing on those featuring animals

below: A debonair lion stands in the doorway, by Alex of lucas-antics

a lion standing in a doorway, by lucas_antics, green vest and green hat, holding a cane, tail curled up and a white mouse on the tail

below: Another mural by Alex covers the front of The Little Shop on Cheltenham Road. This time, she has painted bunny rabbits and pineapples.

bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store front, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

close up of mural - bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store frnt, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

below: A red dinosaur

street art mural, animals, red dinosaur, with some text graffiti too

below: A bird mural by Aspire

street art mural of a bird, blue and grey and black

below: Another Aspire bird, a robin on a tree branch. Beside it is an orange telephone box by D7606 (instagram)

a robin on a branch, mural, on green background, on a wall beside another street art piece of an ornge British telephone box

below: Bite the hand that feeds you. Someone is missing an arm!… it looks like it might by Ronald McDonald’s arm?

a graffiti fox, standing on two legs, with words, bite the hand that feeds you.

graffiti, cat head,red lips with green tongue sticking out, plys yellow triangle and blue circle

pink pink graffiti on a brick wall beside sign that says Princess Road

below: The ice cream in the cone is looking horrified as the teeth and beak of a yellow bird-like creature hovers above him. There is also an owl that was painted by Dscreet (Australian). The words between the bottom two windows say Burning C which is a reference to Burning Candy Crew, the group that Dscreet once belonged to.

a yellw bird creatre with a long beak, an owl and an ice cream cone

birds on a wire, silohuettes on blue background

blue cat like ceature with gold crown, sitting in window sill with two clay flower pots in front of it

Jamaica at Hillgrove, Bristol

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Mary C

below: A panda finds a quiet corner under the street sign.

small street art piece of a panda with bamboo in its mouth, under a street sign for Hillgrove Street

Hillgrove is a short street, two blocks long. It is dissected by Jamaica Street. On one corner is a large mural by Phlegm. A man looks through a telescope while sitting on the shoulders of a man who in turn is standing on stilts. One hand is holding the telescope while a bird on a rope is held by the other. A large red and white wave reminiscent of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Katsushika Hokusai is the eye catching focus of the painting. It’s as if he’s looking to the future while standing on the shoulders of giants (masters).

buildings on a street in Bristol, including one with a large mural by phlegm,large red and white wave with a person on a ladder besideit looking through a telescope

large mural by phlegm,large red and white wave with a person on a ladder besideit looking through a telescope

below: A stenciled cat walks on the sidewalk…. the work of Beastie.

small stencil of a realistic looking cat, on a concrete wall, at sidewalk level so itloks like it's walking on the pavement

below: A natural woman of sorts – with plants, vines and roots and the bugs and butterflies that depend on them.

tall narrowmura of a woman with flowers and vines and chinese character tattoo on her shoulder

Bristol paste-ups

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Mary C

below: Be brave paste-up by donk (instagram)

be brave pasteup by donk, ofLondon, in Bristol a young person with eys closed, Indian feather head dress on hed, in monotone black and white

below: Hero of the Beach (Ben Rider), Be Brave (donk), Play Nice (donk), and Adventures into the Future

section of wall covered with pasteups, be brave, play nice, adventures into the future, hero of the beach dog, ghetto blaster

below: This characters are the work of qWeRT (on instagram)

two little green andwhite characters on a blue wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

two little purple and white characters on a beige wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

vertical paste up, man in suit and good shoe, but with head and hands as machinery

below: A pouting child beside the steps.

black and white photo of a cjild with curly hair and topless

below: Ribcage and a pink ‘Grab This’ pussy with a gun. The latter is by Ben Rider (instagram)

two pink paste ups on a door - the top is a drawing of a ribcage, bones only and the other is a cat with a gn and the words grabthis (grab this pussy?)

below: Paint me a rainbow

a black girlwith long curly hair is painting a small house, the house is black and white but there is a rainbow of colours coming out of it

below: A torn version of the picture above along with some other pasteups. Men in glasses, profanity pony wishes, and a more complicated poster with a hand, a skull, and other things. The words on this last one say ‘Office of the Medical Examiner, County of Cook’. Eyes dominate two of the posters – same artist?

below: She carries an awkward load on the left while the girl on the right is well armed and well prepared.

below: Mais Amor, por favor…. more love please. Another pasteup by donk.

pasteup of a smiling woman's head, large puffy hairdo, words say mais amor por favor.

below: Another donk piece – a pirate lying in a liquor bottle with another bottle in his hand.

donk pasteup in a doorway, on brown paper, a drawing of a man lying on his back inside a liquor bottle, he's holding another bottle in his hand

graffiti text pasteup in black writng on white paper

below: I was in Bristol just before the British elections in the spring of 2017. There was quite a few anti-May/Tories and pro -Corbyn/Labour graffiti including this dinosaur themed one.

black and white poster on a graffiti spray painted wall, words n poster say TMay Rex with a picture in the middle of May's (British Prime Minister) head on a dinosaur

below: The Humble Magnificent with masked boy, a donk piece.

donk pasteup of a boy in hat, wearing mask and standing with his hands at his side, background is covered with large red polka dots - the border is the words The Humble Magnificent repeated 8 times

below: A creature waits outside number 42

on a blue door with the number 2 on it, a small black and white paste of a head of a creature, signed creature [illegible name - maybe arequte?]

below: mcln’s plague doctor character is in Bristol too. He’s drawn on a printed page and the words in that rectangle are ‘resist the temptation’.

mcln pasteup of plague doctor character in black top hat

Cleveland – Waterloo Road

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Mary C

Waterloo Road runs parallel to the Lakeland Freeway (I-90) in Collinwood which is east of downtown Cleveland. It is an older neighbourhood in need of revitalization and, like more and more cities, it is an area in which street art is encouraged – now the Waterloo Arts and Entertainment District The following are the murals that I saw along Waterloo Road last month.

very large mural in black on a boarded up goldish coloured building, windows painted same colour as building, two storeys, man in a gas mask, at the corner of 156th Street and Waterloo in Cleveland

below: This large mural dominates the intersection of East 156th and Waterloo.

continuation of mural of man in gas mask, building is on a corner and the mural exte4nds around the corner, there is a large bird in his hand,

below: Hundreds of faces linked together

four panels in a a mural of people with large multicoloured faces, blue and red bodies, all holding hands,

close up of a mural with face in many colours, all drawn with lines, long red arm reaches in one direction, background is black and white faces

below: Pop Life building

upper part of a building that has been painted in stripes and rectangles of colours including black and white sections

below: The front of the building was painted by Lynnea Holand-Weiss as part of Waterloo Arts Zoetic Walls project, June 2015. The building is owned by Judy Wolfe, a weaver, and some her designs were used as inspiration for the mural.

street art murals on two sides of a two storey building, on side is a black person dancing and on the front are two older people that are facing each other, takes up whole front of the building, there is a blue shadow for each that represents their younger selves.

below: Treasure has left his/her mark

Cleveland street art, exterior, on the upper level of a building, face in many colours, with text that says treasure

below: A hammer and a pair of pliers and a line of little people below. Do the blue lines emanating from his eyes have any significance? It looks rather creepy. But maybe he’s just a visionary or is looking to rebuild the community.

a woman walks past a building with a large mural painted on it, a man holds a hammer in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other, blue lines loop from his eyes to the tools, old store front is empty, Cleveland,

below: A barber with bling in the city.

mural on side of red brick building on Waterloo Road in Cleveland, a large hand with rings and bracelets is reaching towards a cityscape in black with pink yellow and orange sky

below: All Ways, by Lynnea Holland-Weiss

double car garage with a face painted on each, one with black background and the other with blue background, big multi coloured faces that are looking at each other, beside the garage is a fence and gate with two more figures painted on them, one red with a yellow head and the other is blue with a red head

below: A messy pile of opened foldaway chairs. on the side of building in CLeveland, a mural of a stack of foldable chairs, open, disorderly pile, not neatly piled,

below: Abstract lines and shapes form an archway. abstract geometric shapes in a mural, pink background, shapes in blues and greys along with some blue and white lines

below: Part of mural by Nick Mann, 2013 (2 photos)

part of a mural by Nick Mann in Cleveland

below: Joined by an infinite rainbow. The wire fence prevented me from getting closer (trespassing in foreign countries is not as easy as it is at home!) so I didn’t get a good look at some of the detail in this mural.

mural on the side of a building, two people facing each other with rainbow coloured lines joining them

below: The Waterloo Arts building.

the front of the Waterloo Arts building in Cleveland, painted in light green with other designs, such as a long snake. three windows, two are closed and one is open

below: The mural on the side of the Waterloo Arts building…

a mural that is a collage of faces of many people, simply painted, each within a square or rectangle, Cleveland street art

below: … and the words that go with it.

words painted on a wall beside a mural in Cleveland that thanks the people who made the mural

“Inspired by the artwork and concepts of ArtsCollinwood’s portfolio project students, this mural represents our vibrant community and shows what can occur when established artists collaborate with students.

the following students participated in this inaugural year of portfolio project. Not only did they exhibit tremendous talent, they continue to amaze us with their energy, ideas, and fortitude, Imane Blaine, Arrielle Like, Marcel Mason, Miracle Smothers, Lorenzo Thomas, Siera Thomas, Destiny Ware, Derek Witcher. Mural by J. Kelly (with A. Merritt and C. [illegible] ) June 14th – June 24th, 2010″

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Author Archives: Mary C