Author Archives: Mary C

Quito Ecuador

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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″

Denver street art

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Like a number of cities have done, Denver has a district where large murals and other street art is encouraged.  In Denver’s case it is the River North (RiNo) Art District and the most street art is found along Larimer Street although I also found some at the top of Blake Street.  Here is the first batch of murals and paintings that I saw.

below: Love This City mural.  It is one of three ‘love’ murals, one in each of three neighbourhoods, by Pat Milbery.

horizontal mural in Denver with cursive writing that says Love this city.

below: A colourful head by Detour303

Denver street art mural of a woman's face on a large door. bright blue hair, background is pink and purple, skin in oranges, yellows and blues, by Detour303

 

below: by Chris Spade.  Haven’t you always wanted an octopus on your head?

Denver street art mural of a woman, from the waist up, naked, black x's over her nipples, large purple octopus on her head as well as large headphones over the ears. eye of the octopus shows. by Chris Spade

 

below: Snarling at people on the street.   Or maybe he’s screaming.

on a fence, street art, text and stylized throw up in greens on either side of a large black face with mouth open showing white teeth,

below:  A purplish woman in profile, with red and reddish circles.

mural of woman's profile in purplish tones, green hair, also her hand is in the painting. a red circle on her left and her right.

below: What one can do with a wall that isn’t flat.  From one side you see a boy, walk in the other direction and you see a girl.  Stand across the street and look straight at the building, the people disappear.  This is “Larimar Boy and Girl” by Jeremy Burns.

large mural of an oval face in white with black feature on a blue and brown background. wall is 3D so the mural changes depending on which angle you look at it. Straight on, only the blue and brown background shows. from one side, a boy's face, from the other side, a girl's face

 

below: Peaking out from behind the porch

on a wall on Blake St in Denver, a face in oranges and purples partially behind an overhang porch over a door a

below: by Gamma Gallery

Denver street art mural of a woman with long hair that is actually butterflies, by Gamma Gallery. She has her face in hands, like a mask, revealing her skull below. Very large, two storeys high

below: I am not sure if this mural, painted by Max Sansing (MAX) means anything.  The orange melting over the blue makes it look very creepy.  I like the little purple girl on the tire swing though.

Denver street art mural of a woman's head, top part is orange and bottom is blue, the orange part is melting into the blue. eyes closed. From the cheek, in purple, a small tire swing with a small girl playing on it.

 

below: Another colourful head on a door.  This one is by illson.

colourful mural on a garage door by illson in denver of a woman looking upward, with one of her hands raised up a bit

 

below: A grid pattern of stylized flowers on Blake Street.

older street art on a concrete block wall in Denver, stylized four petal flowers in a grid pattern, blues on the tops and yellows and oranges on the bottom. some weeds growing up beside the wall.

 

below: Keep an open mind.

Denver street art on a small, low concrete wall of a green figure with the words keep an open mind. a graffiti covered garbage skip is beside it.

 

below: It’s an ad for Botanicare but it’s roots are in street art.

part mural and part ad for botanicare products, a woman in many colours with long flowing hair, two large hibiscus flowers in front of her, on the side of a building in Denver

pesimo DMJC crew and saile_one in Wynwood

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There is a large mural in Wynwood that is a collaboration between Peruvian street artist pesimo DMJC crew and saile_one.   Four very large figures cover the side of a building.   The car helps to give a sense of just how big the mural is.

large mural by pesimo93, dmjc crew and saile_one

below: There are a lot of details in the mural….  the spray paint can on the left, the vehicle crashed over the shoulder, an 8 ball,  and a USB stick.   Is it a snake or a wreath of living plants around the neck?  Is it strangling him?  The mask worn by the person on the right has a zipper, a padlock and crossed chopsticks.

large mural by pesimo93, dmjc crew and saile_one - part of the mural with a red car parked in front of it.

below: More details.  The dog is wearing a chain that says “trust no human”, and there are eyeballs on one of the heads.   The man on the left is wearing a badge that says #NoDAPL which is the hashtag associated with the anti Dakota Access Pipeline protest including the resistance at Standing Rock.

large mural, upper part of two people, one has face painted

below: Their “signature” includes their “portraits”.

two stylized heads painted on a door, one is in blue tones and the other in olive green tones, the left is dmjc crew and the right is saile_one. both have cigarettes and baseball caps on backwards. also wearing glasses.

two faces, reefa and leticia

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There are many murals that feature images of faces, both male and female, in Wynwood (Miami).  Two of them are featured here.

The first is a large blue young woman with flowing grey hair, painted by Leticia Mandragora.   Her eyes contrast sharply with the rest of her face.  Mandragora is an Italian/Spanish street artist and tattooist.   Her blue faced woman have been painted in a number of places in the USA.  They all seem to have grey hair too.

mural by Leticia Mandragora of a girl with a blue face and a long head scarf in grey that trails to the left, along with three flowers

close up a large girl's face painted blue in a large mural, greenish eyes, head scarf on her head

The second mural is a memorial to street artist Israel Hernandez (aka Reefa) who died after being tasered by police in August 2013.   The portrait in the center portion was painted by Axel Void while a number of other artists contributed to the edges.

long horizontal mural by Axel Void with a young man's head inside a white circle in the middle, the edges are faces in pastel colours, stylized

center of mural, a young man's head and face, a portrait of Israel Hernandez, aka Reefa, by Axel Void

below: Justice for Reefa

stylized faces in pastel colours, at the edges of a tribute mural to reefa, painted by a number of different artists

 

 

Wynwood’s movie gangstas

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original gangsta mural

The gangsta wall in Wynwood is along the side of the Toe Jam Backlot, a private studio/event space that is available to rent.   The mural on the north wall has nothing to do with ‘gangsters’ but it still looks wonderful – an amazing amount of detail.  My apologies for not knowing the artist’s name.

mural on a wall

The wall on the west side of the building is where the gangsta wall is.  It’s a wall that features the images of “bad guy” actors in famous movies, starting with Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”.

entrance to building, Toe Jam Backot, on the corner, whole building is covered in street art murals

Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Al Pacino from “Scarface”

Marlon Brando as the Godfather, in a mural with other actors

… Al Pacino in “Scarface” (again), Robert DeNiro in “Cape Fear”,  and John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction” …

mural with images of famous actors in movie roles, Al Pacino in Scarfacce, a man in a tophat, a man with a machine gun

   ….Arnie in “Terminator”,   Malcolm McDowell in “Clockwork Orange”, a masked Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs”,  and Heath Ledger as “The Joker” …

Clockwork Orange, masked Anthony Hopkins and Heath Ledger as the Joker, faces in a mural on a wall, black background, Wynwood

…. and at the very end is the only woman, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill

Uma Thurman wielding a sword, image from Kill Bill movie

As you have probably noticed, I haven’t named all the faces – still doing the research to find out who they are!  If you can help, please let me know!

a young man poses in front a mural with images of actor's faces, original gangsta is the title of the mural, gangstawall

artist’s signature, 2009

artist signature on gangsta wall mural, 2009