Barton Street “shoes”

Posted on June 19, 2025 by Mary C

Once upon a time, a very long time ago in fact, it used to be a shoe store on Barton Street. Now it provides exhibit wall space for street art artists. Almost two years ago I showed some photos that were taken here for the Wheat paste anti-gallery, (September 2023). The building still stands and the doors and windows are still covered with plywood. But now that plywood is taking on a life of its own as old wheatpastes fade and tear and new papers are added on top. This is how it looked mid-June 2025.

below: Oakwood Place and the old shoe store at Barton E and Ottawa.

below: A large wheatpaste, monochromatic, symmetrical collage with eyes in the center – a work by Jumblefacefoto, aka Jeremy Lynch.

below: Zeroing in on just the lower portion of one …..

below: Such wonderful feet!

below: Post no bills, if you can’t read it do you need to obey it?

an eye, and a sliver of the edge of a paper paste up piece, beside a section of plywood wall with multiple bits of old paper from graffiti, and some paint

below: More wheatpaste with eyes in the center.

jumblefacefoto paper collages graffiti on plywood wall

below: Remains of crnshnk pieces. Follow the link at the top of this post to see these in their prime.

remnants of older paper paste up graffiti, torn, on plywood, in black and white images

below: Another fragment of an older piece – what looks like a skull in a round mirror.

image of a skull in a round mirror, a portion of old paper paste up on wall, rest is torn away

below: Polar bear by Invasive Animal (from Sept 2023) is still there although now it appears to be behind bars.

paper wheatpaste of a polar bear, on plywood, by Invasive Animal, now behid a metal construction fence

three wheatpaste animals by invasive animal, a warthog, a rhino and a goat with horns

wheatpaste of horse head and mane by invasive animal

below: Almost disappeared.

below: Warning triangles – missiles, tanks, and robotics.

below: Stickers on the side of a Canada Post mailbox including two vintage kids by 33wallflower33

bicycles parked on the sidewalk outside a cycle shop, also a motorized wheelchair, scooter, in pink, Hamilton, Barton Street

Hess Village, Hamilton

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Mary C

In a small section of Hamilton……

below: “Woman with Flowers” by Megan Oldhues from the 2022 Concrete Canvas Festival

mural of a woman with flowers by Megan Oldhues

below: Mediah‘s angular shapes and colour contrasts on a bright purple background.

mural of graphics, lines, angles and shapes on a bright purple background, by Mediah

below: Reaching for a butterfly, “Helping Hand” by Alex Bacon from the 2019 Concrete Canvas Festival

large mural of a brown hand reaching for a butterfly, by Alex Bacon

below: Raven and turtle, a collaboration between Mique Michelle & Kalkidan Assefa (aka Drippin’ Soul), 2019

man walking past a mural, mural of a raven with a red berry in its beak, also a turtle in the mural, it was painted by Mique Michelle and Kalkidan Assefa

mural of a raven with a red berry in its beak, also a turtle in the mural

below: Some curvy-limbed and very flexible people, part of a mural by Burnt Toast

part of a black and white mural on a fence, of people with curvy arms and legs, by burnt toast creative

below: A tribute to Sophia

wheat paste anti gallery

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Mary C

Take a few abandoned downtown Hamilton buildings and add large size artworks by a diverse group of artists and you have the makings of the Wheat Paste Anti Gallery. No artist’s statements, no words on the wall. This is the project has been brought to life by jumblefacefoto, aka Jeremy Lynch (including the producing, printing, and pasting of all the images in the installation).

In this blog post I want to show you the artists whose work now on display “in” Hamilton’s first Anti Gallery (in no particular order). First, Invasive Animal has taken over the front of the Oakwood Place building at 1067 Barton Street East where a sign says “Hop Canadian”. Once upon a time it said, “Save our jobs, shop Canadian”. Also once upon a time, this was a restaurant/bar. Now the animals have taken over.

front of an empty and boarded up grey two storey building in downtown Hamilton that now has many wheat paste images of animals

Some of the animals:

wheatpaste images of animals printed on paper, on exterior of grey abandoned building, a parrot, a beaver, and a bear

Next door to the Oakwood was a Shoe King store. The “king” is gone and plywood covers its windows and doors; now it is a gallery wall for crkshnk (pronounced crookshank), an artist from New York City. All the images across the storefront are his work.

exterior of old shoe king store in Hamilton, large sign is broken, store front covered with plywood, now many wheat paste paper street art artworks on the exterior walls

Another artist on display here is 33wallflower33. Her (and I am assuming that!) women and children evoke a previous age and often have a message to deliver.