On Crouch Street in Rochester NY, this large face stares out at passers-by. When it was painted by Vexta in 2015, there was a lot more vibrant pink and red in it. What is now pale yellow used to be closer to neon green and yellow.
Time passes and colours fade, but the eyes still stare relentlessly ahead.
Photos taken May 2023
Breaking Walls was an Urban Arts and Culture event in Montreal that was held back in June of this year. It was supported by Kolors Worldwide (“Let’s kolor the world”) and MOS Canada – Meeting of Styles Canada. The event was held in a space between rue Moreau and the railway tracks, close to rue Rouen, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. In hindsight, I realize that I missed a couple of the murals the day that I was there. Additionally, a couple of the smaller pieces that I have included may be graffiti that pre-dates the Breaking Walls event.
below: A Nick Sweetman and Mr. Tensoe2 collaboration
below: Vuducat aka Christina Mazzulla
below: Jijón painted red and pink figure
below: I am going to call it a blue traffic circle because it’s blue and it has traffic related items in it such as an orange cone, the front of a car, street signs, and traffic lights yellow. It was painted by Sergio MB. Unfortunately, the red and white tag has already defaced the work.
To the left of this purple dog (by Hank) was a painting of a woman’s portrait in turquoise that unfortunately has already been tagged over. It was painted by Polographe and can be seen on his Instagram page.
below: Arlick Enigma ( Arlick PaXman Team), originally from Mexico, painted this wonderful portrait of a child wearing a parka with a fur lined hood.
below: Monk.E and Luvs (Moise) collaboration
below: Emmanuel Jarus – A blue woman with long braids down her back walks away.
below: The portrait on the back of the truck is the work of Pearl
below: “Westbound” by Megan Oldhues.
below: Dodo_ose
below: Keep Going
below: Bryan Beyung
below: by Retro and Raquel Hernandez, both part of 𝑨𝖗𝖙 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝕿𝖊𝖕𝖔𝖟𝖙𝖑𝖆𝖓
below: A Mos Geez face
below: That’s one nasty can of spray paint! Nemo, or n3mo1er on Instagram.
below: A map of Montreal like a patchwork sock
below: Resister
Breaking Walls was supported by NBQ Canada (makers of NBQ Pro Spray Paint).
Photos taken in July 2023.
On Montreal’s rue Ontario, close to rue Moreau and the railway tracks, there is a long brick building close to the sidewalk. At one end there is a painting of a squirrel with an object in his little front paws. This nut shaped object has a label that says Courrier Plus which turns out to be a trucking/transportation company and the owner of the building on which the mural is painted.
The rest of the mural features a red fire hydrant, a pigeon and a toucan with a beak in rainbow colours.
As part of the town’s Bicenntenial (200 years!) celebration, a large mural was created for the side of a building in downtown Prescott Ontario.
The Prescott People’s Place
Commissioned by the Prescott Bicentennial Committee and dedicated
December 18th, 2010
The Prescott People’s Place is composed of over 3000 pictures from Prescott people. This mural was created by Chuck Street and made in Prescott at MD Signs.
Made possible by federal Canadian Heritage funding and the generous Prescott People.
Victoria Hall and St. John’s Market
The cornerstone for the Old Town Hall was laid on August 13th 1874 and the Market Building built in 1876. Both were demolished in 1960. The clock tower was added to the Town Hall in 1927. The orginal clock works were restored in 1980 and housed in the Rotary Clock Tower which still marks time today on the same corner. The building pictured on the left of the Town Hall is still standing and is home to the Forwarders Museum and Visitor Centre.
below: Railway bridge over rue Rouen. One side is being repainted.
below: Diamond shine bright in my all consuming light. Let every goal glow. Very recently painted by Indiana Brierly.
below: One side of the bridge was being repainted this morning.
below: He’s ready to paint…. by Sino ( or Sino Duc)
below: A white happy three eyed fish swimming among the scribbles.
below: A curly haired woman, or an old lady with a cane, and a monkey face. It looks like someone has a roller ready to paint over this section of wall…
below: Hummingbird and calla lily, by Judith Boily Valois.
below: Too cool dragon wearing blue shades and a jacket with the Montreal Expos logo on it. It’s been almost 20 years since the Expos played in Montreal.
Photos taken 23 July 2023
Murals in the central part of the city. Some old and some new.
below: Conor Harrington headless duellng men, or one man against himself?
below: It looks like a small blue whale inside a larger transparent whale. It’s called “Detecting Machine” and it was painted by Nevercrew, a pair of artists, Pablo Togni and Christian Rebecchi.
below: Be stronger than your excuses, under the bridge
below: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken
below: ‘The Giant Storybook Project’ by Herakut, painted Oct. 2012, on St. Paul Street
All pictures taken May 2023 except the bottom photo which is from 2015. The mural is still there but I didn’t take another picture of it when I was in Rochester a couple of months ago.
;
Another visit to Graffiti Alley to see what’s changed…..
below: Collage on the back of a sign with contributions by many.
below: An orange dragon graces a utility pole.
below: Sentient Cookie with “The words you’ve said to me a decade ago still echo in my brain”.
below: Another section of wall covered with the remains of stickers and slaps.
below: Truth, It’s that simple. Consume daily. “Free through an earnest volition. Side effects include decreased stress and increased mental clarity…. ” Dorian’s House.
below: Who do you love? Apparently someone loves his/her girlfriend while someone else loves, and misses, Stephanie Ann.
below: More ink additions, this time on a bird. Someone has written, “no phone no wife” – either he thinks that without a phone he can’t find/attract a wife (no tindr?) or he has neither a phone nor a wife (lucky man?). Interpret as you want. Also, there is Kone x Roc on his wing as well as Sari D. declaring her love forever.
below: Someone left their shoe behind… and that’s quite the reaction from Tips
below: 33wallflower33 wheatpaste – My body my choice
below: … and another
below: Urban Ninja Squadron running away with an angry bird…. and Adopt by Praxis in bright pink
below: An angry white cloud seems to hover hover a drawing by catchoo
below: More catchoo
below: What’s this chef serving up?
below: L S and Z
below: A skull and Noah forever.
Photos taken June 2023
On a Paris wall, I saw graffiti posters by Street Art Rebellion, a group of 48 artists and 18 partner organizations. Their Conquistador is sailing blind, he has his binoculars but he’s covered his eyes. They have produced many posters like this for their #loveplanet project, many of which can be seen on their Instagram page. Mankind’s relationship with nature and other such environmental issues feature heavily. Eight of the nine posters shown here start with a quote that is then illustrated.
below: A closer look at three of the posters. From left to right:
1. “L’homme a mange la terre” by JB Fressoz [translation: Man ate the Earth]
2. “Si vous pensez vraiment que notre environnement est moins important que nore economie, essayez juste d’arreter de respirer le temps de compter votre argent” by Guy McPherson (promoter of Near-Term Human Extinction, which predicts human extinction by 2026 [translation: “If you really think our environment is less important than our economy, just try to stop breathing while you count your money.]
3. “Si vous n’avez pas peur, c’est que vous n’avez pas compris” by Rob Hopkins (English activist and writer on environmental issues) [translation: If you’re not afraid, you don’t understand]
below: Two posters
1. left: “Maintenant, la seule croissance que nous supportons sera celle des arbres et des enfants” quote by Alain Damasio [translation: “Now the only growth we support will be trees and children]
2. right: “C’est une triste chose de songer que la nature parle et que genre human n l’ecoute pas” quote by Victor Hugo [translation: “It’s a sad thing to think that nature speaks and that mankind does not listen to it.]
below: “Tout seul plus vite ensemble plus loin” Extinction Rebellion [translation: All alone faster, together further]
below: “A l’echelle planetaire, cent multinationales sont responsables de 70% des emission de gaz efffet de serre” Manuel Cervera_Marzal [translation: On a planetary scale, one hundred multinationals are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions”]
Photos taken March 2023
This is another post about some of the murals seen around Rochester. As you may have noticed, there are many!
below: A small tree grows in front of a mural of stripes, rectangles, and other shapes
below: What big feet you have!
below: That foot, and the skin tight boot, belongs to this man, the creation of Swedish artist Andreas Englund who likes to paint people in grey superhero outfits with scanty red pants. This was part of Wall/Therapy 2015.
below: The abstract painting in greens and blues is the work of Nova.
below: Skull surrounded by moths, butterflies and flowers that seem to be growing out of it in a work titled “Cosmos” by Nico Cathcart as part of Wall/Therapy. Painted in Sept 2021.
below: Letters and symbols
below: Pink face but with only one visible eye, by Sam Rodriguez, 2014.
below: Omen (from Montreal) painted this woman lying on her side with her eyes closed.
below: The World is Yours by Queen Andrea (as in Letter Queen!), 2014.
below: Super Fresh
below: Mural by Pixel Pancho, a boy embracing a robot that has seen better days.
below: “Mother” by Maxxer242 aka Max Gramajo, painted in Sept 2021
below: Another mural featuring text.. A Word is an Image, by Shoe aka Niels Shoe Meulman. Image is written in very large letters spread out across the black wall.
below: Four quadrants of an eye and cheekbone is all that remain of a once larger mural by Daze aka Chris Ellis.
Photos taken May 2023
Some of these murals appeared in an earlier blog post titled, “murals, Rochester NY” from Dec 2015.
Most of these are old murals. In fact they were painted in 2013 as part of a Wall Therapy event. Just beyond the wall is a newer painting (that replaces one from 2013).
Big Fish and Friends, by Binho
below: An untitled piece by Maxx Moses
below: “When reading was a crime I taught myself… When slavery was inflicted, I bought myself… when the internet arrived I lost myself… Finally I’ve acknowledged my ancestors and reclaimed the Earth AS MINE!”
below: Flex your power, by Change
below: La Lucha Siempre by Range, aka Victor Zarate
below: Nearby is a mural that covers two sides of an old building. It was painted in 2022 by Faring Purth and Daniel Jesse Lewis.
Eyes on the Streets 