There are a series of 5 paintings by Bone Head nestled between the windows of a building that backs onto Graffiti Alley in Toronto. As the name suggests, Bone Head painted characters with large boney heads or skulls. They also have a penchant for white shirts and striped neck ties!
Athens Ontario that is. This Ontario town has decorated its walls with murals for many years now. Some of the older ones have been painted over and some have been refurbished. Most tell stories about the history and people of the community.
below: Main Street in Athens, June 2023
below: A tribute to Joshua Bates and his founding of the community of Farmersville. Bates was a surveyor and an architect. He donated land and built schools, churches, and stores. The town was renamed Athens in 1888.
below: On the wall of the fire station is a mural titled ‘The Great Fire/Athens 1894’ – “Dawn, May 19, fire broke out on Victoria Street but quickly spread to Main Street. The new fire engine could not be used because its short hose brought it too close to the flames.”
“In an act of great heroism, Mr. J. Rosenbarker braved the flames to climb down into an unused well close behind the burning buildings to hand up water to a bucket brigade.
Mr. Rosenbarker stayed at his post until the fire was finally conquered.”
below: The day that I was in Athens there were two large trucks parked alongside this mural so I couldn’t get any proper photos of it. It is a series of medallions showing local landmarks such as the House of Industry, Dr. Giles House, Quaker Meeting House, the mill, and the First Nations Market.
below: ‘The Gathering’ 2020 by Dave Sheridan. This replaces an earlier 1987 mural by Pierre Hardy which in turn replaced a small painting on canvas by Crawford Slack in 1927. The portrait in the oval frame, top right, is Crawford C. Slack. Crawford Chelson Slack was born in nearby Wiltsetown in 1855. He was a painter (and a poet and a musician).
“Needn’t talk ter me ‘bout livin’ in the city with its show,
Druther live ‘mong these surroundin’s where the folks are rather slow…
Where the golden summer sunset gilds the village church’s dome —
There among the slantin’ shadows, I would druther have my home.”
by Crawford Slack
below: A lazy afternoon by the lake, “Charleston Lake Picnic” by Noreen Mallory. Granite outcroppings, pine trees, and water, all very Ontario cottage country scenery.
below: Mallory’s family had a cottage nearby and summers spent there helped inspire this mural. Another inspiration was “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe”, a painting by French Impressionist Édouard Manet (except there are no nudes in Mallory’s version).
below: Manet’s picnic painting of 1893
below: At the corner of Victoria and Main streets.
below: A pair of work horses busy on the farm, another mural by Dave Sheridan.
below: Paint cans – the mural was not quite finished the day that I was there. I’m sorry that I missed seeing it painted.
below: Brockville and Westport Railway. No signature. Former Athens railway station. The first train ran on B&W railroad in 1888 pulled by engines built at the Kingston Locomotive Works. The line was 45 miles long and had 16 stops.
It replaces an earlier 1987 mural by Lorrie Maruscak
below: Inside the Main Street Cafe is yet another mural, ‘Step into the Past’. It was painted by Sheila Ballantyne and Sergio Lopes.
below: A copy of an older mural that no longer exists is displayed on a fence. “This mural originally graced the hardware store on this site and was created in 1990 by Cathy McGuire. The border features alternating patterns of quilt squares and historic farm scenes. The center of the mural depicts farmers and a steam engine threshing the grain that separated the grain from the stem.”
below: Two large weathered photographs on display.
below: “Dedicated to the Canadian troops who trained in the Athens area and who served in the First World Ward (circa 1915).
below: Main Street, Athens, 1920.
below: Main Street is also represented by a mural that features some of the businesses that were established here.
below: The flag that the boy is holding is the version of the Canadian Red Ensign that was in use between 1922 and 1957.
below: Main Street 1910 (found on Wikipedia, original source Special Collections, Toronto Public Library. Photographer: H.R. Knowlton). The large brick building with the three awnings in front is home to three businesses, Thompson, Lamb, and Arnold like those in the mural.
below: A bit of whimsy, a faded rose bush
in downtown Belleville (Ontario)
The mural was painted by Allan Bender, John Nobrega, and Stacey Kinder of Blinc Studios.
The name Turtle Island comes from creation stories told by a number of indigenous groups of North America. It represents North America (or the Earth).
There is another large mural in downtown Belleville. It is a much more literal representation of the city and includes a few of that city’s landmarks.
below: The mural and the street it is trying to depict. The tall tower in the background is Belleville City Hall.
below: The white semi circle things on the right side are the Moira Bridge, an old double arched bridge built in 1930.
below: Belleville water tower, a Monarch butterfly, the old train station, and the Quinte Skyway Bridge.
below: A train pulls into the station. Artwork by Christopher Bennett.
And last, there are other paintings by Chris Bennett around Belleville including this tribute to Essential Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are many little collections like this one all over Paris. Let’s take a closer look at what’s here…..
below: Chic! with fabulous earrings and a heart shaped mouth, a woman by StoEYES, along with a pile of yellow rubber duckies from canards_vagabonds (aka Sylvie Gennerat) and a babydolls life,
below: A flowa, a single flowa in a little flowa pot.
below: She’s got green eyes, blue hair, and a smile on her face – by Nevoul Art (La petite Fée du Street Art) On the right was a little painting by G❤️ArT but unfortunately it’s been blacked out.
below: A complex drawing in black and white by Juliette Savaëte aka Dessin nomade below what appears to be a man’s body with a cat’s head. But it’s damaged so it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on.
below: More black lines and another portrait by Juliette Savaëte this time his name is Raoul.
…. and another Raoul. Raoul L’Homme Tranquille
below: A bright little threesome by Mark Temlett
below: And last, La Marinade stars and bright pink flowers beside black dots on orange.
In a small park at Place Salvador Allende (7th arr.) there is a yellow Paris post office mailbox on which there are some portraits by C215 (aka Christian Guemy). Guemy has painted tributes to many people including some on other yellow post office boxes. The box pictured here is close to the Musee de l’Ordre de la Liberation (located in the Hotel National des Invalides) and features people seen in the museum who played a role in the French Resistance during WW2.
below: Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné (1913-1948) was an army officer in the French Foreign Legion. He died “in the line of duty” in Vietnam on 1st March 1948.
below: Marcelle Henry (1895-1945) was active in the Resistance during WW2 and is one of the six women recognized among the “Compagnons of the Liberation”. She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and sentenced to death but spent the remaining months of the war in concentration camps. She lived to see freedom but died shortly after from the effects of her incarceration.
below: Simone Michel-Levy (1906-1945) was also a French Resistance worker. She had quite a few aliases including Emma, Françoise, Madame Royale, Mademoiselle Flaubert or Madame Bertrand. She too is one of the six women recognized among the “Compagnons of the Liberation”. She was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1943 and sent to a concentration camp. At the camp she help organize an uprising against the guards. She was hanged for this – 10 days before the camp was liberated.
The wall that lines the whole of rue Henri Nogueres (a pedestrian street) has been repainted many times. In March of 2023 this is what it looked like. Most of it is a grande fresque by Black Lines titled “Colère Générale” (General Anger), painted in February 2023.
Black Lines is an artist collective whose Instagram page uses the phrase “au service des luttes (in the service of struggles)” to describe what they do. All of these murals are in black and white.
below: The next few pictures show the collaborative work of Veneno One and Itvan Kebadian
below: Greve Generale = General Strike There were a number of one day strikes in France in January, February, and March of 2023. Most of the protest was against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms including raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64.
below: Berthet One painted this section and there is a lot going on here. “I can’t breathe” are the words that became synonymous with George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white policeman in the USA, but here it is a KKK member that is being strangled.
below: La rue, les urnes ou les armes (= The street, the ballot boxes or the weapons)
below: Bandana masked protester
below: His molotov cocktail is lit and ready to throw. Painted by Jack Ardi.
below: According to this image by C.MoA FarFad, “It will be fine. It will be fine. It will be fine”. Are they destroying Capitalism?
below: More of the wall. The woman in the foreground was painted by GRNDR. It is a portrait of Lisetta Vallet, an Italian partisan who fought in the Resistance during WW2.
below: “Le ruissellement a bien lieu, il se fait du bas vers le haut = runoff is taking place, it is done from bottom to top
80 milliards is 80 billion
mefiez vous des fleurs = beware of flowers … All in a piece by Michael Peronard
My apologies to Lise Rousset Lesieur who painted the portion with the flowers as I didn’t get a picture of her whole section.
below: Sedition is the solution.
below: “Nous étions debout et nous ne le savions pas” (We were up and we didn’t know it).
below: Part of the wall has been tagged already
below: A skull with the words “vanité va niquer toi” and when I used google translate I discovered that I have just learned new words to swear in French (although vanité is just vanity).
below: On the pavement by your feet, praying with her rosary is this woman by Aort (this is not a Black Lines piece).
At one end of the wall there is painting, also in grey tones, that pre-dates the Black Lines painting by a few months.
below: On the right hand side is a section of calligraphy in black and white by Johnnys Artwork aka Johnny Ashbaugh
below: Using the calligraphy as a background, a portrait of a woman was painted by Bandit Graffiti. Originally she was smoking a cigarette.
Photos taken March 2023
other Black Lines artists involved in the wall: Rebus, CROS, and Damien Roudeau
On rue Ourcq there is a large building covered with multicoloured faces all painted by DA Cruz. So many eyes!
There is then a whole wall/fence painted by many different artists including these blue and gold faces by Un Kolor Distinto.
below: In grey tones, a mural by American artist BK Foxx. This is the left half, a girl pushing against a wall.
below: The righthand side of the Foxx mural,
below:
below: “Can’t stop; won’t stop. Hip Hop” and Yellows. Decipher as you will.
below: More Cruz faces – this time it looks like a happy couple.
below: A lovely portrait with a panda along for the ride, by Doudou Style.
below: A spray paint can in her hand?
below: Signed by Kaidea – a portrait in lilac and lavendar with long flowing hair.
below: Baseball ptcher
below: A book reader who can’t stop dreaming, by FKDL aka Franck Duval.
below: Blue faces peaking out from behind the mask
below: Rue Ourcq ends at Av. Jean Jaures at the same time that the railway passes overhead. The end section is also covered with DA Cruz faces.
Photos taken March 2023
Well, probably not the Mexico you’re thinking of…. I was referring to the village of Mexico in upstate New York.
below: This brick building with the clock tower is the Town Hall in Mexico NY, where one wall is now home to a large mural.
below: The mural illustrates some of the history of the area.
below: The subtitle on the left is La Guerre d’Independance. I am not sure why it is in French.
below: In the center of the mural is a circular coin shaped piece, a Liberty Walking half dollar with the motto “In God We Trust”. It is dated 2004 when the mural was painted.
below: A tribute to the area’s role in the Underground Railroad. Mexico was one of the most active abolitionist and Underground Railroad centers in central New York. Starr Cark (1793-1866) and his wife Harriet Loomis Clark who lived in the village played a central role. Rather than recount the story on this page you can find a link to the National Park Service website describing Star Clark’s Tinshop.
below: The plaque that accompanies the mural states that the artist was Kenneth C. Burke of Syracuse NY. Everyone who donated in support of the mural is also listed as are the members of the Greater Mexico Chamber of Commerce.
below: The old building shown in the mural still exists and looks almost exactly the same – it is directly across the street from the Town Hall.
below: The courtyard behind Boulder Coffee Co. at the corner of Alexander and South Clinton is decorated with street art murals.
below: A closer look at the masked horse and its rider.
below: “Andy and the Big Dead Waltz” by Caitlin Yarsky, 2014
below: A cow of many colours,
below: This black and white mural was painted by Ian Kuali’i, a Hawaiian artist, as part of Wall Therapy 2022 (Wall Therapy is the Rochester Mural Festival). It is on the same building as the cow in the above photo.
below: The next three images feature the campground on the wall of the Rochester Beer Park. RV’s, trailers, and campers of all vintages.
below: This large mural with a very large spider was painted by Nani Chacon and is titled “Visions”. It is painted on the wall of Strangebird Brewery.
below: Change taught me graffiti along with the Black Tabby party “The revolution will not be televised”
below: A small portrait in faded blacks
below: A red, white, and blue butterfly on a pole. A single tear shape falls from the eye on her central wing. A red heart and red lips add colour to her other wings.
below: This rather grotesque character seems to have a life ring around his middle but he’s disintegrating just the same. Food supplied by Snack Shack.
below: Stickers on a yellow sign. Careful! That chicken’s got its eye on you.
below: He or she is a floating, encased in an uncomfortable metal scuba outfit. Humpty Dumpty got tired of sitting on his wall and went for a swim? Tweedledee sank and Tweedledum is looking for him? Or, going back in time, one of those chubby round little people from Fisher Price escaped from the playroom many years ago and has been bobbing around in the ocean ever since. Or?
below: A certain arrangement of paint and stickers
below: No room for Fascism. The Nazi-headed snake has been caught.
below: Approaching Gold, along with a horned animal and an advert for the Abilene bar and lounge.
Photos taken in May 2023.
On the side of Fat Pasha Restaurant at the corner of Howland and Dupont there is a large mural of ten local Annex residents painted by Troy Lovegates.
Eyes on the Streets 