Flatbush finds

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Mary C

Murals and graffiti seen while walking around Brooklyn near Flatbush Ave (near Prospect Park).

below: A Frida Kahlo portrait by Albertus Joseph

mural of South American painter and artist Frida Kahlo, with bright red lips, and flowers in her hair, on a metal door, painted by Albertus Joseph

below: A young girl surrounded by tulips and feathers painted at Rutland Road by Danielle Mastrion to honor the annual West Indian Day parade.

below: Community mural of palm trees and flowers by the lake. Brooklyn Peace Constellation was the work of a long list of artists and contributors.

A group of Fumero portraits beside Errol’s Caribbean Bakery on Hawthorne.

At Flatbush and Fenimore is this white on black mural by Katie Merz. In it you can find hundreds of little shapes, symbols, words and images such as a guitar, cats, dogs, and even a loaf of bread,

a motorbike is parked beside a store whose wall is covered with a white on black steet art mural by Katie Merz, little images of many things

below: Cue the Charis

black and white street art painting with Charis tag plus the words cue the charis

below: Don’t shoot!

garage door with graffiti, large letters, text that says don't shoot

below: Edmonster times four.

graffiti on the side of a box on the street, edmonster, four identical pictures of a multicoloured monster

Photos taken in June 2022

a visit to Freeman Alley

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Mary C

Freeman Alleyis a private lane that runs parallel to the Bowery close to Sara Roosevelt Park and Bowery subway station. It has become a destination for graffiti both for those who make it and for those who want to look at it. Stencils, wheatpaste, and stickers are the most common and there is lots of it! There is probably more than one blog post’s worth so this is just the start.

below: No loitering in the alley. About to munched on – this one-eyed pink and purple banana by eye.sticker is i danger of losing part of its peel.

below: “Do you see this?” Eyes and hearts but with a tear or two.

below: Mickey Mouse crucified, and a feline love more, #nohatefamily. Something about hello mushroom in there as well.

below: “Black Lives Matter is a movement, not a moment, by Individual Activist,

below: Many faces here including a lightning struck David Bowie. In the center is an anti-war poster by Brad Heckman (aka hecksign) that features a portrait of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

protest poster, anti-war, support Ukraine in its war

below: Another Individual Activist anti-war poster. Ukraine is not Putin’s blank canvas. On the left is a big colourful beetle by modomatic.

below: Another modomatic, this time a multicoloured mask. Sticking out on the right is a yellow arm with a pink donut and half smoked joint while a Half Brooklyn Crooklyn’s figure is running away (the last is by TheOhioGirl).

below: Another modomatic creation – insect like? Botanical?

below: “So much love” on newspaper by jkosart along with a back and white intricate drawing of a creature of some kind (signed moose)

below: A picture of a painter painting a picture, by font147

a poster by font147 of a yellow headed person painting on a large canvas and easel in front of a door and window

below: Two women – one on the Sony screen along with one as a BLM tribute by Voxx Romana

below: Mother and Child on blue

stencil graffiti, black on blue, of iconic mother and child

below: A yellow duck below an old faded poem. Once there was a bouquet of red roses but it looks like someone showed their displeasure with pink paint.

below: At the very top, a multiple-eyed face by sold out art show. The woman with the black and white flower hair has her own post on this blog – see Unleashing Flowers.

below: A period piece, black and white in sepia, from 33wallflower33,

below: Oversalted broccoli and a boxer

In case you are interested in such things, there is a gallery/shop in the alley that features the work of many of these artists.

Photos taken June 2022

Schade on the street

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Mary C

A few years ago, one of the themes running through the work of Otto Schade, aka Osch, was a sunset circle in a black background. The figures within the circle were silhouettes.

street art by Otto Schade, sunset circle on black background, silhouettes of young boys with handguns pointed at the back of the head of the boy in front of him

Graffiti on a wall, wheatpaste graffiti surrounds a large orange and yellow circle with black silhouettes inside, boyes with rifles, spears, and bows and arrows pointed at man with jester hat and arms raised

Otto Schade, a k a Osch, mural of a circle with a sniper rifle target with mother and two kids in the crosshairs, sunset orange and red circle on black background, London, Shoreditch

moon circle in black sky, with silhouette of boy on a bike with E T in a basket on front handle bars, ET has a gun pointed at the boy

below: “Say it with Flowers”

a young girl picks flowers, the heads of the flowers are in the shape of radioactive symbol, silhouette, on sunset circle, by Osch, also known as Otto Schade

mural by Otto Schade on a large wood gate in Camden London England, sunset coloured circle with darker on bottom, a man in top hat with cigar in his mouth is counting notes of money as some of the notes blow in the breeze, a large bag of money by his feet, a girl is being lifted upward by a bunch of round helium balloons

Photos taken in 2016 and 2017

Some of these have appeared in prior posts.

Bratislava Graffiti

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Mary C

woman in a black beret and striped shirt holding onto a large microphone

below: Fred’s a flying chicken – a rooster on the wing

graffiti sticker in Bratislava, words that say fred flying chicken with a cartoonish yellow chicken head in the middle

below: Godot was here (and so was Nadej) but someone is still waiting. “Nedockas sa kamarat” is Slovak for “You won’t make it, friends.”

words written on a wall, by different people, including Godot was here, I'm still waiting, some words in Slovak, as well as was here

below: A stencilled portrait with a list of 3 Jan’s. The last one, Jan Kucjak was a Slovak journalist who was murdered in February 2018 along with his fiancee Martina Kušnírová. At the time Kucjak was investigating tax fraud of several businessmen with connections to top-level Slovak politicians.
The middle Jan, Jan Palach, was a Czech student who set himself on fire in central Prague on 16 Jan 1969 to protest the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. He died three days later. His funeral turned into a mass anti-communism demonstration.
Jan Hus, the Jan on top, is another Czech who died for his beliefs; He was burned as a heretic in 1415 for calling for reforms in the Catholic church.

stencil graffiti on a wall, man's portrait, small, with names of three Jans, Jan Hus, Jan Palach, and Jan

below: Horst in text, a little fat guy Tubby1 by cooklan, and another drawn monster with two horns and a claw for a hand. Unfortunately the name under the drawing isn’t quite clear enough (or there is nothing online about said monster).

stickers on metal boxes on a utility pole in Bratislava, one is just the name Horst, two others are cartoonish characters in black and white.

graffiti, black and white photo of a man with a red clown nose added on to it

below: Neklam with a pink tie, plus a small black and white sticker from German artist HNRX. The blue and white character with mirror symmetry is Mister Bohnita. Defend.

man with a gun, in combat clothing and helmet, graffiti on a piece of newspaper or magazine

below: I suspect that the Uncle Sam type red and white striped top hat is an insult or a protest.

below: A pair of pigeons on a wall.

two large wheatpaste pigeons on a crumbling wall with another street art tag behind

below: cute animal heads

a sticker on a pole, graffiti, with rainbow coloured heads of sheep, cute,

below: Retus with a strange yellowish face and big blood shot eyes. Also, a blue and yellow ribbon for Ukraine.

two stickers graffiti on a pole, the upper one is about the Ukraine war, with a yellow and blue ribbon, the lower one is a yellow skinned character with large white blood shot eyes with word retus written beside it

below: REMS in a respirator,

three stickers on on a pole, the one on top pictures a man in a gas mask respirator and wearing a baseball cap with REMS written on it

below: © MGA with big eyes and pink flowers in her hair.

sticker on a metal pole, a girl with pink curls, pink flowers inher hair, wearing a pink and purple dress

Photos taken in June 2022

Elicser and Sweetman at West Lodge

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Mary C

Along a wall beside the playground at 103 and 105 West Lodge is a mural painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman a couple of years ago. It’s theme is the outdoors and it includes scenes like kids playing baseball, people reading and sitting outside enjoying themselves, as well as people planting gardens and admiring the flowers. There are also lots of animals – a large dragonfly shows off its wings, bees fly by, squirrels hoard nuts, a robin pulls a pink worm out of the ground, and a very large hedgehog sniffs the flowers.

below: Hedgehog covered with thousands of protective spikes.

large hedgehog in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: Playing baseball and keeping an eye on the bees

outdoors theme mural on wall at west lodge ave apartment buildings, parkdale

large bee in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: An encounter with a skunk

woman in blue uniform sitting on ground beside large skunk, kids watching her

below: Playing with friends. Great dunk shot!

mural by elicseer elliott, people outside, two boys playing basketball

part of a mural along a wall by elicser elliot, a girl with a white head scarf holds a large orange flower. winter time, snow on the ground

below: This robin has found very large worm

mural, nick sweetman, brown dog standing beside a large robin that is pulling a pink worm out of the ground

mural, boy outside, kneeling on grass and playing with large pink worm, another boy is hiding behind a tree

corner of wall, interior angle, with mural painted on it

below: A blue dragonfly with translucent wings

blue bodied dragonfly in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman, 103 West Lodge Ave., wall, snow on the ground, beside some large trees

elicser elliott mural, three kids outside, one in purple top and orange shorts sitting against tree, reading a book.

below: A black squirrel and a grey squirrel and thousands of nuts!

mural, outside, close up of a black squirrel and a grey squirrel and their piles of nuts

two people sitting in a garden, part of a mural on a wall, one person in a green t shirt is planting a small green twig in the brown dirt, the other person is female and has a purple head scarf

portion of wall painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman, people outside,

snow covered playground with one wall covered in a mural painted by elicser elliott and nick sweetman

The people in the mural scenes were painted by Elicser Elliott while Nick Sweetman painted the animals.

Photos were taken December 2022

Baayfalls on the Highline

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Mary C

The newest mural visible as you walk the High Line Park is “The Baayfalls” by Jordan Casteel.

“I am not interested in competing with anyone. I hope we all make it.” The mural is a portrait of Fallou, a woman who sells hats in Harlem and her brother Baay Demba Sow who was visiting from Senegal. He is member of Baye Fall movement, a West African Sufi order that is part of the Mouride brotherhood.

Coney Island

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Mary C

Greetings from Coney Island! A postcard type mural by Megan Watters.

postcard style mural, greetings from Coney Island, with images in the letters

Here street art has been incorporated into the amusement park. Each year since 2015 , Coney Art Walls has added to their collection of murals and now has more than 60. Go when the park is open!

large painting of a woman's face on the side of the cyclone, a roller coaster ride at Luna, the amusement park at Coney Island

below: More of the Art Walls. The largest one in the photo is by Nina Chanel Abney. The one closest to the camera is ‘Handsome Brother and the Mermaid’ by Aiko which is based on an old Japanese tale called “Taro Urashima and Dragon Palace”.

mural of two people, woman with green face

mural in black and white and grey tones, portrait of 3 black men

below: Behind a chainlink fence, another Coney Island mural.

an old RV parked in front of a coney island mural, sign above the mural advertising cotton candy and other products for sale

below: And yet another Coney Island mural, this one with old black and white photographs of New York City views inside the letters. The Statue of Liberty makes a great exclamation mark.

mural for coney island, letters spelling coney with old black and white photos in the letters

below: Although it is disappearing behind the ivy, this is yet another Coney Island mural.

blue mural with coney island in cursive, an ince cream cone and a hot dog, but ivy is growing from above and starting to cover up the mural

below: Clown face and more faces. Live and let live – street artists against hate in the bottom right. And that blue guy? Have you seen how many teeth he has?!

stickers and slaps on a wall, a clown face in red white and blue, a light blue drawing of a man with one eye open the other eye closed, big smile with too many teeth, also a black and white sticker live and let live street artists against hate

below: Smell the flowers before they die and by the looks of it you don’t have long….

graffiti sticker on metal pole, vase of flowers some dying and some still healthy with text that says stop and smell the flowers while you can

three slaps on a wall

below: A jumble of strings and wires and a few found objects all wound up and made into a slightly human-like shape. Man is a mess?

a wheatpaste graffiti on a red pole, a photo of a mass of string, ribbon, and other items in a vaguely humanoid shape

below: The 5th, and last one here, Coney Island mural is the newest and the biggest. This is “Coney Is For Everyone” on Stilwell Avenue, painted by Danielle Mastrion. It was an Alliance for Coney Island project.

part of a large welcome to coney island mural

part of a mural, a large sea turtle swimming past an octopus as a young boy looks on, aquarium

a woman breathing fire in a mural

coney island mural, the word coney in a beach scene with 2 beachchairs and a child's silhouette

far right end of welcome to coney island mural, beside a pizza restaurant

below: A blue Subway Doodle monster sleeps in front of Nathans on the boardwalk.

Nathans hot dog restaurant on the boardwalk at Coney Island, closed, painting of a blue monster lying on its side, asleep on the metal shutters covering the windows

below: Another result of the Alliance for Coney Island efforts is this multicolour mural on the shutters that was painted by Ledania.

blog_multicolor_amusement_park

sticker on a metal pole outdoors, I (red heart) my hood

below: Lock him up! Donald Trump behind bars. Doesn’t he look cute in black and white stripes?

graffiti sticker on a metal pole. Head shot of former American president Donald Trump (aka the former guy) in jailhouse black and white and behind blue bars

subway is above ground, and above the stores along a coney island street, near Steamania Seafood restaurant and its shrimp mural along the sidewalk

unleashing flowers

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Mary C

in New York City

Her hair is always a tidy profusion of black and white flowers and there is often a tiny little red heart tucked into her curls.

drecks drawing of a female character with hair as big black and white flowers, slaps in new york city, green outfit, big brown boots with laces, and a word bubble that says burp happens

These characters are the creation of drecks.

drecks drawing of a female character with hair as big black and white flowers, slaps in new york city, wearing very small but very red shoes

drecks drawing of a female character with hair as big black and white flowers, slaps in new york city, drawings of city buildings on the bottom of her pants

drecks drawing of a female character with hair as big black and white flowers, slaps in new york city on yellow background, with grid of daisy like flowers below

Viennese slaps and stencils

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Mary C

Stencils, stickers, and small paste ups around Vienna

below: You don’t have to look like this

two stencils on a concrete wall, one red and one black, both with a silhouette of a person's figure and both with words that say you don't have to look like this

below: K2m Cactus is feeling blue – I can Imagine is ici (or is it Incredible Crew of Invaders?) – and someone’s wearing a gas mask.

below: Skateboarder, diva, and 2 lit lighters. Let’s scream.

below: Fishman doesn’t seem to like his metamorphosis. I have questions – how does he breathe? How does his hair stay in place?

below: Screaming in anger and frustration “Nothing I do matters while Capitalism exists. “

black stencil of a man with head back and mouth open as he screams the words nothing I do matters while capitalism exists.

below: Comment on the Patriarchy

below: With a touch of green

stencil of a person sitting, in black except for green of lenses in glasses that they are wearing

below: Mouse with an umbrella or at least I think that it’s a mouse. Such a ballsy behind.

black stencil of a mouse holding an umbrella as it stands on its hind legs

below: Eyes – blue eyes on red and one eye almost hidden behind a mask and torn paper.

below: Stickers on blue

a blue circular street sign that has been covered with stickers

below: More stickers and paint on sign

directional sign by the waterfront that has been covered with stickers and some painted graffiti tags

below: Oh my! A sorry yellow ghost – he doesn’t look very sorry does he?

below: Frauhans

below: Little green happy faces plus translation surprises: Weihnacht hatte angst aber Ostern hat eier!! = Christmas has fear but Easter has eggs. Why do people choose the words they write?

below: While a blue Rick Astley claims that he’s never gonna give you up others are waiting for something to happen even though something is waiting behind you.

words written in black marker on a wall along with a little character

below: Forked tongue, sluglike hugs on a pole. We all need a little TLC.

below: Big theater, little applause. The curtain drew back and revealed that the world is on the stage. All the world’s a stage…..

Almonds and Wine on Bathurst

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Mary C

“Almonds and Wine” was a short (5 minute) animated film by Arnie Lipsey. It is the retelling of a Yiddish folk song about a wedding of a couple from Eastern Europe. In the film the newlyweds emigrate to Canada and become part of Toronto’s Jewish community. In turn, their children grow up, marry, and have their own children.

Using scenes from the film, a mosaic mural was created that now lines a section of sidewalk on Bathurst Street. It was designed to look like a strip of film with black lines between the frames as well as the sprockets along the edges.