aptART gender equality

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In central Amman is a mural of a face that is divided vertically down the middle, half male and half female.  It was painted by Akut (half of Herakut) in 2016.

mural by herakut in Amman, very large face that is divided vertically down the middle, male on one side, female on the other, 4 storeys high, black background, man with beard and small moustache

mural by herakut in Amman, very large face that is divided vertically down the middle, male on one side, female on the other,close up of eyes, nose and mouth

This mural was made with the support of USAid and aptART.  The latter is an acronym for Awareness and Prevention through Art.  In this case, they are highlighting the question of gender equality.   They sponsored four other murals in Amman but unfortunately I don’t have any photos of them (nor did I see them when I was there).

Breaking the Silence

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‘Breaking the Silence’ is a large mural on Arar Street in Amman, Jordan.   Two young women designed and painted this 8 storey mural, Miramar Al Nayyar, and Dalal ­Mitwally

large mural of a woman in grey tones, looking upwards with her eyes closed. It covers the whole of one side of a multi storey building, Arabic writing around her

Red Arabic writing provides a pattern in the background.  The English translation is: “Let your eyes be cast on the mountaintops.”

colours and people on the stairs.

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On Ahmad Bin Hanbal Street, close to where it connects to Prince Muhammad, there is a set of stairs leading upward.  Because Amman is built on a number of hills, stairs like this are many (although not all of them are painted).

brightly coloured stairs that end with a a white wall with paintings of people made from circles and ovals with stick arms and legs, all doing something

below: A busy group of people, climbing ladders, filming, talking to the cameraman, constructing, walking, etc.

a white wall with paintings of people made from circles and ovals with stick arms and legs, all doing something, climbing ladder,

rainow and flowers painted on a set of stairs

below: A long ribbon of colours flow from her backpack.

black silhouette of a girl with a backpack on, reading a book, colours flow from ther backpack in a long wave down the stairs

below: Leaves made of multicoloured spirals

beside a railing and a staircase, a mural of a tree with spirals in the place of leaves, many colours

part of a mural of stick figures with oval bodies, a hand on a hip

below: A question mark on his forehead.  Also, a view of one of the hillsides in central Amman.

a blue line drawing of a man's face with a question mark on his forehead, painted on a short wall, view of Amman in the background

Black & White Power

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In Rome there is a long line of murals by Italian artists Sten and Lex that line both sides of the same street, Via dei Magazzini Generali. On one side, on an orange wall, are portraits of famous people.

long orange wall with large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

On the opposite side of the street is a shorter blue wall with pictures of common people.

large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: A Pope

pope and others, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The portraits were made with a combination of stencils and painting.

girl, middle aged man, woman, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

three people, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

woman in hard hat giving peace symbol with hand, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Barak Obama

Barak Obama, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

elderly woman with glasses and yellow sweater, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Elvis & others

Elvis Presley and a rapper, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The one different picture is the panther, a symbol of power, with a woman’s face superimposed on it.

a large panther head in profile, with mouth wide open and teeth showing, a woman superimposed onto the side of the face of the panther, mural by sten and lex called black and white power

 

at Borgo Pio and Vicolo Del Campanile

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Near the Vatican is saw a small collection of pasteups:

below: Game Over on the Cash Machine by Luther Posca

paste up graffiti on a wall in Rome, a picture of a cash machine as video game, monitor says game over

paper paste up of Jesus, white robes, halo, and arms reaching up

close up of Jesus's upper body and the picture and words on his chest

below: The remains of a big nosed character by K2M with a red heart along with a black and white version of Edvard Munch’s “Scream” but with a man in a white shirt and black tie instead.  Modern man’s turn to scream.

3 paper paste ups on a yellow concrete wall, all three slightly faded and peeling at the edges, one is a K2M charaacter with a red heart, another is a black and white drawing similar to Edvard Munsch's Scream painting, and the last is a drawing of a young boy with ray gun and old fashioned idea of a space uniform

below: Similar to above but in better condition.  K2M’s iconic character now has a pink heart and a version of “American Gothic” by Grant Wood has appeared beside the screaming man. Again, the man is dressed in a white shirt and black tie.   Almost lost at the bottom are two stickers from Flat Heart.

paste ups on a metal box in the street in Rome

Roman faces and clown fish

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 “The Fall of the Gods” can seen on Via Ostiense.  It is a 40 metre mural painted in 2015 by Carlos Atoche and Mexican artist Luis Alberto Alvarez.  In it, images of ancient Roman statues have fallen and are now underwater.

faces and fish on blue background, painted mural on wall with barbed wire above it, another mural on the wall beyond as well

bearded man face, lying on his back, with a flying fish passing beside him

old mural of clown fish and faces on a wall

clown fish in mural

in a mural, a clown fish swims beside a swordfish

corner of wall, painted face, mural on both sides of the corner, rental bike, jump, parked in front

a man seated, with one foot on the other knee, bending over with hand on foot that's resting on knee

face of grey bearded man with curly hair, eyes closed, painted in a mural

wall with old mural, pieces of wall, breaking off, tree beside woth motorcyle

bike parked against a post in front of mural with a whale

below: This was above the mural

an old Barbie doll caught in a barbed wire fence above a mural

Pictures of the mural back when it was freshly painted can be seen on Carlos Atoches’ website.

Hunting Pollution

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In the Ostiense district in Rome there is a large mural of a heron titled “Hunting Pollution”.   It covers seven storeys of a residential building and took 21 days to paint in 2018.

Lower part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron, over seven storeys of a building in Rome, background in marine blues and greens

The artist, Federico Massa (aka Iena Cruz) has used Airlite paint.  This paint has been engineered to clean the air around it by neutralizing some pollutants.

Upper part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron with a fish in its beak

The mural was commissioned by Yourban2030, a female non-profit group that strives to bring awareness to environmental issues.

Lower part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron

pink seaweed or trees in a mural with a heron

altered street signs, Florence

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As you walk around Florence Italy, you can spot street signs that have been altered with witty additions of shapes and figures.  Similar signs have been spotted in Madrid, London, and Paris. Most of them are the work of Clet Abraham but there are a few that were created by Yipi Yipi Yeah, or YYY for short.   Here are a few that I saw in Florence early in January.

below: A policeman’s love

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a policeman bending down and kissing the white bar

below: A goalie defending his net

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a football goalie defending his net

below: Scrunching

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a large black hand scrunching the white bar

below: Chiseling away the white bar.

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a man chiseling away the white bar

below: Only two eyes seen because of a veil

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a woman in a veil covering all but her eyes

below: A game of cat and mouse

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a mouse beside a mouse hole, with a cat in the background

below: Using a pair of scissors

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a pair of scissors cuttig the white bar

below: A hanging brought to you by Yipi Yipi Yeah

dead end sign altered by yipi yipi yeah, three holes in the red bar and a creature hanging by the neck

below: Cupid’s arrow right on target

altered blue and white one way sign, the arrow is now piercing a red heart

below: Smashing ice

altered red and white no entry sign, graffiti by Clet Abraham, of a person breaking ice with a large ice pick

exitenter in Florence

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exitenter is a prolific graffiti artist whose art is usually centered around red hearts, love, and equality.  The pieces with their stick figures are simple and direct.

below: Reaching for love

simple graffiti of a black stick figure with white filled in, reaching up to a red heart, with the word exit written above it

below: Black equals white.  Equality

two stick figues, one with black body and the other with white body, holding hands, with a red equals sign above their hands

below: Swinging on a heart, in love.

on a blue one way street sign, a sticker with a stick figure swinging on a red heart

below: Apart and fighting, but come together in love.  Another way of saying “All you need is love”.

below: Together, hand in hand looking for love.

two stick figure people holding hands and reaching for a red heart

below: Juxtaposition of the Nativity scene with the idea of refugees.

street art paste up of a nativity scene, Mary and Joseph standing together with Mary holding the baby Jesus, under night sky with moon and stars. The word refugees is written below the picture. All contained in a grey arch shape

For more pictures and information, ExitEnter instagram page and website

crushing cars & flying blue spaceships

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There is a mural on Ahmad bin Hanbal street that features a tall skinny woman in orange overalls

cars parked beside wall with blue mural of tall skinny woman with wings and small blue spaceship

smallpainting on a concrete wall of a small blue spacecraft with a large white face inside it

below: She’s got white (paper?) wings and a folded paper boat in her hand.

a very tall skinny woman with white wings and long dark hair in a mural, standing ith one leg raised bent at the knee. She's wearing orange overalls and white boot-like shoes. She has a small white folded paper boat in one hand

below: Watch out, not the best place to park!  She’s about to stomp on the back window.

part of mural showing woman's legs, one leg raised looking like it's going to stomp on the red car that is parked beside the wall