Wynwood’s movie gangstas

original gangsta mural

The gangsta wall in Wynwood is along the side of the Toe Jam Backlot, a private studio/event space that is available to rent.   The mural on the north wall has nothing to do with ‘gangsters’ but it still looks wonderful – an amazing amount of detail.  My apologies for not knowing the artist’s name.

mural on a wall

The wall on the west side of the building is where the gangsta wall is.  It’s a wall that features the images of “bad guy” actors in famous movies, starting with Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”.

entrance to building, Toe Jam Backot, on the corner, whole building is covered in street art murals

Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Al Pacino from “Scarface”

Marlon Brando as the Godfather, in a mural with other actors

… Al Pacino in “Scarface” (again), Robert DeNiro in “Cape Fear”,  and John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction” …

mural with images of famous actors in movie roles, Al Pacino in Scarfacce, a man in a tophat, a man with a machine gun

   ….Arnie in “Terminator”,   Malcolm McDowell in “Clockwork Orange”, a masked Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs”,  and Heath Ledger as “The Joker” …

Clockwork Orange, masked Anthony Hopkins and Heath Ledger as the Joker, faces in a mural on a wall, black background, Wynwood

…. and at the very end is the only woman, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill

Uma Thurman wielding a sword, image from Kill Bill movie

As you have probably noticed, I haven’t named all the faces – still doing the research to find out who they are!  If you can help, please let me know!

a young man poses in front a mural with images of actor's faces, original gangsta is the title of the mural, gangstawall

artist’s signature, 2009

artist signature on gangsta wall mural, 2009

Tati’s mermaids – a mural in Hollywood

Hollywood Florida that is.

One of the murals found in downtown Hollywood Florida is one by Tati Suarez (aka tati and @tatunga) that features mermaids with long flowing hair and purple tails.   Because it is very wide, I’ve taken pictures of it in sections.  From left to right here it is:

below: Greenish hair and yellow hair

two mermaids with yellow hair in a mural by tati in downtown hollywood florida, tatunga, mermaids are with a large blue fish

below: Moving to pale orange hair

light orange coloured hair on a mermaid with purple tail

below: And then pink hair

part of a larger mural by Tati Suarez, @tatunga, of mermaids - long pink hair, purple scales on fin,

pink haired mermaid resting on top of a blue fish, mural

below:  Almost the whole mural!  A long mural in a tight spot makes for angled photos.

part of a larger mural by Tati Suarez, @tatunga, of mermaids -

below: The north end of the mural

part of a larger mural by Tati Suarez, @tatunga, of mermaids - mermaids with long pink hair and purple fins swimming in blue water

#downtownhollywoodmuralproject

on Tallinn walls

Tallinn is the capital city of the small Baltic country Estonia.  I was only there for a short time but I did find some street art in the old town and in Kalamaja.

below: The young person on the right is the work of @minaJaLydia.  I you look closely, there are two tiny faces to the right of the knees.

street art by MinaJaLydia on a concrete wall, two pieces, a pasteup of an elaborate abstract drawing of a face and hands as well as mushrooms and other plant life. the other is a young person sitting on a chair, with 4 legs hanging from the chair.

below: I am calling this one, The Warrior and his Social Media Hedgehog.  They are the work of Edward von Longus

a large muscular partially clad man with a weapon over his shoulder, on a grey brick wall, a small hedgehog is working on a laptop beside him. graffiti

below: Close up of the hedgehog. It needs time in the limelight too.

graffiti, a small grey and white hedgehog is working on a laptop

below: Whatever he was writing on the wall is long gone. This is another work by Edward von Longus.

painting of a blond boy with a red T shirt and blue jeans is facing a wall and drawing on it.

below: A green and blue planet Earth between two animals (a cat and a ?), by multistab

street art by multistab. A blue and green small plaet earth in between two large black and white creatures. One looks like a grinning cat, the other might be a cat but migh be something else

below: A couple of couples by Linna Sokk but with the theme of domestic violence.

two poster pasteups by #koos Both are of a couple, in one they are kissing

below: Something’s stuck to his forehead… looks like a sheep to me.

a large sticker with a realistic picture of a skull on it, on a small electrical box beside a building

below: Not your average Easter Bunny!

painting of a large agressive stylized rabbit in grey top and white shirts, a carrot in its mouth, running on two legs, one arm upraised.

below: A multi talented, multi handed,  multi tasking elephant!

an elephant with 4 arms and two legs, bare feet, spray paint cans in its hands,

below: This wall is difficult to see because of the fence – it is part of the old fortress/prison that is no longer open to visitors.

street art on a wall that is hard to see because it is behind a fence

below: The next two are by the same artist, Lume, of LDK crew who is from Naples Italy.

stylized flowers and leaves in pastel colours, line drawings, on a pale yellow wall

stylized flowers and leaves in pastel colours, line drawings, on a salmon coloured wall

below: In case you can’t read it, the sign that Darth Vader is holding says: “Help me.  I need $$$ to build a death star.”

a few small piece of graffiti, a yellow face, a black stencil of a man's head and shoulders, a stencil of Darth Vader, and some scribbles,

on a wall beside w window, two line drawings of animal creatures, on dinosaur like and the other a small round thing

a big bee on a yellow wall, street sign that says Salme

two drawings, one is Jerry the cartoon mouse and the other is

three stencils on a wall, an orange womans face, a blue diamond and a purple man with sunglasses on

a paste up of a person's head wrapped in an old fashioned bandage that ties under the chin

doorway shaped and sized line drawing graffiti in purple with turquoise highlights, a man's head and neck

Massimo’s woman in Sofia

A large mural of a young woman wearing traditional Bulgarian clothes has been painted by street artist massimo on the side of a building in Sofia.  She is holding a loaf of bread – bread plays an important role in Bulgarian traditions, customs and holidays.

mural by street artist massimo on the side of a building in Sofia, mural is about 3 storeys high. Woman is dressed intraditional Bulgarian costume

She has a flower in her hair, a rose, which is the national flower of Bulgaria.   But not all of the symbols that she is adorned with are Bulgarian.  On her forehead and around her neck are “third eye” symbols, or chakras.

top part of mural by massimo, woman's upper body and head. she is holding a loaf of bread in her hands.

two turquoise metal chairs and a little round grey table sit on a sidewalk in front of a large mural of a woman. Only the feet, ankles and calfs are visible.

She stands tall, smiling over the sidewalk, perhaps she’s wiggling her toes.

LA women, street art style

A few more photos of street art in Los Angeles.  Photos taken February 2017.

 

On the SB Tower, corner of 6th Street and Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, there is this large mural by Robert Vargas.

by Robert Vargas, large mural of a woman's head in monochrome grey, almost three storeys tall, surrounded by yellow, with a large hand wrapped around the corner of the building, photo taken from diagonally across the intersection. A man in yellow jacket is pushing a cart, a street cleaner, as he starts across the intersection. Other people are waiting for their green light.

below: Not just three women but also a white dove, a red rose, snakes, a soldier in black, a revolver, a pistol, rocks, leaves, and a multitude of colours, shapes and patterns.

part of a larger mural, two women's faces with a man in a black and blue outit between thwm, a white dove is strating to take flight between their foreheads, a pistol is aimed at the dove,

below: Staring from behind the wire.

realistic mural of a woman with short blond face and blue eyes, staring straight ahead, head and neck only, on a black wall, seen from the other side of a wire fence with looped barbed wire across the top.

below: Two women.  A small woman with angel wings and a larger woman in a blue hood who seems to be playing with the car.   When cars park in front of street art and you want to take a picture – well, you’ve got to find a way to make it work, especially if you can’t get back later.

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below: She sees a red book in her crystal ball

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below: I think we can include this one as a picture of a woman.  I can almost hear Lady Liberty saying “Cheers” as she raises her pint of beer.  This paste up is the work of @sellout_tcf

paste up black and white line drawing of the statue of liberty, lady liberty, holding up a yellow coloured beer mug full of beer while holding a large beer keg in the other arm.

Mission Linen Building, east wall, Las Vegas

The old Mission Linen building is at the corner of South 1st Street and Coolidge Avenue in Las Vegas.  The following photos were taken when I was in Las Vegas in October 2015.  The east wall of the building (facing South Casino Center Blvd) was a canvas for a number of street artists in a project curated by Dr. Lepper.  It was covered when I saw it and it was being added to as well.

exterior wall of a two storey building that has been covered with street art by a number of different artists

below: Artist John Pacheco was putting the finishing touches on a mural about Donald Trump and his wall.  It also features Gandhi, the Pope, and Mother Teresa.  Pacheco told me that he planned to paint the word ‘freiheit’, German for ‘freedom’, above the wall.  In hindsight, perhaps a word in Russian would have been more appropriate?

street artist John Pacheco stands in front of the ladder that he is using to paint a mural featuring Donald Trump, Ghandi, the Pope, Mother Theresa and a wall that is being built.

below: In the mural, Trump is saying “I want in.  I can win”.   As I write this, it’s the 18th of Jan 2017 and Trump’s inauguration as President of the USA is only 2 days away.

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two street art pictures, A yellowish orange parrot with green wings and on the left a black man with orange exploding head

street art painting on a metal roll up garage door of a man in profile, in black and blue

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murals and street art on the side of a building, the old Mission Linen building in Las Vegas.

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a brightly coloured fish white with spots of orange, red, and yellow, swims in a blue patch on the pavement

 

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white question mark on a concrete block painted yellow, with a mural covered on a wall in the background

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Chance Street, Shoreditch

More street art from East London, September 2016

below: Paste ups on a door

a door with pasteups on it, between a black wall and a wall that is painted in red, pink and yellow. One of the paste ups is of a black man in a military uniform in a gilded frame. The word rai is written on top of it.

close up of the paste up - a door with pasteups on it, between a black wall and a wall that is painted in red, pink and yellow.

below: By number 57, a mask by Crisp

a 3D mask graffiti piece mounted high on a wall, painted in white, turquoise and purple patterns. The number 57 is beside it.

below: Dressed in orange robes and running shoes…
with a hope of peace, by Unify

a streeet art pice on a door, a person in a long orange robe is standing, holding a sign with a red peace symbol on it. A work by unify

below: A large hedgehog by ROA

a very large hedgehog in black, white, and grey, painted on the side of a building, by street artist roa. Some tags and throwup graffiti across the bottom.

below: All on a grey fence

  1. A large  love card, a king and queen perhaps.
  2. Two drawn portraits by Veil.  [how to be invisible: have a name that returns millions of hits when you search for it, none of them yours]
  3. A cartoon character wearing a London Bobby hat… the words at the bottom say “at a tremendous speed the rocket zips into space 1993.”
  4. A collage of many photos of a man’s neck and ear, a studded collar and a woman’s fingers with long fingernails, all in a sickly green colour.
  5. Some ace nylon stickers.

5 pasteups on a grey wood fence. On the left a playing card of two people cheek to cheek with an L and a red heart. Also two drawings, portraits of men, by veil,

below: Silently standing still, cowboy and mannequin.

a pasteup of a black and white print of a cowboy, not quite life sized, with cowboy hat and vest. The paper is starting to peel away at the edges. A sticker of a blue and white partially peeled banana has been stuck on him. Beside him is a male mannequin in a store window.

below: Reading comics together

a group of comic book heros is reading a comic book together, The Hulk, a man with laser vision, Thor, and a man with a blue costume and an S on his hood.

 

looking down Chance Street in Shoreditch, a few people walking on the narrow street, the buildings on the left are covered with murals. The first is aboriginal symbols in white, green and brown on a black background. THe second is in bright shades of blue, red and yellow.

graffiti on a black metal door, a face with big red glasses

graffiti on a brick wall including a little stick figure man with a large head by n'ice pops, and the words no stopping

meating place and others

More Buffalo NY street art

below: On the side of Lorigo’s Meating Place on Grant Street, a large mural featuring many people that was installed in 2013.  This is “Grant Street Global Voices”; it was created by muralist Augustina Droze with help from students at International School 45 and Lafayette High School.   Eighty panels were put together to form the mural – and unfortunately a couple of them seem to have fallen down.

5 storey brick building on Grant St in Buffalo, with green trim around the windows and a small parking lot beside, sign on the side of the building says Meating Place. There is a large mural on the side of the building featuring realistic portraits of many people, including two trumpet players, a girl in a red head scarf, and other men and women,

below: Also on Grant Street is another community mural… The PUSH mural by Max Collins and others, named for the fact that it is over the entrance to PUSH (People United for Sustainable Housing) center.

mural over the entranceway to a building. Two sets of clasped hands, all with different skin tones. Scenes of children playing in the background.

below:  A large octopus swims close by on this door.
A supersized creature for a supersized door.

blue mural on an industrial building door, blue marine scene feathuring a large close up of an octopus eye and part of its body, along with some yellow fish, some lily pads and a water lily flower

 

below: Unicorn!  But behind a fence.

mural of a unicorn with a rainbow coloured horn, jumping, behind a wood fence

 

below:  It was the interesting architectural detail over the door that first caught my eye.  Then I notice the words, “diez anos como un roble cayendo”  Ten years like an oak falling?

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below: A flute player plays to a parking meter.   A Buffalo parking meter of a type that is long gone from Toronto streets.

black and white photo of a man playing the flute, pasted onto a woodedn fence beside a sidewalk, next to a book store, a parking meter nearby, on a street in Buffalo

below: Sweetness cafe is the scene of at least three pieces of street art, starting with this woman who smiles at those of us who look up from the sidewalk.   I also like the white mugs hanging from the awning.
a large, life sized or larger, paste up of a drawing of the head and shoulders of a black middle aged woman, smiling, above the awning for the Sweetness cafe.   6 white mugs hang from hooks through holes along the lower edge of the awning

below: The door next door has been re-done but that involved removing the face of this paste-up.  A facelift gone awry.

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below: But this painting is still on the wall of the Sweetness Cafe.

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below: And we’ll end with the trash.  He’s looks happy to take care of your garbage.
Added note, Sonder is a band from Buffalo

part of the side of a green metal container for recycling bins on a Buffalo sidewalk, relief sculpture of a man on the side, to which someone has added to sticker, one is a happy face sticker on the head and another is a parody of wonder bread that says sonder.