ROA Horned Toad

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Mary C

This downtown Vegas mural was painted by Belgian artist known as ROA in 2014.

giant treet art mural on the side of a building, in grey tones, a giant horned lizard, with 6 skinny palm trees in front as well as some cars parked in front

It is a type of lizard known as a Horned Toad (or Horntoad, Horn Lizard). If you want to get scientific, they are of the genus Phrynosoma. These reptiles are native to western North America where they prefer desert or sandy semi-desert areas. The mural is painted in bluish grey tones but these lizards are actually brown so they are well camouflaged in sand and dirt.

close up of head on ROA street art mural of a giant horned lizard. open eye, spikes on head, blunt nose,

If there is a predator nearby, the lizard puffs itself up to look bigger and harder to swallow. At least five species of horned toads can also squirt a stream of blood at the predator. The blood comes from tiny blood vessels near their eyes. Apparently it doesn’t taste very good and some predators have second thoughts about eating the lizard.

close up of scales and horns on ROA street art mural of a giant horned lizard

Photos taken April 2023

More ROA murals as seen on Instagram

graffiti pieces, Paris

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Mary C

below: Near rue Liban, Bar Populaire with a wall of graffiti.

below: In a circle of knives and with a Medusa head of snakes,

below: Another Laszlo piece – Stern looking portrait of Wednesday Addams from the “Addams Family” TV series.

below: A column of paper pieces

on an outdoor wall, 6 paper pieces of graffiti

below: The top two, both on pages of old books. Top – a heart with “Aimez-sous Bordel” with a multicoloured figure by Corine Forest. On the bottom, drawings by Sulfid

below: More Corine Forest – this time a bird on a page of of music along with a little monster character by Axo. Mam’zelle Nitouche is the music that was chosen (or happened upon?). This is a vaudeville-opérette in three acts composed by in 1883 Hervé (aka Louis-Auguste Florimond Ronger (1825-1892)).

On the bottom – a dove in a heart shape full of white cursive love. “Go Love Anybody Anywhere Anytime”. A little saccharine but sort of sweet.

Learn from yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow.

below: One more Corine Forest wheatpaste – a winged horse among the moon and stars.

below: Paix

La suele couleur qui compte c’est celle denotre de notre sang
(The only colour that matters is the colour of our blood).

below: Invader mosaics and Sorry Mom by Etienne Racine

below: I have no idea who produced the last few – help! Sign your work… or at least drop a hint, leave a clue, but don’t leave with nothing!

Battery history mural, St. John’s Newfoundland

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Mary C

Painted in 2008, this mural depicts life in the early days of the fishing communities of Newfoundland. It is found on a retaining wall on Battery Road, one of the narrow hilly roads in the Outer Battery neighbourhood.

woman walks past battery road mural, black and white historic scenes and characters

part of a mural in grey tones, history, two women in period clothing outdoors, collecting a pile of flattened dried fish

part of a mural in grey tones, black and white, showing narrow street with two people carrying buckets or pails and another person with a wheelbarrow

man walking on street, walking past a black and white history mural in St. John's Newfoundland

part of a mural, an older man plays an accordion while a woman stands beside him

the back of brown wood house with a retaining wall, concrete, at the bottom, painted with mural with scenes of historic Battery neighbourhood fishing community

BASK in black and white

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Mary C

and… on central avenue in St. Petersburg

left side of a large horizontal mural by bask, Alex Hostomsky, in black, white, and shades of grey. A collage of many smaller elements, a dog's face, many other faces of people, a girl with an umbrella

This large mural was painted by BASK, aka Alex Hostomsky, in the spring of 2014.

close up of part of a bask mural, a dog's face

close up of part of a mural by Alex Hostomsky, 4 panels of different faces, one of a woman in profile wearing ear rings, a woman with a bandana over her mouth and nose.

part of a mural by bask, in shades of grey, collage of different pictures, a young girl in short dress and under an umbrella, a bomb, a policeman, a cartoon character in a striped shirt and conical party hat, a light bulb, a woman in profile,

part of a mural by bask, in shades of grey, collage of different pictures, a young girl in short dress and under an umbrella,

part of a mural by bask, in shades of grey, collage of different pictures, a small white owl in a bird cage, an iron man mask

part of a mural by bask, in shades of grey, collage of different pictures, the word bask in capital letters written many times, an iron man mask, a woman's face

The mural continues on a nearby box but with orange.

a large street box in a parking lot with mural on four sides, orange background, black paint, a large bird with a very blue eye

some of Selim Mawad’s bulls

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Mary C

The stylized cows and bulls the artist Selim Mawad uses in his posters and street art can be seen in a number of places around Beirut, especially in central parts of the city where the protests of late 2019/early 2020 occurred. This is one of them.

below: The series consists of nine panels of black and white illustrations with text in both Arabic and English.

a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking,

Enlargements of each panel

below: 1. We clean our public space and we clean our government.
2. Our bodies are waterproof. Your conscious is humanity-proof.

two of a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking,

below: Not enough to destitute them… We should hold them accountable.

one of a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking, cow in fancy suit with hands tied together

below: 1. Revolution is Freedom… Let him pass… and go one with your revolution.
2. Shield your breath from pollution but not your face from Freedom…

two of a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking,

below: 1. Let us not say our last Chance… No! It is a first step towards Social Solution… and we are in charge…
2. Raise the awareness of our inner angry Bull to sustain our Revolt! Discuss the constitution and amend it if we do not like it!

two of a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking,

below: From legitimate demands to structural change.. From legitimate revolt.. to social revolution…

one of a series of panels with black and white illustrations plus words in both Arabic and English, cows talking,

below: Please make way so we continue cleaning.

last panel in cow cartoon series

folklore on a mannequin

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Mary C

There is a large mural by Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani covering the side of a building on Nadeem Al Mallah street in Amman. It was painted in 2016 from a mannequin wearing a folklore type costume.

large black and white and grey mural of a woman in a traditional costume, on the side of bulding, beside a window with pink curtains and a broken pane of glass

Like a lot of Halwani’s work, the design relies on calligraphy & Arabic writing. It is meant as a statement about the mix of Jordanian and Lebanese cultures.

close up of face in mural of woman by Yazan halwani,

at Borgo Pio and Vicolo Del Campanile

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Mary C

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

faces on Nemr Al-Edwan street

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Mary C

There are several faces on two murals on different walls, one older and one newer. First is a series of faces starting with this singing woman in a turban.

a woman in a colourful striped turban, singing with her eyes closed, mural pn a concrete wall, with green tree behind

below: Several of the face were painted by Batool Edris

realistic painting of a woman's face in colur, short hair, light brown eyes, lips are slightly crooked, on a concrete wall, by Batool Edris

below: He has the whole city in his head – or overflowing from his head! (another two portraits by Batool Edris)

Black and white, grey tones, painting of a man's face in partial profile, on a wall. Can see the city beyond over the top of his forehead

below: Speaking in Arabic

black and white mural of two faces, one at each end, with arabic letters between them

below: On the right is Edris’s portrait of Salvador Dali. On the other side of the orange gate is a cactus-headed person

an orange metal gate in between two murals, on the left is face with a cactus instead of hair, and on the other side is a back and white picture of Salvator Dali

The second mural is “Unity in Diversity” painted late in 2018 by @mahahindi_, Afnan Barqawi, and the Orenda Tribe (with support from the US Embassy).

mural of a line of large faces of different ethnic backgrounds, and colours,

mural of large faces by the Orenda Tribe

mural of large faces of different colours,

three large facecs in a mural, one with orange sunglasses and purple hair, one Asian looking with large black glasses

EvL, Edward von Longus in Wedding, Berlin

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Mary C

While walking in Wedding, a part of Berlin, last summer I came across three tall images by Edward von Longus, an Estonian street artist. In fact, it’s his little hedgehog on a laptop graffiti that is sometimes at the top of this blog.

These are what I saw:

on a pillar in Wedding Berlin, an almost life sized in shades of grey, street art of a person that looks like Abraham Lincoln in a long robe

below: These figures are part of (R)estart Reality an app that facilitates combining street art and digital technology. Apparently there were 100 ‘people’ in many European capitals with a story to tell to those who have the app. The program began in June 2017 and I am not sure if it is still running. in shades of grey, street art of a person - a soldier sitting down, helmet on and gun in lap by Edward von Longus

It was in celebration of Estonia’s 100th birthday.

on a pillar in Wedding Berlin, an almost life sized in shades of grey, street art of a person, working man in jeans and jacket

en masse on West 16th Street, Chicago

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Mary C

In September 2013, part of the mile long mural on the West 16th Street railway wall was painted by en masse, a Montreal based collaborative. Like most of their work, it is painted in black and white. It is too big for one photo so I hope that this small collection of images give you a sense of what the whole looks like.