Dusseldorf, big and small

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Mary C

… a few things seen as I walked around Dusseldorf on a rainy day.

below: At the train station – not really street art? But it’s a colourful addition to a grey platform.

below: One of the original pieces of street art in Dusseldorf is this large yellow Monkey that appears to be painted by a group of smaller monkeys. It was painted in 1969 by the Majo Brothers. The title is, appropriately “Affe” which is German for monkey. You could probably call it Der Gelbe Affe, or the Yellow Monkey.

below: Joseph Beuys is memorialized in this large portrait – he was a native of Dusseldorf who was influential in the development of the city from the 1960s until his death in 1986. One of his famous phrases is, “Everyone is an artist”.

below: Complex and largely symmetrical in shades of pink and purple is one way to describe this mural by HowNosm (or How & Nosm), a partnership between brothers Raoul and Davide Perre.

below: This is a large-scale, monochrome mural realistically depicting a person’s feet as they stand. They are wearing old boots (or shoes) and you can also see the bottom of their pant legs in the image. The artist was Hendrik Beikirch (aka ECB).

below: “Meat is Murder” he says as he holds out a sausage.

rough street art painting in Dusseldorf Germany, green male figure holding a sausage in one hand, text on painting says meat is murder

below: “No more wore” written on the Ukrainian flag.

below: Floral dog on a black and white slap, image by Christin Wenga.

below: Sad face with a blotch of yellow on his forehead.

below: “Nix Gelernt?” Nothing Learned?

below: In the center, raising the flag but it has been altered from the original photograph of the American the flag being raised at Iwo Jima on 23 Feb 1945 to an Anarchist flag. In the bottom corner is a small League of Legends sticker

below: His burning inside produces enough hot air to keep him afloat. There is a word written on his T-shirt which might give some clue as to the artist who created this large paste-up but I haven’t been able to find any answers online.

below: The thirteen of hearts and a pinwheel of robotic arms.

below: mmm

below: A bright green potted barrel cactus “growing” on a concrete wall.

below: Another dusseldorf monkey, not so big this time.

below: A lot of advice packed into a small space. “Don’t Panic”, “Be Big”, as well as “Never ever on a first date”.

below: Red head.

below: Framed twice.

old brick building with boarded up windows, windows used as frames for 2 paper paste up wheatpaste graffiti pieces, on left is cartoon character in blue, on the right is bald headed person with garland of flowers around head, head only, no body

below: For aspiring photographers – here is one way to display your work. Do you think that is effective? Worth the effort?

many coloured photos mounted on large white sheets of paper or bristol board, and then mounted on plywood, displayed outside

below: I’m not sure who it is, but they have very big black and blue lace-up shoes.

below: “Love will tear us apart”

Photos taken November 2025

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Mary C

In Toronto, running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side. The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago. Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to spray, stick, or paste graffiti.

below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.

below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on. Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.

below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers

below: Holding tight to that red rose.

Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….

below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold

below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?

below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around. Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado

below: “Tell me its all going to be okay? Not sure if I can do that buddy…..

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

below: Enough! Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

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…..

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