While walking around the old part of Vieste, an Italian town on the Adriatic coast, I spotted three paste-up collages by Demetrio Di Grado, his “Frammenti Sparsi” (Scattered Fragments)
below: In each collage there were old black and white photos of people with words covering their eyes. This one has not survived very well. I am not sure what word obscures the girl’s eyes (my Italian is not good enough) and it appears that she was not alone in the beginning.
below: Put it all together to get “Cambiate le vostre idee ma conservate i vostri principi.” (Change your ideas but keep your principles).
below: Combining spray paint and collage, “odiao amarmi” – They hate to love me. The little girl in the collage has lost her words, once they were “amano odiarmi” – The love to hate me.
Di Grado’s artwork was part of the local Collateral Maris Festival in September 2022.
Take a few abandoned downtown Hamilton buildings and add large size artworks by a diverse group of artists and you have the makings of the Wheat Paste Anti Gallery. No artist’s statements, no words on the wall. This is the project has been brought to life by jumblefacefoto, aka Jeremy Lynch (including the producing, printing, and pasting of all the images in the installation).
In this blog post I want to show you the artists whose work now on display “in” Hamilton’s first Anti Gallery (in no particular order). First, Invasive Animal has taken over the front of the Oakwood Place building at 1067 Barton Street East where a sign says “Hop Canadian”. Once upon a time it said, “Save our jobs, shop Canadian”. Also once upon a time, this was a restaurant/bar. Now the animals have taken over.
Some of the animals:
Next door to the Oakwood was a Shoe King store. The “king” is gone and plywood covers its windows and doors; now it is a gallery wall for crkshnk (pronounced crookshank), an artist from New York City. All the images across the storefront are his work.
Another artist on display here is 33wallflower33. Her (and I am assuming that!) women and children evoke a previous age and often have a message to deliver.
My body, my choice.
Next, Brazilian artist antype (aka Luciano Costa) and Stephen Conner (from London England) share space on a building at John and Main.
below: A sample of antype’s black and white distorted portrait-like images.
Circles…..
… floppy circles, planetary circles, and planetary hats.
Stephen Conner’s images are also portrait-like but they are darker.
Installed in May 2023, gone by September 2023….. Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-bonez character livened up a stretch of blank wall at James and Wilson.
Last, but definitely not least, a series of images, or firegrams, by Danielle Goshay pasted onto the facade of the old Colonial Hotel building.
As mentioned above, all works were produced, printed, and pasted by jumblefacefoto
As part of the town’s Bicenntenial (200 years!) celebration, a large mural was created for the side of a building in downtown Prescott Ontario.
The Prescott People’s Place Commissioned by the Prescott Bicentennial Committee and dedicated December 18th, 2010 The Prescott People’s Place is composed of over 3000 pictures from Prescott people. This mural was created by Chuck Street and made in Prescott at MD Signs. Made possible by federal Canadian Heritage funding and the generous Prescott People. Victoria Hall and St. John’s Market The cornerstone for the Old Town Hall was laid on August 13th 1874 and the Market Building built in 1876. Both were demolished in 1960. The clock tower was added to the Town Hall in 1927. The orginal clock works were restored in 1980 and housed in the Rotary Clock Tower which still marks time today on the same corner. The building pictured on the left of the Town Hall is still standing and is home to the Forwarders Museum and Visitor Centre.
As you walk around the city of Montreal, you can probably spot quite a few paper paste-ups featuring collage images of people that were created by an artist that signs her pieces as Madame Gilles.
below: Similar image as above but this time on a door with another, including “One Day You Will Come” by @_doverin
below: A little less abstract and a lot less colour
The next two pictures show the same doorway. First the top section where once again the same image appears.
The Fairy Goth Mother store stands at the corner of Commercial St and Fashion St in London E1. First the bright blue caught my eye and then the name of the store made me smile. When I walked this area back in March 2016 I saw a lot of graffiti and and street art on Fashion St and I took the following pictures.
below: Why so serious? Joker’s face by Syd, one of a number of pieces (and people) together on a brick wall.
below: Is this Liza Minelli? Or someone else?
below: Wrapped up in Yves Saint Laurent.
below: Another wall in Fashion Street. Close ups of some of the graffiti are in the following 2 photos.
below: Stikki peaches James Dean paste up man, Rebel with a cause. A purple beaver, pistachio shell art, and can you spot David Bowie? Hint, check the telephone.
below: The background of the collage is a page from the ‘Financial Times’ of 27 June 2012. The white strips of paper have words printed on them, the same words over and over again, “UR SO PORNO BABY if you want it”. The small white poster on the right says, “Danger, Community Support in the area: screwing the community and attacking the vulnerable”.
below: A mural on the side of Joe’s Kid Cafe, painted by Jimmy C. It features the owner, Danni as a three year old child with her grandfather Joe. Joe also ran a cafe in East London back in the 1930’s.
below: A person (Michael Jackson?) constructed of other people’s faces. An interesting concept. I don’t recognize all the constituent faces and perhaps they aren’t all famous people, but I can see Mohammad Ali, John Travolta, the Bee Gees and possibly Grace Jones. The printed text on his T-shirt is more “UR SO PORNO BABY if you want it”. The rant in grey on black is as follows: Now you can’t stop me even thought (sic) U think that if U block me you’ve done UR thing and when you bury me underneath all UR pain I’m steady laughing while surfacing baby I’ve got what it takes and there’s no way u’ll ever get me.”
below: Beside #31, Eastco Industrial Wear Ltd. She has been since painted over with a mural by the same artist – another woman’s face but in purple tones.
Eyes on the Streets 