on the sidewalks of LA

Look down.

Sidewalk graffiti; sidewalk stencils.

All photos taken in the Arts District of Los Angeles

below: “Catch your life” on a Pokemon ball

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk

below: Life, and metamorphosis

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - a person with large butterfly wings and the word "life"

below: Stikman is in LA too!

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - stickman (or maybe stikman)

below: Not me? and a little moneybags mouse

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - two creatures, one a big blob man-like creature with the words 'not me' written on his chest, the other a small black hatted man carrying a large moneybag

below: “Paint here and here”

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - words that say 'paint here and here' but there is a large space between each word

below: Say Yes!

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - large block letters that say "say yes'

below: Smile for the ego

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - a female robot holding a cameraphone and taking a selfie. The words say 'smile for your ego'

below: Buy the Lie

black paint with stencil graffiti on a sidewalk - person with long hair, a cowboy hat, sunglasses and a bandana covering face from nose down.

Photos taken in 2015

under Clinton Street, and vicinity

In Albany New York, like in many cities, there is a group that promotes street art (especially murals) as way of enriching neighbourhoods and increasing the involvement of people in their communities. Here the group is Capital Walls. One area that they have focused on in downtown Albany is a space under the highway ramps between Interstate 787 and Clinton Street. Most of it is a large parking lot. There are a series of concrete pillars that have now been painted by various artists.

below: mmm

below: John Breiner painted this bird in flight in 2019.

mural on concrete ramp support, bird in flight, many feathers, by john breiner

below: Another John Breiner painting, ‘Float’, is on the reverse side of the one above.

mural on tall concrete support under highway off ramp for Clinton street in Albany

below: In the foreground is ‘Modern Systems’ by NDA

yellow and black abstract mural

below: ‘Paradise Pattern’ by Vanessa Mastronardi,

mural on concrete support

below: ‘Courage’ by Rosie Sunshine

mural on concrete pillar

below: ‘Journey’ by Arzu Fallahi

mural with geometric shapes and designs

below: Quakenbush Square, “Belonging” by Adam Fujita

mural with words, you belong here we all belong together, each word in a different colour, along with a happy face with heart shaped eyes, and a large yellow heart

below: On the lower part of the Quackenbush multi-level parking garage, there is a mural called “Upstate Albany Portrait Landscape” that was painted by George Maxwell Dunn. This is part of it. The part that spells Albany.

albany mural, letters made of objects

below: Part of a “Downtown is Pawsome” campaign are dog statues painted by different artsits. Nipper, as he is known, is about three feet high and is one of ten. This red and black one (‘Industrial Anthropology’) was painted by Stephanie Levay.

dog sculpture painted in red and black

below: “Explore” by Ramiro Davaro-Comas

mural on the side of an entrance to a parking garage, with large text says explore

below: On the other side of the Quackenbush Garage is this painting, ‘Mix Tape’ by Hellbent (aka J. Mikal Davis)

on the side of a parking garage, painted shapes and patterns

below: There are more on and off ramps for the I-787 on the south side of the garage. Here too, some of the supports have been painted. “Back to Life” by D. Colin

part of a larger mural, green hand holding a purple flower pot

below: A couple of scenes from ‘Geraldines Reverie’ by Elizabeth Zunon

part of a larger mural, music theme,

part of a larger mural, shapes of women dancing

below: At Orange and Water, ‘The River that Flows in Two Directions’ by Rachel Baxter.

mural on the side of an elevated section of freeway in albany by rachel becker, orange and blue on white

below: Nearby – “Escape to Nature” by Trash Kid Art (aka Jade Warrick)

large mural on white building

below: At Wallenberg Park, within the dog park, is this doggie mural by Chip Fasciana and Mark Gregory.

street art mural in a dog park, images of dogs on yellow background

“The devil made me do it”

black drawing and text graffiti under highway ramp, the deveil made me do it

standing upright in Girona

A long stretch of railway is elevated as it passes through the city of Girona, Spain. A bicycle and pedestrian path runs underneath. Some of the pillars supporting the railroad have been decorated by street artists.

below: Birds in flight

street art of black and white birds in flight on a concrete pillar

below: Cyop & Kaf have painted a few of the pillars with their black silhouette-like people such as this stolen kiss.

silhouette black people in street art, on a concrete pillar, top is man hanging upside down holding the feet of another man who is also upside down and kissing woman standing on the street, motorcycle parked in front

or this very tall man – He’s all tied up with his feet in the mud? in concrete?

street art on a concrete pillar - black silhouette man with his feet buried in the ground

street art on a pillar by Cyop and kaf

street art of a man, black silhouette, wedged between two blocks of concrete, and trying to pry space wider with a stick
people walking under an elevated railway, on a bike path, with street art on the concrete pillars supporting the railway

below: KRAM is responsible for two pillars including this blue character on a swing.

street art on a large concrete support, a blue character with human body but different head, sits on a swing, wearing purple running shoes with orange laces untied, orange shorts and brown t shirt, tongue stuck out, by kram

below: The other KRAM pillar is this one – quite different from the first.

street art painting by kram on a concrete post, cars parked behind, painting is sliced stacks of patterns

below: Two pandas

street art, 2 pandas, small one above is a paste up, lower one is painted and is more stylized

below: A brush to clean the toilet bowl. Not your average painting subject matter.

street art painting of a toilet bowl cleaning brush

realistic street art painting of a man in a white shirt

below: A few pillars are decorated with these red and blue guys – stylized yet anatomically correct – painted by Boris Hoppek

pineapple and face, street art

Photos taken in early March 2023

Athenian stencils

below: A television family.   The rabbit ears are quaint.

little black stencil of a family, parents have televisions for heads, standing in a row, all holding hands. seen in Athens Greece

below: Crying eyes

black stencil of a woman's face, just the features, she is crying and black tears are running down her face

line drawing, in black, stencil, woman's head with face partially obscured by a red bandana over her mouth and nose

below: Throwing each other away. Are any of us really disposable?

small black stencil of a person throwing a smaller person into a garbage can

below: A more positive message – butterflies and love

two metal boxes on the street with stencil graffiti, both with red background, one has many black butterflies and the other has a boy giving a flower to a girl, in silhouette

below: I suspect that it’s a protest that is political in nature but because of my lack of Greek I’m not sure.

stencil graffiti, circle with a pair of scissors diagonally across it, with words R.A.W. cuts and then some Greek words below it. seen in Athens Greece

below: I think that this is the face that is stenciled the most.  Che Guevara may have died in 1967 but his face lives on.

black stencil, che

Athens has lots of concrete pillars on its streets and many have graffiti on them.  The next few photos are some of those pillars.

stencil on a concrete pole with two people walking past it. stencil is a woman. seen in Athens Greece

two stencils of women, the top has covering over mouth and nose, the other is a line drawing of a woman's head and shoulders in profile

black stencil of a woman on a concrete pole

muros tabacalera

Muros Tabalcalera refers to the murals on the concrete wall surrounding the Tabalcalera Urban Art Space in Madrid.  These are murals were painted in 2016 by 24 by different artists under the title Naturalezas Urbanas.

 

street scene in Madrid, murals on a high concrete wall, muros tabacalera,

below: A mural by Alice Pasquini, an Italian street artist.  The  street sign says Calle del Meson de Paredes,

a maural of a woman leaning out a window to pick something growing outside

Calle de Miguel Servet, concrete wall with murals on it, bench in front of it, tree with pink blossoms

below: Animalitoland, aka Graciela Gonçalves Da Silva, painted this little girl with her umbrella.

mural of a small girl huddled under an umbrella, grey tone city scape behind her, some small flowers on the ground

below: Circles of birds by Joao Lelo, a Brazilian artist

abstract tessalated birds

below: Clusters of green leaves by btoy

tree with pink spring blossoms in front a square mural, Madrid, muros tabacalera, leafy green plants with dark brown centers in the clusters

below: Upside down and all in red, by Lolo

square mural, Madrid, muros tabacalera, 2 people all red, on their heads, along with two potted plants, one red and one green

 

below: It’s a Jungle in here according to nuriatoll

lampost in front of square mural, Madrid, muros tabacalera, words that say It's a jungle in here, pale coloured leaves and birds behind the words

below: Two more murals.  On the left is a woman covered with flowers that was painted by Casassola while the more cartoon like characters on the right are the work of Nano 4814

two street art murals side by side, one is cartoonish and the other is a realistic woman surrounded by flowers (covering her)

below: A bird? Shapes and textures?  by Antonyo Marest

mural with small red sailboat, circles, squares, triangle

below: On the right, abstract artwork by Laguna

two murals, love wins by okuda and a piece by Laguna in pale turquoise and grey

below: Love wins by Okuda

large animal face (bear?) in bright multi coloured triangles, by okuda (okudart)

below: Figures all squeezed into the frame, painted by Digo Deigo

mural by Digo Diego of figures wrapped around each other, stylized, straight lines, blobs of colour, mural on a Madrid wall

below: painted by Koctel, an artist who seems to like painting fruit.  Here we see heads  made of watermelon and starfruit.

mural with fruit

below: Left to right: blue and brown tiles – Add Fuel (aka Diogo Machado); abstract shapes that look a bit like a head – Grip Face ; black and yellow – Deno

row of murals on a wall in Madrid

below:  A blue haired girl wrapped in the wings of a colourful bird, by Julieta XLF

mural of a girl with two birds

 

More information about the wall and the artists can be found on the Muros Tabacalera website

To find out where we’ve taken picture of street art, check our “Locations” page!

sprayed on the sidewalks of LA

As you walk around the Arts District in Los Angeles, watch where your feet are going.
You’ll see many stencils that have been spray painted underfoot.

This first one, women in head scarves, is obviously a political statement.
It was also the only stencil that was in two colours.

Stencils on the sidewalk, spray paint, in red and turquoise, the heads of 6 women in head scarves, shown in profile, One is in a scarf that is turquoise with red polka dots and one has red and turquoise striped pattern on her scarf.

below: Dangerous insects, with scoped rifles for wings.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a beetle with folded wings that are automatic rifles

below: … and a dragonfly too.  Weaponized terrorist bugs.
No wait, they’re Homeland Security agents in disguise.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a dragonfly with wings made of automatic rifles.

below: No money, No honey.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline drawing of a man with long hair and a cowboy hat, with words written inside the drawing that say No money no honey.

below: Social media is selling your shit.  Apparently there is a third one that says “Seeking your applause, your digital mirage” but I didn’t see it.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline drawing of a man with long hair and a cowboy hat, with words written inside the drawing that say Social media is selling your shit. Facebook and instagram symbol are also there

below: A red extremist.  Love extremists.

red stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline of a heart with the word extremist written inside it.

below: A dove with a rose in its beak, La Rosa

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a dove in flight with a small rose in its mouth, words written underneath are La Rosa

below: I am fairly certain that the word says iagily but I haven’t been able to find any info online.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, shoulders and head of a young woman with her hands up to her face

below: Got love?

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, of a small milk box with a heart on the side. Words written underneath are got love?

below: I have always seen you.   That’s the chorus/refrain from the song ‘Harriet’ by American Appetites.  There may be other references?

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, words I have always seen you

below: Campbells soup made of vegans? or for vegans?

green stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, campbell soup can, vegan soup

below: The last one is not actually a stencil but I couldn’t resist including it here.

words written in black that say love me anyways.

Photos taken February 7, 2017

little things in Bologna

Bologna Italy, March 2016

pasteup on a salmon coloured door with a green wall on one side and a grey metal shutter on the other. The pasteup is of two women, one is upside down.

below: Sneakers by K2m

street art paste up of white high top rinning shoes with K2m written on the side in large red letters. The shoes are covered with what looks like drawings of yarn and balls of yarn

bluish grey graffiti paingint on a wall of a child (head and shoulders) wearing a leopard costume, but with the mask lifted up so child's face shows, on a door

graffiti on an old stone building with burgundy coloured window shades, blue tag, other words written on the wall include

black stencil of Robin Williams on a wall, graffiti

paste up of yellow crown on a young man's head. The graffiti has been placed above a metal feature on a concrete wall so the eyes look like they are peering over it. Someone has written the words Casa Lucio with an arrow pointing upwards above the crown.

black stencil of a woman's head in profile, long hair, wearing a hat, words coming out of her mouth, shape of words is a megaphone. Words say " Chi si loda s'imbroda"

black stencil of the pope's head and shoulders on a brown wood wall. The words "dici a me" are stenciled on too.

paste-up of a man's head and neck, with a red outline painted around his head. glasses and a beard.

stencil in black on a concrete wall that is not in good shape, a man, from the waist up wearing a black jacket and a necklace. One hand is raised to shoulder level, showing palm. Over one shoulder are two red lip marks

a grey tone graffiti on a pinkish wall, a small furry animal with a fez on its head and eyes that resemble nuclear symbols, sits atop a man's head. he has two sets of eyes and a large mouth with teeth

a paste up of a person with short black hair, a blue hat and blue eyes, holding a black cat. On the person's arm, written in blue are the words "Pieces were stolen from me"

a paste up with slightly curled edges, graffiti on a concrete wall, a black picture of a man like creature with stylized features is pointing a large knife at its chest.
black drawing on white, paper paste up street art, man's head and neck in profile, no skin, shows the muscles of the face and neck. with part of the skull removed to reveal the brain. By SNEM
A silhouette shape of a rabbit's head and ears made of paper that has fern leaves on it. Pasted on a metal piece on a wall.

below: Two pieces by kocore

a street art piece in orange by kocore of the head of a Soviet cosmonaut with his helmet on.

street art piece of a skull made up of lots of grey lines The word Kocore is beside the skull

stencil of a woman sticking out the top of a long limo, black on concrete.

below: Make peace or dead, by exitenter

Small painting of a stick figure with its hands on its hips. Its face is a flower, looks like a red daisy with 6 petals. The words " make peace or dead are written above

graffiti on a beige wall, a stick drawing of a person stands on the upper right part of a red heart. The word exit is written above the left side of the heart

below: The fox and the grapes, by exitenter, probably a reference to Aesops fable. When the fox couldn’t reach the grapes, it pretended that the grapes were sour.  The “lesson” from the fable being that there are many people who pretend to despise and belittle things that are beyond their reach.graffiti on a concrete wall, an orange fox reaches for a bunch of yellow grapes that are higher on the wall

black stencil on grey concrete wall, man reaching out from inside a TV to turn the TV off, by Skene Two small stencils on a wall, a green hand grenade and a black handgun,

white stencil on black of leaf from marijuana plant with the words my lucky star23 written aroud it. On black background