around and behind Ossington

Ossington Avenue is an interesting street to walk with it’s numerous stores, restaurants and coffee shops.  But there is another fascinating world hiding behind the main street in the numerous lanes and alleys in the area.

on Ossington Ave., older buildings that are now stores. one is painted olive green, another is white, and third is red brick. at the end, is a building with large yellow and blue vertical stripes, a bench is on the sidewalk

For this blog post, I have assembled more of the photographs that I have taken around Ossington since January of this year.  It gets a bit long because I decided not to chop it into smaller pieces, so grab a seat and let’s get started!

a bench beside a green wall in a snow covered parking lot, door beside bench has love U! written on it

below: A whimsical Uber5000 painting on a garage door.

uber 5000 mural, green biplane with 3 yellow birdies, including one standing on a bomb. dog standing on one of the airplane wings

below: Hearts on fire, burning love, and the fireman that is trying to extinguish the flames – in a mural created by D. Terra Stencils.

stencil,ural by D. Terra stencils, a crouching fireman holds a hose and shoots water upward towards a big red heart

below: One of the cutest raccoons that I have ever seen, also painted by D.Terra Stencils.

mural by D. Terra stencils, of a young raccoon, green leafy background

below: Some more cute raccoons of a different sort go camping in a mural by Emily May Rose

Emily May Rose raccoons go camping, with a grey and orange trailer, a yellow umbrella, and a folding chair too

two grey Emily May Rose raccoons play in a pile of dirt, while drinking canned drinks

below: … and some more raccoons!

Emily May Rose raccoons in a painting on a fence in an alley

below: …. and even more!

in an allley, wall and door, raccoons by Emily May Rose and text graffiti too
toronto alley near ossington with street art on fences and garages

below: Smaller black stencil graffiti on a white garage door – an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe as well as a Kung fu Panda.  The other woman gets a splash of bright red.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, portrait of Marilyn Monroe, and kung fu panda image, as well as another woman's head and face

below: A trumpet player and a gun fight.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, a man playing a trumpet, also two men in a gun fight with one standing over the other who is lying on the ground.

below: Bikes on the stairs with a colourful bird keeping a watchful eye.

in an alley, exterior stairs to a small balcony, bike parked on stairs, mural of a bird painted on wall beside the stairs

Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

below: An old square brick building, garages and fences with graffiti, old trees, and a row of houses at the end of the lane – this captures the look of a typical Toronto lane.

looking down an alley, garages with graffiti on the right, fence on the left, at the end, a semi divided house that is different on either side, also at end of alley, on right, a larger red brick building (old)

below: Home patio, outdoor living urban style.

exterior of building, concrete block painted a dark yellow,, white door, and black window, with 2 small chairs and a table, and a stool, immediately outside the building

below: “Stop and enjoy”.  I like how the poster below the stop sign says “mediocrity” which makes the overall message, “Stop and enjoy mediocrity”.  A bit snarky.

stop sign on a pole in an alley, beside a garage door with street art on it. text graffiti on the stop sign so that it says stop and enjoy

in a laneway with street art murals on all the garage doors

part of a larger mural, a face in the sun, eyes closed, some vines are growing over the face

older drawing on garage, man's face, coconut tree with palm leaves,

below: The tail end of a fishy mural.

a small alley near Ossington, cars parked in alley, one side has building with mural on it, the other is a house with grey siding cladding

below: This aquatic themed mural dates from 2016 when a group of artists painted many murals in the area, all with the Great Lakes as their theme. They were part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans project. Some artworks have survived better than others. Love letters in paint is a post (off site, in my Toronto blog) from 2016 that show most of them in their original form.

fish mural by shalak attack

below: The Swiss army knife was also a Pangeaseed mural

street art mural with a big red swiss army knife in the center

below: Where possible, Jimmy’s Coffee shops have exterior walls painted with images of famous Jimmys including the one on Ossington. Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson Gonzo and Elmo

images of famous Jimmys on the side of Jimmys coffee shop on Ossington, Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson gonzo and elmo

black and white image of Jimmy Hendrix singing and playing guitar, pink background, mural

below: A Jimmy of a different kind, a fantastic cacaphony of colours and shapes in a mural by Jimmy Chiale

mural of abstract shapes and colours by j. chiale

below: Close up of part of a mural, a young man wearing a black mask over his eyes.

close up of a street art painting, a young man in a black mask over his eyes

photo taken in a snowy parking lot, of the backs of some houses, fences, backyards,

below: Rowell Soller

rowell soller mural on a garage door

below: Two paintings on two different garages that look like they were done by the same artist.  The signature appears to be Soul R. and the top painting is from 2017.

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in light shades of brown, blue garage

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in a wall in an alley, with a pile of empty boxes and containers on the ground in front of it

below: 2022 Christina Mazzulla, for the Golden Turtle Restaurant.

mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

on the side wall of a house in an alley, mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

below: “You are stroger than you think”

a house being renovated, plywood over downstairs window with graffiti on it

below: Nick Sweetman has used shades of blue and purple to create this wonderful northern scene with a bear and moose combo.

a large bear and a moose, in a mural on a garage door in an alley, painted by bruno smoky or shalak attack

below: Totally blue.   The other colours have faded?  Or were never there in the first place?

gate in alley, double wide, at the end of a driveway, all in blue

below: More garage doors painted by D.Terra Stencils

alley near Ossington with lots of garage doors covered with murals, street art, urban art

below: On a bright yellow background, an image of Jean Michel Basquiat, one of the original creators present-day street art.

garage door painted yellow, then a portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat often considered the founder of street art

below: .. and beside Basquiat, a levitating woman

mural on an alley garage door by D.TErra stencils, a levitating woman, lying on her back up in the air, long hair hanging down.

below: Written in Portuguese is “Nem às paredes confesso” which translates to “I don’t even confess to the walls”.

mural on red background, musicians, one singer and one instrument player

below: Portuguese words, and nearby a Portuguese flag

street art painting of the Portuguese (Portugal) flag

mural, portrait of a man on a purple background

below: Boxers – Muhammad Ali and an opponent

boxing mural

below: The last D. Terra Stencils is this rendition of Ren and Stimpy

ren and stimpy from Nickelodeon TV in the 1990s, in a mural

trimming trees in an alley, man in lift above the lane, truck, some garages with graffiti and street art

little bits of metal on a wood utility pole

exterior door in an alley, covered with street art

part of a larger painting, a small character peaks its head out from the middle of a puffy orange letter O

below: The next four images are of the same mural in a snowy laneway parking lot…  starting with DAM DOG ketchup bottle

parking lot, in winter, box with street art on it beside a wall with more painting

parrt of a mural, smiling skull with a chain through one eye socket, and slightly yellow bottom teeth,

below: Parking for Animals

from a larger mural, young man in multi colour sunglasses, with a can of spray paint in his hand

close up of part of a mural, finger on the top of a spray paint can

below: These little ceramic animals have been walking in this alley for at least ten years.

little flat ceramic animal shapes, a turtle a small dinosaur, glued to a wall in an alley, beige with green and pink dots,

below: T-bonez stands alone, maybe waiting for the light to turn green?

t bonex sticker on a yellow box (for crossing signal). urban ninja squadron, visual noise,

T bonez sticker from visual noise and urban ninja squadron

close up of an old turquoise section of street art on wood fence, with red spray paint circle and double cross

on a wall painted very deep but bright red, outside in an alley, torn bits of paper remain where posters have been partially torn off

box on a wall, covered with stickers that are mostly in black and white, with red spray paint tag on top of it all.

below: And what’s this? Even more raccoons?! Toronto’s “beloved” trash pandas are everywhere!

raccoons in an alley mural, one sitting on a trash can, drinking, raccoons are trash pandas

part of a mural, painted by Emily May Rose, of a greenish grey raccoon, or trash panda, sitting of the top of a metal garbage can, holding a bottle with an XXX label.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in this alley directly behind Ossington (on the east side) dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west
street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.
weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

below: A tribute mural celebrating Canadian Black designers.

mural in an ossington alley, black background, text that says Designers of Canada, with three portraits, on the lower level of a three storey red brick building

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece
alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti
garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

below: And lastly…  Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

down a dark alley

…. Finlay Lane, a short lane with a dead end, in Melbourne’s CBD (Central Business District).

below: Graffiti on an alley wall
Finlay lane, graffiti on the wall, dark alley because of walkway over the alley

below: Urban Cake Lady, with the red hoodies and blue and white striped pants that she likes to use in her artwork.

graffiti image of two people, both with red hoodies and red and white leggings, standing back to back

below: Human? Devil? An impish blue character with a long red satanic tail.

blue skinned character with long red tail

below: This isn’t the clearest image, but what you looking at here is a character putting on a mask. Its face is black and its two eyes look like lights (and are barely in the photo)

putting on a mask, part of a street art painting

mural in a Melbourne alley, throw up style, red tag on blue background

below: With all the wrong lighting, a large painting by Ling, for Flash Forward Melbourne whose line is “40 Artists, 40 Acts, 40 Laneways”. The image is too dark, but it’s a man in blue shirt, red robe, holding out one hand. A better picture can be found at the Flash Forward Melbourne website.

part of a mural, high up on a wall in a narrow alley, man wearing red and blue robes, with his hand reaching out

below: Very stylized and abstracted but I think I see a motorcycle helmet, and perhaps a black hand reaching upwards.

part of an abstract mural in Finlay lane

street art, or urban art, painting in melbourne australia,

below: “Free Yourself”

a wall in an alley covered with urban art and graffiti
nokier tag in an alley
tags, text, and spray paint, in a melbourne alley or lane

Photos taken in March 2025

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

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.

alley, long low building on right hand side, painted blue, with windows,

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.

stencil on a wall in an alley, a fist holding a 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…..

graffiti on a black garage, white drawing of a person with fingers in peace sign, with text Tell me it's all going to be okay?

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

murals on a fence in an alley including one by hello kirsten, design patterns, also a woman in purple,

murals in an alley, a garage painted all orange, paintings on fence, face and cacti painted in side a car port under an apartment

motorcycle parked in front of blue fence, beside a garage in a lane, near Queen Street West and Lansdowne

mini cooper car parked in an alley beside a garage with street art and graffiti on it

green spray paint and black drippy paint graffiti on red brick wall

alley views

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

close up of painting on a wood fence, abstract shapes and colours, with texture

Familia Santana

In the 1960s, Josefina and Jose Santana migrated from Jalisco Mexico to the San Francisco Bay area.  Both of their sons, Carlos and Jorge, became famous musicians.  Carlos Santana is world famous for his guitar playing;   Jorge played with a Latin-rock bank, Malo.

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family,

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, including parents Josefina and Jose Santana

On Osage Street by the 24th and Mission Street BART Plaza there is now a 60 foot mural celebrating the family’s contribution to the music scene.   The mural also shows Carlos’ son Salvador on the keyboard.

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, a guitar playing Carlos Santana

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family,

“La Familia Santana” was painted in 2021 by San Francisco artists Crayone and Mark Bode.  It incorporated sketch designs provided by Randolph Bowes and Jorge Santana.

small part of Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, Carlos Santana's hand playing a guitar

Photos taken February 2025

Mission District – Osage Lane

osage lane, mission district, san francisco

There are many pop culture references to be found in this lane!

below: Animal from the Muppets

part of a street art mural, Animal from the Muppets, with a green hat that says anemal, also words on painting that say RIP Lord,

below: A row of cartoon characters on a bright red fence – Bart Simpson, Hello Kitty, Speedy Gonzales, Pokemon, and what looks like a giant green pickle.

bright red fence painted with some cartoon characters, Bart Simpson, Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and Speedy Gonzales

below: Rapheal from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

teenage mutant ninja turtle mural, with red masked turtle, Raphael, wearing clunky gold necklace

below:  South American influences

below:  mmm

street art on buildings and fences in osage lane in san francisco

below: Mama Imelda from the movie “Coco”
street art mural of mama imelda from coco

below: Sonic

street art painting of sonic character, with long blue hair, and big white hands

street art painting of a blond boy with blue headband, with a large bowl of food, probably a manga character, naruto?

below: California Love

white faced character, California Love, SF symbol,

below: “All thru California …

part of all thru california street art mural

below: … Mission be Kracking, a recent painting by H2DAK about surviving fires and earthquakes!part of all thru california street art muralbelow: Money flies at 2982

street art painting on a blue door, bundle of dollar bills with yellow wings flying away, number beside door is 2982
pink and blue swirly street art mural

black and white and grey tones, portrait of a young woman, with long dark hair,

graffiti on a garage in Osage Lane, San Francisco

below: Bird sticker. Bird, May 1984 – July 2021

sticker on a pole, picture of a young man with word bird written in red, two dates, a tribute sticker by the looks of it

below: More stickers – Cheers!

two stickers on a pole, one with sad clown that says cheer up

Mission District – Lilac Street

The Mission District in San Francisco is full of street art of all types from messy graffiti to fabulous murals. Back in February I had the opportunity to walk around the area with my camera. This is the first of many posts that should result from my walks.

houses on either side of entrance to Lilac Street, Mission District, San Francisco, two storey clapboard houses, with mural on the side of one of them

The first sign that Lilac Street might be an interesting street to wander down is this San Francisco mural on the side of a house.

mural featuring golden gate bridge, text says San Francisco

below: Mother with a child looking over her shoulder

black and white shades of grey mural of mother and child, mother's back is shown, child looking over her shoulder

below: Norm on a black garage

four large letters painted on a black garage door, N O R and M. Spells norm

below: A portrait in blue.

mural on a garage door, woman's portrait in blue

below: A tribute to Sharon Jacobs (1982-2019).

woman's portrait on a garage door

below: Anti Skateboarding Hero.

torn sticker, or paste up, on a utility pole, text says anti skateboarding hero, pole is painted black and red with graffiti

below: Higher up, a purple rhino and a yellow bird by chilovia  – a pair of South Americans, Pancho Pescador and Pablo (aka Raiz)

below: Contrasts – the empty, graffiti covered old building beside the newer redevelopment.   A common urban theme found in most cities as they age and re-new.

abandoned building with vacant lot in front, behind a fence, building is covered with graffiti

below: A wish for peace in Palestine.

palestine protest street art mural of woman with two fingers raised in peace symbol

below: This street certainly has its scruffy and neglected looking sections.  In small doses, streets like this have their charm, especially from a photogenic perspective.

chainlink fence

below: Walking past number 133, frowning and grumpy.

man, street art, many colours, at number 133

below: There is a strong resemblance here to Olaf from “Frozen” – but this guy looks a little more deranged….

crazy Olaf from Frozen

below: Praying

street art mural of a woman praying, wearing green shawl that also covers her head, garbage bins in front of the mural

below: Dancers, front of the house.

bent nail in wood utility pole, spray painted pole in blues and green, graffiti gate painted with bright colours, with metal grille in front of it

Photos taken February 2025

near Balaclava train station

below: On the corner of Nelson and Carlisle streets, near Balaclava station in St. Kilda East.

stores, on a corner,

below: Black panther roaring with mouth open wide, fangs and teeth ready….

street art painting of a black panther with mouth open showing large white fangs

below: The railway crosses over Carlisle street at the north end of Balaclava station

railway tracks, bridge over carlisle street,

below: Praying. Painted by Pawtl

mural of a man with hands closed in prayer

below: Two women hanging out with a white rabbit and a white cat, by Deb.

street art painting of two woman, stylize, with short tops, exposed middles, and long skirts with hearts on them. Saturn and a white cat in the background

below: Come Alive Melbourne

cars parked in front of a mural

below:  A rainbow lorikeet

street art painting of a rainbow lorikeet bird, on a tree branch

below: Owls by the door

a door in the middle of a street art painting of owls including two small baby owls

below: More owls

street art painting of three owl faces,

below: Continuing the bird theme – a very old and weathered stencil of a pigeon

weathered black and white stencil of a pigeon, on a red brick wall

below: Another oldie, a paste-up of many people.  One person in a red and white striped shirt, holding a toddler.  A girl with long hair wearing a checkered red and white dress; she’s holding something like a brown box in her hands.  Beside her is a girl who is wearing a white top and a blue skirt. Who else can you see?

paste up of a group of people, very small

 The next few pictures are a  selection of paintings on the upper level of some of the stores on Carlisle.

below: Dana’s Patisserie

upper level, exterior, of Danas Patisserie on Carlisle street, with painting of a woman with a potted cactus and a black and white flower in a pot.

below: Many hands

paintings of three hands on upper level of a storefront, carlisle street, melbourne

below: Flowers and faces

paintings on the upper level of two adjacent stores, one with flowers on a green background and one with four portraits

below: “TAKE” or perhaps “TAK E” above a painting beside the walkway to Balaclava station, southbound trains.

store on Carlisle street beside ramp up to balaclava station, with large orange mural on one side of the building. the word take is above the mural large orange mural

below: On the platform, Balaclava station, “Shake was here”

platform at Balaclava station, with building behind, has text graffiti that says shake was here

below: Gradients in blue and orange cover the ground floor level of a new development beside the station – seen from the station platform.

stripes forming gradients in blues and oranges along the side of a building including the door to a garage

below: Also seen from the platform, street art on the back of a building by the tracks.

throw up calligraphy type street art,

below: Raise a steaming cup to the coffee culture that is strong here in Melbourne! Cheers!

little blue and white graffiti sticker, man walking while holding a cup with steam coming off of it

Photos taken March 2025

words on a pole

There is a pole, or pipe (downspout?) in Baptist Place, Melbourne, that is covered with many little drawings.  They are all slogans or phrases written using music scores as a paper source.   I am not sure what songs were used (or if that has any relevance?) but the lyrics are written at least two languages.  At the top is  “Eat the Rich” .

on a pole, or pipe, in an alley, covered with pasteups, paper, posters, that are words written artistically on old music scores

below: Next comes “Resist”.  I was curious about what song was in the background, so I checked google translate – “qui quae-runt” is Latin for “those who run”.
paste up with the word resists written in large letters aver music score

below:  …   and then “Riots not Diets”
riots not diets are the words written on this paste up

below:  “Mad Pride”

mad pride, text in artwork, on pasteup

below: “Alt Right Delete”, but now the lyrics are in English and include “the water” and “somersaults”

alt right delete text in artwork on paste up

below: “Fat so?” with more lyrics like “averte mala” and “tu a disperde”

fat so? is the question asked here

below: “Cats Rule” in bright colours.

cats rule, text in many colours, paste up

below: The bottom paste-up has the number 13 written above the number 12. Is this a hint as to who the artist is?

the number 13 above the number 12

Photos taken February 2025

skateboard portraits

Toronto’s Graffiti Alley is still an interesting place to explore.  Unlike some street art locations that have succumbed to the scrawls and tags of the less well-intentioned, good art and ideas can still be found here.  At present, adding to the eclectic nature of the graffiti in Graffiti Alley are a few interesting portraits done on half skateboards (or at least on wood in the shape of a skateboard).  All are screwed onto wooden utility poles.

below: One on natural wood colour and the other in vibrant red.  The sticker says Positive Creations.

two men's portraits painted each on half of a skateboard, attached to a pole in graffiti alley. one is black line drawing on natural wood colour, and the other is very red

two women's portraits on a skateboard. Top one is turquoise and the bottom one is pink

below: A man with a mustache

man's portrait painted on half of a skateboard, attached to a pole in graffiti alley

below: Three on the same pole in Graffiti Alley – A red person with shaggy hair and light blue glasses as well someone with very long orange hair.

portraits painted on half skateboards, 3 different men, one in red, one in orange, and one in pink, all on the same pole in graffiti alley, work of positive creations

 man's portrait painted on half of a skateboard, in red, shaggy hair, and wearing light blue glasses, attached to a pole in graffiti alley

below: At the bottom, a quizzical look on a pink face.

pink man's portrait painted on half of a skateboard, attached to a pole in graffiti alleyPhotos taken January 2025

infamy and instagram

While we were in Montreal, a number of these posters, or paste ups, appeared.  They were part of MuralFest, a street art and mural festival that was happening at the time.  Although I recognized some of the people who were pictured, there are a couple that I wasn’t sure of.   Here are six that I saw (none of which had any ‘instagram likes’):

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture

Kim Jong-Il of North Korea on a graffiti wall

.

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture

Joseph Stalin on the side of an old wood building

.

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture and

someone in a helmet…. any ideas? Mussolini?

.

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture

Adolf Hitler high up on a brick wall

.

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture

Japanese? guy on a poster covered wall

.

larger than life black and white picture with the instagram heart symbol on orange background for number of likes for that picture

another person who I think I should know, but I don’t

******

Photos taken in the summer of 2014