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.
below: A man with a mustache
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.
below: At the bottom, a quizzical look on a pink face.
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’):
Kim Jong-Il of North Korea on a graffiti wall
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Joseph Stalin on the side of an old wood building
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someone in a helmet…. any ideas? Mussolini?
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Adolf Hitler high up on a brick wall
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Japanese? guy on a poster covered wall
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another person who I think I should know, but I don’t
There once was a building on the southwest corner of Spadina Ave and Baldwin (Toronto). That building is long gone but the hoardings around the vacant lot have become a home for graffiti. Although advertising posters sometimes take over some of the space, there is often new graffiti too.
below: Paste-ups on plywood. On the left – a City Kitty character in big pink frame glasses (and what’s that on his head?!). Small black and white pasteups include Visual Noise with Urban Ninja Squadron.
below: WOW! He is not dead yet. Live! Let Live!
below: Two pieces by Bao aka (Bao Pham) who seems to like to mix cultural icons that aren’t usually associated with each other.
below: “Fab Four Troopers” Quebec highway sign
below: “Return of the Boom Bap Trooper”
below: A woman’s portrait among the advertisements.
below: “Frida Moss”, A Frida Kahlo and Kate Moss mash-up, also by Bao
below: A green catchoo looking atch you
below: Ouch! Another Urban Ninja Squadron paste-up, this one in collaboration with Dio Tha Dog.
\Photos taken January 2025
Photos taken January 2025
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog
….. looking for (and finding!) graffiti and interesting bits of street art.
There were a few pieces by artist Blub who has used well known faces of famous figures or images from art history and placed them underwater wearing a diving mask. These are part of his series, “L’Arte Sa Nuotare” (underwater art)
below: Little angel
below: The Madonna. In some versions she is with baby Jesus who has been cut out of this image (as you can see the bubbles floating upward from his mask even though he is not in this picture)
Taken from Gustav Klimt’s, “The Kiss”, the kissing couple are now underwater too.
Another artist with a presence in Bari is LeDieSis and her/their Superwomen series
below: Barbie’s been shopping. She’s winking at you.
below: Pink and purple and another wink. Does she realize that someone is looking over her shoulder?
below: Another winking superwoman. I suspect that the official looking notice has been taped over her Superman symbol.
below: The Virgin Mary is also in Bari, also winking, as she carries her baby daughter
below: Frida Kahlo
below: “Gals are as strong as hell” by unknown artist.
Mopsi, by so schoen immer wieder, can be seen in many European cities including Bari. He (she?) usually has something to say.
below: Equality has no gender. The black scrawl covers the word “no” which can totally change the message if you’re not looking closely.
below: And the other has flowing red hair and colourful wings.
There were also Gu Tang Clan posters on the walls in Bari.
Zooming in to highlight some of the stickers – a blue shark in pink waters, a flaming sandal, and Ind–? Jam?.
And last, a selection of work by “Unknown Artists”
There are two large paste up figures in black and white which may or may not be by the same artist. The top one is Mona Lisa is a man’s suit. She’s been leaning on this wall since at least 2019 so although she’s looking a little rough, she’s doing well for her age.
below: Large back and white mural by Alex Senna with feet overhanging a parking lot.
below: The large feet also sit above a line of circus themed images. These vignettes, so to speak, are also seen on the other side of the building (a theater). Some of them are shown here.
below: Two clowns.
below: Magic rings
below: Another magician with his props
below: “Welcome to the Golden Theater Beautiful” on one side and “Le Grand David and his Own Spectacular Magic Company” on the other.
below: Appropriately, it was painted on a bicycle store wall. Sadly, the bike shop closed in 2018 after being in business for 70 years. The frog on its bike endures.
below: Mural by Helen Bur and Sam Worthington, “Uprising”
below: This mural is dedicated to Howard Lomen (1959-2004). There are words written on the mural including: “Charles Olson and Vincent Ferrini fire their poetry pistols in a dual at niles beach.” It was painted by his son Erik Lomen. Both Olson and Ferrini (in the black hat) were poets from the Gloucester MA area (just up the coast from Beverly).
below: The blur of headlights in the night, a mural by Dana Woulfe
below: A lively flower arrangement by Hailey Bonia
below: Nowhere over fast and a burning car
below: Stay Calm and Love Your Neighbourhood
below: Stickers on a stop sign including a green snail
Graffiti and street art seen while walking along the Seine in Paris.
below: Woof woof! Yes Paris!
below: Multi-coloured by Tremos, Peruvian artist living in France
below: At Voie sur Berge (Passerelle Léopold Sedar Senghor), in the 7ème, is this long mural by Michael Beerens titled “Plastique” – it is a comment on the state of our oceans.
The title is French but the word in the mural is English, “plastic”.
below: Honey bear by fnnch. There are quite a few of these around Paris and I blogged about them in June of 2022, Honey Bears.
Swallows in flight; swallows with little white halos.
below: A “My dog sighs” sticker beside a portrait of a woman with very orange hair.
below: A small black and white cat by Copycat, an “anonymeows streetartist” who has painted hundreds of cats.
below: Another Copycat cat…
below: ….. and yet another, on a multi coloured background
below: Another Copycat cat… this time it has a companion, another orange headed woman. She is surrounded by an intricate design and is the work of OJA.
below: Re-using many, many can lids – beer cans, pop cans, drink cans.
below: Are three heads better than one?
below: A sassy blue monkey with a pink heart bum.
below:Mr. Djoul is an artist who creates mosaics, especially of this little green-eyed alien creature
below: Invader mosaic? And in the lower left corner, bright red hair and words that say “My weariness in longing”
below: From the description beside the photo: “Ho–[torn] made a famous photograph of a dying soldier which became anti war icon since 1930s. Later it was proven to be a staged image on which nobody really died… From Russian diaries of Krapiva Netleva” [krapiva is the Russian word for nettle]
Delft is a lovely city with a large public square by an old church. There are some old houses along a few canals as well as some narrow lanes. There is also some street art there.
below: In a very narrow lane, Kloksteeg, is a large mural by Micha de Bie
below: The mural contains portraits of characters from Delft’s past such as Hugo de Groot (1583-1645), Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), “The father of microbiology”) and Vermeer’s Milkmaid (from the famous painting).
below: A mural by Serge KB (aka Serge Kortenbroek), a handful or two of little creatures.
below: Another Serge KB painting, biomechanical. Ectoplasmic ooze. paints surreal creatures, animals, cyborgs and androids.creates grim scenes with a twist.
below: On a wall in Papenstraat is a map of Delft in the 17th century and it is made entirely of mosaic tiles. It is the work of Nan Deardorff McClain and Colja de Roo.
below: A closer look at part of the map. At the top, close to the left side is Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek’s house (mentioned in the Kloksteeg mural above). The word “microscoop” appears beside it.
below: Catching and eating fish.
below: Are you sure they fit? Poor Henk
below: A decorated lane
below: “O! Nadine, wat is mijn HUID mooi” or Nadine, my skin is so beautiful (or nice). This replaces a very similar painting that featured a man and a woman with the text, “O Jan wat zit je haar mooi (Jan, your hair is so beautiful”)… But wait…. this is also an ad for beauty products?
below: Literal street art – chalk (paint?) on the paving stones.
below: Stand with Ukraine, a sticker in the main square.
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.
below: A street in the Trastevere neighbourhood in Rome.
below: A collection of paste-ups (or wheatpastes) from a number of artists.
below: The large simplified guy has Frafimi written on his tummy while the blue hand says “Smile please” as it seems to reach for a skunk. Draw is on the run, The Chosen Few Worldwide show a fist and Horus, at the far right, has weird eyes.
below: T.A.C.I.M. Collective‘s black and white portrait of a woman with long hair beside a funny looking Jack’o’lantern (i.e. a pumpkin with a face carved into it).
below: Blackheart boy of The Chosen Few with another black and white woman’s portrait. She partially covers that strange image of the two men. ”Liebe” is on the screen at TV Clan. Liebe is love.
below: Urban ninja squadron from Toronto makes an appearance. There is also a circular drawing by Streetartee of a women’s leg emerging from a swirl of hair – being reborn. The I ‘heart’ mare is also one of hers. On the top left, with big lips and finny feet is Fishes Invasion (aka Merioone). This little fish gets around; I have seen his image in so many places!
below: A combination of streetartee (aka 11tee, or Tracey) and Alessandro Spun (aka spun29) and a large black and white Marilyn Monroe. This is one of those pieces that I struggle with but the fact that streetartee is female seems to make it easier for me to accept it. ”Vivi di gusto” is live with taste while “vivi disgusto” is experience disgust. An interesting play on words.
below: No Limits
below: Another wall, another collection.
below: Two faces with a heart in the middle. The face on the left is an example of pareidolia since the ripped paper forms two eyes, a forehead, and a mouth – our brains see those shapes and interprets it as a face. The other pieces are more paste-ups by streetartee.
below: It’s not a very good photo, but this little image of a woman lying on a cauliflower that has been cut in two is another Spun29 piece. The words, “pelle morta di ventisette anni” translate to “dead skin of twenty-seven years”. And I will leave you with that profound thought…..
Photos taken December 2019
If you are interested, there is a previous blog post from a couple of years ago with more Trastevere slaps
My last post, Under an Ostiense railway bridge, showed some of the graffiti and street art that I saw there a few years ago. This post includes more photos of the artwork (and scribbles) that were seen. There was a lot! Even this is only a small portion of the total.
below: Leonardo Crudi 900 poster on the bottom and BVKA on the right .
below: Foto star Ostiense photo of a woman between a large yellow mushroomy fungus type guy and BVKA who puts the same black head on most of his work.
below: Closer look at Leonardo Crudi 900,
below: The angel resting her head on a trash bin, Cancelletto (aka Rizio Ticenco)
below: He says “Smile!” but the croc is not interested.
below: Icarus on the bottom and a greenish crocodile face on the left. I am not sure what the woman is doing or thinking but that looks like a very long cigarette in her hand.
Photos taken January 2025
below: WOW! He is not dead yet. Live! Let Live!
Eyes on the Streets 