Revolution Wall 2

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Mary C

The other day I posted some pictures of the art on the boards around the United Nations ESCWA building in Beirut (Feb 20, Let Lebanon Live). The pictures in this blog post are from another Revolution Wall, by Art of Change, in the same neighbourhood.

below: A rotten orange by dew (Ali Kadado) & renoz (renozoner).

below: Wings of Freedom

below: Close to a real heart

below: The count down is upside down

below: An archer fires red hearts in a painting by Lea Bou Habib

below: Stencil by markghsoub aka Markus

below: Throwing dice in a painting by Zein.

below: Two pink mice

below: Protesters throwing red hearts, not just any hearts, but hearts with the Lebanese cedar tree.

below: A Lebanese flag with the red stripe made of hearts, Our love for this country will overcome your greed for the green.

below: Three panels of bulls, cows, and words by Selim Mawad

below: Close up of the middle panel

Scroll down to the previous blog post for more of Selim Mawad’s work.

exitenter in Florence

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Mary C

exitenter is a prolific graffiti artist whose art is usually centered around red hearts, love, and equality. The pieces with their stick figures are simple and direct.

below: Reaching for love

simple graffiti of a black stick figure with white filled in, reaching up to a red heart, with the word exit written above it

below: Black equals white. Equality

two stick figues, one with black body and the other with white body, holding hands, with a red equals sign above their hands

below: Swinging on a heart, in love.

on a blue one way street sign, a sticker with a stick figure swinging on a red heart

below: Apart and fighting, but come together in love. Another way of saying “All you need is love”.

below: Together, hand in hand looking for love.

two stick figure people holding hands and reaching for a red heart

below: Juxtaposition of the Nativity scene with the idea of refugees.

street art paste up of a nativity scene, Mary and Joseph standing together with Mary holding the baby Jesus, under night sky with moon and stars. The word refugees is written below the picture. All contained in a grey arch shape

For more pictures and information, ExitEnter instagram page and website

Stern in Plovdiv

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Mary C

There are numerous paintings by Bulgarian street artist Dimitar Mekhandziiski (aka Stern) in Plovdiv Bulgaria. Here are some of the ones that I saw in April 2017. a woman is taking a photo of a large mural by Dimitar Mehandjiiski a k a stern in Plovdiv, external wall, puppets people

below: A dragon hand puppet on the end of a blue arm and another man in a red hoodie, looking down on the stage as a man walks past.

a man with a blue face and blue arm holds a dragon hand puppet while another man in a red hoodie holds a fox puppet

below: The making of a wooden puppet?

an older man with reading glasses and balding hair holds a wood puppet with a round head and a stick-like neck

below: The crocodile (alligator?) has a blue glass heart between its jaws. Be careful! Is that a grenade inside the crystal?

looking at the corner of a building, with murals on two sides. One side is of a man riding a purple and pink alligator or crocdile. The other side is not seen as easily and are more creatures

below: Empty chairs and a table in front of a mural… a pink creature beside another ugly creature with green skin, beady eyes, and a very long tongue. Inside the window next door is the face of a strangely beautiful character with long hair, pink eyes, and blue skin. In its hand (with watch on its wrist) is a flaming torch.

murals by stern on the side of an old building in Plovdiv

below: Riding the dragon (crocodile?) and wearing a mask.

a person in a mask with an orange beak is sitting on what looks like an inflatable green dragon

below: In contrast to his other work, this frog and these mushrooms look much more realistic.

A light green frog sits on a dark green leaf, mushrooms on both sides of him, some of the mushrooms have beige and white striped caps and some have red tops with white dots

Calle de San Cayetano, Madrid

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Mary C

below: The intersection of San Cayetano and Calle de Embajadores. A wall encloses a playing field of some kind.

a woman pushes a stroller past a wall with street art murals painted on them, she's head down the hill at Calle San Cayetano

below: Looking down San Cayetano

looking down a street that goes downhill, a brick fence with murals on it on the right, also street art on the building at the end of the street, 3 and 4 storey buildings on either side.

below:

mural of a large flower on a brick wall

mural of a spaceman's head in a helmet

below: Street art on the wall signed by @elreydelaruina (Ruina R64)

low wall with murals in front of a larger mural on the side of a 3 storey building

a man walks down a street in Madrid, beside a low brick wall that has been covered with street art murals

below: Parts of letters on the wall. Tuuulibreria is a bookstore where you (the buyer) decide how much the book is worth.

below: And above the bookstore, a table ready for dinner. The words above the wine bottle are an ode to Embajadores, “mi barrio” i.e. my neighbourhood.

little things on Barcelona walls

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mary C

Barcelona Spain, April 2018,
pasteups, stickers, stencils and other little pieces of graffiti.

below: The green creature (with Ore on its tail) seems to want to eat the heart. The tiger appears on walls in many Spanish cities although sometimes he’s just a black and white head. He’s the creation of Bloo. Last, an orange crab with eye lashes on one eye.

some pasteups and other small pieces of graffiti on a concrete wall. A tiger, a heart, an orange crab.

below: RAF Urban, young boy

paste up of a boy's head and shoulders by raf urban

below: Another face, this time a woman looking up. She’s not quite obscured by the paint around her.

yellow arrow, pointing to a pasteup of a womans face on a wall

below: Pointed

a stencil on a wall, a hand with index finger pointing, points to a metal door that is covered with a mural

below: “Lo importante esta en tu cabeza” on empty cans. As it turns out, this the name of an album by the group La Gran Orquesta Republicana. Rough translation is: The important is in your head.

empty cans covered with black and each with a blue letter on them, the cans are put together on a wall so the letters make words.

below: More cans on walls. This time they say “mensajes de amor en tiemps de guerra, mensajes de paz con la mente guerrera”. [messages of love in times of war, messages of peace with the warrior mind]. This can art is the work of an anonymous couple. Many examples of their work can be seen on instagram with the hashtag #llaunesbcn

empty cans covered with white, with black letters, one per can, on them. The cans are mounted on a wall in with letters forming words that say mensajes de amor en tiemps de guerra, mensajes de paz con la mente guerrera

below: Funny Bone and a little hairy chested, hat wearing, tattooed fellow with love on his tummy (or lower).

stickers on a door that has a red tag on it.

below: Güelcom was an Argentinian movie, a romcom from 2011. Because of my poor Spanish as well as the rip in the paper, I can’t tell what the second word is.

pasteup of a woman with blue hands reaching out for her face, also the words, guelcom

below: A black and white paste up.

pasteup of a man's face, wearing black sunglasses, also his face is covered with black lines

below: Mowcka “uniendo tus partes” and others

stickers and paste ups on a wall

below: Very, very with symmetry, as a red rose lies on the sidewalk.

stencil, in purple, words mucho mucho with the second one being uder the first, and upside down, also a stenciled red rose lying under the words, arranged such that the flower looks like its lying on the sidewalk,

below: Smile! Anthropomorphic rabbit photographer in blue

blue rabbit with a camera

… and red

red rabbit with a camera

below: somiatruites, Catalan for daydreamer

small painting on a gold coloured wall, exterioe, six green arms with fingers stretching out from a central reddish face
below: Utility box. JERC = Joventuts d’Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Young Republican Left of Catalonia). They support independence for Catalonia which is the part of Spain that includes Barcelona.

utility box with painted political statements graffiti

below: The Hulk. Even he is locked out.

The Hulk

below: Watering can and plant pot faces.

2 small pictures on white board on outside wall

below: Another collection of small paste ups on a wall. There’s that tiger again. A blue unicorn and a very large insect share the upper left corner. That little black and white figure in the bottom left is a flying peanut, a character by Hadsawit that really gets around.

graffiti pasteups on a wooden door

many pasteups on a wall

below: The Raven, or at least a large black bird

stencil, black bird eating something

metal utility box on a sidewalk beside a stone wall, drawing of the upper part of a man, in black line drawing.

old wood door covered with blue tag and a sticker with a red flower

Bristol paste-ups

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Mary C

below: Be brave paste-up by donk (instagram)

be brave pasteup by donk, ofLondon, in Bristol a young person with eys closed, Indian feather head dress on hed, in monotone black and white

below: Hero of the Beach (Ben Rider), Be Brave (donk), Play Nice (donk), and Adventures into the Future

section of wall covered with pasteups, be brave, play nice, adventures into the future, hero of the beach dog, ghetto blaster

below: This characters are the work of qWeRT (on instagram)

two little green andwhite characters on a blue wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

two little purple and white characters on a beige wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

vertical paste up, man in suit and good shoe, but with head and hands as machinery

below: A pouting child beside the steps.

black and white photo of a cjild with curly hair and topless

below: Ribcage and a pink ‘Grab This’ pussy with a gun. The latter is by Ben Rider (instagram)

two pink paste ups on a door - the top is a drawing of a ribcage, bones only and the other is a cat with a gn and the words grabthis (grab this pussy?)

below: Paint me a rainbow

a black girlwith long curly hair is painting a small house, the house is black and white but there is a rainbow of colours coming out of it

below: A torn version of the picture above along with some other pasteups. Men in glasses, profanity pony wishes, and a more complicated poster with a hand, a skull, and other things. The words on this last one say ‘Office of the Medical Examiner, County of Cook’. Eyes dominate two of the posters – same artist?

below: She carries an awkward load on the left while the girl on the right is well armed and well prepared.

below: Mais Amor, por favor…. more love please. Another pasteup by donk.

pasteup of a smiling woman's head, large puffy hairdo, words say mais amor por favor.

below: Another donk piece – a pirate lying in a liquor bottle with another bottle in his hand.

donk pasteup in a doorway, on brown paper, a drawing of a man lying on his back inside a liquor bottle, he's holding another bottle in his hand

graffiti text pasteup in black writng on white paper

below: I was in Bristol just before the British elections in the spring of 2017. There was quite a few anti-May/Tories and pro -Corbyn/Labour graffiti including this dinosaur themed one.

black and white poster on a graffiti spray painted wall, words n poster say TMay Rex with a picture in the middle of May's (British Prime Minister) head on a dinosaur

below: The Humble Magnificent with masked boy, a donk piece.

donk pasteup of a boy in hat, wearing mask and standing with his hands at his side, background is covered with large red polka dots - the border is the words The Humble Magnificent repeated 8 times

below: A creature waits outside number 42

on a blue door with the number 2 on it, a small black and white paste of a head of a creature, signed creature [illegible name - maybe arequte?]

below: mcln’s plague doctor character is in Bristol too. He’s drawn on a printed page and the words in that rectangle are ‘resist the temptation’.

mcln pasteup of plague doctor character in black top hat

sprayed on the sidewalks of LA

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Mary C

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.

below: Dangerous insects, with scoped rifles for wings.

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

below: 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.

below: A red extremist. Love extremists.

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

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

below: 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?

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

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

Photos taken February 7, 2017

Mission Linen Building, west wall, Las Vegas

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Mary C

The old Mission Linen building is at the corner of South 1st Street and Coolidge Avenue in Las Vegas. Photos taken October 2015.

below: A large mural of the famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign dominates the west side of the building.

mural of the famous Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas sign painted on the side of a building

below: The head of a creature with Vegas eyes by New Zealand street artist duo BMD.

graffiti street art on a white wall - front end of yellow creature with big ping pong ball like eyes

below: Cats in love by #Danman

graffiti street art on a white wall - a sticker by Danman of a man and a woman in cat suits. The man has hearts in his eyes and is presenting the woman with some flowers

below: She seems to be looking at the two faced man.
I wonder what she’s thinking.

graffiti street art on a white wall -

below: Many likes for the fisherman.

graffiti street art on a white wall - two posters, on the right an Indian in native head dress in profile and on the left, a small boat on a big wave

below: Marilyn Munroe in green and a pink haired woman by Typical Bandit

graffiti street art on a white wall -

below: Street art in the Milk the Bunny series by Omayra Amador.
Bunny is holding a French flag in support of Charlie Hebdo.

graffiti street art on a white wall - a yellow rabbit with a pencil behind its ear, holding up a french flag with the words je suis charlie on it.

below: Another in the Milk the Bunny series

graffiti street art on a white wall - a dog on a cloud with the sun behind, he has pink bunny ears. A wheatpaste by Milk the Bunny

below: The seemingly unhappy entrance to 1001 South 1st Street

graffiti street art on a white wall -

below: El Teacher by Cova along with an Art Saved my Life stencil

blog_el_teacher

Castlehaven Road, Camden

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Mary C

One Love Mau Mau says , “It ain’t where you from it’s where you at” …. and now you at Castlehaven Road in Camden. And if you’re curious about that brown sign, well, it’s a “Illegal Street Trading” notice. “It’s an offence for any hawker or itinerant trader to pitch a booth, stall or stand on the highway without lawful authority…”

LOndon street sign, Castlehaven Road, Camden, NW1, with an orange cat street art piece beside it. The cat is spraying white words on the black wall, It ain't where you're from but where you are.

below: This mural is a collaboration between two South American artists, Mart Aire from Argentina and Onesto (aka Alex Hornest) from Brazil. It is painted on the arch of a railway bridge.

street art piece of two people and a large pink human like creature

below: Hiding behind trees and telephone booths.

blog_street_art_phone_booths

below: Free West Papua mural by Dale Grimshaw. West Papua is a province in Indonesia and is located on the island of New Guinea.

free west papua mural of a young aboriginal boy with a white star on red forehead and rest of face in blue and white stripes, by Dale Grimshaw, about 9 or 10 feet high, blue door in the wall in the mural

below: Dotmaster street art, kid with spray paint can.

child in winter jacket, drawn in black and white on a brick wall, reaching up and touching the bottom point of a red heart.

below: Cat on a bridge

train going over a bridge with construction below. A street art painting of a cat's head is mounted on the bridge, a mural is under the bridge

painting on a black metal garage door of a blue woman and a purple horse

below: Void London 2016

street art painting on a man in a tub floating in the water beside a figure that is the red devil beside him.

Belfast street art

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Mary C

Belfast is home to more than 250 murals. Most of them are political or historical in nature and concern the recent “Troubles” in Northern Ireland’s past. But there are other murals in this city, and other street art. This post features some of the apolitical murals that I saw late in September of 2016.

below: A large mural by Smug One on High Court Street (One of his murals previously seen in Melbourne – Smug on Wood Street)

below: Keep Her Lit, keep the furnace in your heart burning, keep the fire alive.

below: These fingers are pointing at you in a mural by EMIC. 3D glasses are available in Sunflower, which is a store across the street. It’s difficult to take a photo in 3D!

below: This blue woman looms over one of the smaller streets in downtown Belfast.

below: Fighting with swords while a dead (or injured) dog lies on the floor. Surreal?

below: The vertical painting in browns is done by KVLR

below: A mural by Kashink who is an artist from Paris. She has painted in many cities around the world and some of her work can be seen in Montreal.

below: A colourful dog by Verz, a local artist.

below: A mural showing streets at night, lights and reflections, by Dan Kitchener

below: One of the hazards of taking pictures of street art is the usual presence of parked cars. They get in the way. A lot. Sometimes you just have to make them part of the composition.

below: And then there are the times when the cars are just in the way and there’s no way around it. This black bird was painted by Spanish artist Sabek. It would be nice to think that the arrow is aimed right at the car roof and that it missed the bird.

below: Continuing the bird and arrow theme is this mural titled “The son of Protagoras” by MTO (French born, now Berlin based). The mural is located in the yard of Northern Ireland War Memorial. Note the markings on the arrows. Protagoras (about 490 – 420 BC) was a Greek philosopher; he was either an agnostic or an atheist.

below: This snake and arrow mural was painted in 2015 as part of the ‘Hit the North’ event when 30 murals were painted in Belfast. Some of the other murals in this blog post were painted then. If you watch this video on youtube you might recognize them!

below: A fantastical dragon creature in purple and orange walks along the pavement.

below: A cockatoo by Dan Leo sits high on a wall, brightening up the side of a building.

below: On the fence beneath the cockatoo is this mural. It seems to be a deer hunt? The woman and her dog are chasing the deer? Or running with the deer?

below: A Faigy mural, The owl doll Millies

below: A wonderful portrait of a man by DREPH. I saw a few slices of bread with feet… The signature on the side of the bread seems to say Artista. The himbad signature on the left goes with the cat in the picture below

below: Himbad cat, wide open mouth and many sharp teeth!

below: Now it’s Puinsai Hawaii at any time.

below: On the Restore Charity Shop, a woman by Emic.

below: ‘LOST’, a man with harp antlers and a pink nose, two lonely whiskers and a grille over his mouth. My apologies for the fact that the quality of the photo is such that the smaller words are illegible. I think that what is lost is dip-py but could be dup-py.

below: More pasteups. A Citizen Nobody poster is surrounded by other pasteups in various states. “The will to consume terrorises you.”

below: Ireland is not full of leprechauns. There is one on this wall but I didn’t see too many others, real or otherwise! There were no pots of gold either. I saw a few nuns though including this one by David Creative.