A small collection of graffiti has accumulated on Chiasso dei Baroncelli, a small street in central Florence. This is what it looked like the day I walked past….
below: This is a copy of “The Schoolgirl” by Swiss artist Albert Anker (1831-1910) with a couple of very subtle changes. The book that she’s holding now appears to be Chinese as does some of the lettering on her chalkboard.
below: The last few are black and white photos that the artist (WAP?) has then painted a part of – usually just one colour per print.
On the south side of Danforth, near Bowden Ave.., there is an alley….
below: Looking west to Bowden Avenue. There are a few street art pieces that have been painted in the past couple of years.
below: Natasha Dichpan painted this young woman and wolf (dog?). It’s probably a dog but for some reason I’d like to think that it was a wolf.
below: The multicoloured swirls of dots and splotches are by Andre Castro.
below: A young woman with flowing pink hair, pointy elf-like ears, and many eyes, rides on a blue pelican (or at least a bird with a big beak), painted by Katrina Canendo in summer of 2021. Pink mushrooms in blue foilage on the accompanying door.
below: She also seems to have an extra arm as well as an eye on the back of her hand. She ate the mushrooms?
below: By Sasha Fonkatz, the only man on the block. The calligraphy in the black box on the right says: “Sometimes you have to be a lion to be the lamb that you are” (a Dave Chapelle quote). I am not sure what the whole story is surrounding the pink faced man, but the first two lines start “A true community is not just about …”
below: by Amani Muhammad, blues…. blue woman, blue pigeon, and blue butterflies among the pink and red flowers
below: Another Katrina Canendo piece, this time from April 2022. On the sidewalk on Bowden Street with Danforth Church in the background. Once called Chester Baptist Church, the building was completed in two stages. The original building was built in 1911 while a newer addition fronting onto Danforth was added in 1931.
below: Bowden Ave. The street is named after John Wilson Bowden, a builder who purchased land in the area in 1858 and subdivided it in 1871.
below: Behind the church
To the west of Bowden there are a couple of garage doors that have been painted but that was long ago. Some have been tagged over.
below: Long ago as in 2012 which is when this double garage was painted – CHEST on one side with Magical Mystery Tour and RASR on the other with Imagine. Beatles fans I presume.
Owen Sound is a small pleasant Ontario town that is nice to wander around. It has more street art than one might expect from a town its size.
below: Back in 2013, the Bleeding Carrot Cafe decided that the alley adjacent to the cafe needed some art and thus the Bleeding Carrot Alley Project was born. That summer, the exterior walls of the cafe (in the alley) were painted with street art murals. Most of them still exist. Although the Bleeding Carrot doesn’t seem to be in business any more, it has left behind a colourful legacy. The first part of this blog post is dedicated to those murals.
below: Brilliant red poppies painted by Andree Levie Warrilow
below: This was the first mural that was painted in the alley, a boy and his toys.
below: Another from 2013, painted by Alan Glicksman … where everybody seems to be talking.
below: Keep on rockin’ downtown, bright yellow by Robert Menzies (also 2013).
below: More 2013 – a surreal scene by Marc Matei with a purple octopus (with more than 8 legs!) makes a headpiece for a surly looking man who has a shaggy beard and one big tooth.
below: Portrait of Jim, by Jennifer Crawley (2013)
below: Logan Pellerin’s trippy trees and a rocky road that leads infinitely into the distance
below: Jana Miller painted these wavy rays of sunshine.
below: In later years (post-2013), the other side of the alley was also painted.
below: An orange skull
below: “Vida” is a collaboration between artist Billy Goodkat and local high school students. Vida is the Spanish word for Life.
below: A large section of wall in Carney’s Lane is covered by this Owen Sound mural which is also known as the Koodoo mural.
below: The south wall of the Grey Gallery is covered by “Transformation” a large mural by Raquell Yang that was painted in the summer of 2020
below: There is a large mural behind the Roxy Theatre that was painted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the theatre. It is composed of a number of theatre related vignettes. It is the result of a collaboration between a number of artists under the leadership of Billy Goodkat.
below: And last, I found a wall covered with Emily May Rose’s raccoons.
A previous post, ‘stencils on a blue fence‘ featured art in San Francisco’s Balmy Alley. This post contains a lot more street art from the same location! Although the alley is only one block long, there is a lot to look at! Most of the art depicts Mexican or Hispanic history and culture; there is a strong reoccurring theme of social justice as well.
below: Street art paintings have been a part of Balmy Alley since the early 1970s. it is now home to numerous brightly colored murals.
below: Part of “Five Sacred Colors of Corn” at the entrance to Balmy Alley. Prior to 2021 these panels were at Mercy Housing.
below: A Day of the Dead image – a holiday to remember and honor those who have died.
below: Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”
below: This photo, and the following two, are from an older mural by Hector Escarraman. It was painted on a wood fence in the alley back in 1995. The colours have faded and the vines have started to encroach on the top of some of the heads but enough of the image remains that you can get a good idea of what the original painting looked like. All of the people in the mural are icons of Mexican art.
below: A lonely red heart has been added.
below: One of the figures in blue is Frida Kahlo.
below: Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. “Naya Bhinana” (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.
below: These stairs were decorated by Precita Eyes Muralists with a mural titled “Dragon Eyes”. It was painted way back in 1998. For more than forty years Precita Eyes has used murals to enrich communities in San Francisco – murals that focus on positive images about such topics as culture, nature, unity, and history
below: Zigzags and triangles in bright colours with a couple of hummingbirds flying around.
below: There’s a lot of religious and cultural symbolism in this mural and it shows how much the two are entwined.
below: On the left, Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti with a few origami birds added to the scene.
below: Mother and child
below: At 50A
below: Women of the Resistance, 38 women’s portraits in a group, painted in 2018 by Lucía González Ippolito aka Cia Lu Art
below: Ruby throated hummingbird resting on a very blue finger.
below: There is a dragon here too!
below: The other half of the mural… It as painted by Carla Wojczuk in 2011 and is titled “56 Lu the Wanderer”.
below: “The Mission District is for Everyone” is the text on the sign that the little blue bear is holding. The mural is “Victorion” by Sirron Norris
below: A tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who gave his life fighting for social and economic and ecological justice. He was murdered by the CIA (or at least by CIA-backed assassins) on 24th March 1980, the day after he he urged Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their superiors. A few days later, more than 30 people were killed at his funeral. In all, at least 75,000 people lost their lives during the 12 years that the civil war lasted in El Salvador.
below: Un Pasado Que Aún Vive (A Past That Still Lives Here) by Joel Bergner, from 2004
below: Standing in a barrel is El Chavo from a Mexican television sitcom from the 1970s and 1980s. He is standing beside a mural from 2001 of a butterfly and a palm tree in “Memorias Primas” by Marta Ayala. The butterfly has been covered up for some reason.
below: Happy singing tree? Scared yelling tree? Enchanted and magical forest? Haunted and creepy forest?
below: Another tree/human mix. This time there is a contrast to the hot colours of the desert on one side and the cooler colours of the city on the other. It is titled “Love and Compassion” and it is in memory of Father Richard Purcell (1938-2011), a Franciscan friar who ran a homeless shelter nearby for men with AIDS. The mural was painted by Laura Campos, a Precita Eyes member.
below: Parrots and toucans and other details, mural by Dallas Hyatt
below: “Tu doy una Cancion como un Disparo como un libro, una Palabra, una Guerrilla, Como Doy el Amor. I give you a Song Like a Tribute, like a Book, a Word, a Freedom fighter, like a I give Love.” Silvio Rodriguez.
below: Day and night. The man in the moon reflects on the water below. The sun shines in a blue sky.
AC/DC Lane was named for the Rock band of the same name. It has been a place for street art for many years, one of the first locations in central Melbourne.
below: Dominating the corner of the lane is Mike Makatron’s 3D sculpture of AC/DC band member, Bon Scott bursting through the wall.
below: Melbourne in 3D
below: In the bottom corner, RIP Malcolm Young, another member of AC/DC. The text in the word bubble is “C’mon Saint Peter, how many bloody times you gonna make me play Hell’s Bells before you let me through the gates mate?”
below: Fintan Magee’s painting of a man carrying a tree towers over the end of the alley.
below: Taking selfies with Malcolm Young.
below:Steen Jones painted this tall Melbourne mural with the red roses.
below: Andy Warhol with paint splatters
below: A printed discourse on reality that starts with: “Realities can be controlled through the altered perception of real monocultrial [sic] relationships. This undeniable truth is self-evident through seeing mind’s eye. You will never be real, and in turn, that verifies your existence.” Think of it what you want.
below: A boy, a girl, and a dog going for a walk, by VKM,
below: Three more posters, two female and one male, all in vibrant colours. On the left is a purple haired, and very sad, woman by Vasso. Next to her is the green haired smoker by YAYA and on the right is an interesting woman with great red sunglasses but I have no idea who created that picture.
below: Love is love, and many others including a little Robbo-t
below: Rock on! Elvis Emu (by John Murray) and the red dino. What you can’t tell from this picture, is that the emu is just over 6 feet tall (i.e. a little taller than the average man). There are now many wonderful emus all over Melbourne!
below:Neftnik’s blue woman reading an orange book while smoking her pipe.
below: A blue girl in a flowery dress and a blue bunny rabbit, more blueness from Neftnik.
below: Christmas street art! Lots of Santa Clauses and even a reindeer or two.
below: … and the festive season continues… with Batman delivering presents down chimneys. This is one of many places in Melbourne that were “decorated” for Christmas, see “A Christmas collection of friends” for more pictures.
below: Salvador Dali looking a little surreal beside another blue person by Neftnik.
Artist Alley and Maiden Lane, between Ouellete and Pellisier Streets, has provided a canvas for many street artists. Free 4 All Walls is an organization that has helped turn the alley into the art gallery that it has become. This blog post is a look at some of the murals that have been painted here.
below: A man in shorts, all in red, by Jarus.
below: A PURE Maple Syrup can makes an appearance in this mural. If you see any painting, or other form of graffiti featuring this can, you can assume that it is the work of Canadian artist ‘WhatisAdam’ aka WIA
below: Spy vs Spy, cartoon sharacters wearing wide brimmed hats. Black Spy vs White Spy, both with long pointy noses. These characters originally appeared in Mad magazine as early as 1961.
below:Nychos painted this strange cowboy. Weirdly realistic but very anatomical. I’m not sure how his hands stay in place.
below: Peace sign with bones
below: Now adding a green peace symbol beside the peace sign with bones
below: Another peace symbol
below: No guns, No war zone, Keep the mayor happy at all costs. More protest signs.
below: More Peace and Love
below: According to an Instagram post by the artist, Jason Garcia, this image was inspired by an aerial view of the Windsor/Detroit area. The cities in pink with the river between them.
below: It’s not Spiderman in that red costume… and that skull is rather creepy. The artist for this mural was Matt Gondek.
below: “.. And then things got better” in a mural by Denial.
below: “Denial loves you”.
below: Luigi! But he’s behind bars…..
below: Piccachu makes an appearance too (that’s a lot of cameras on his body!). This image bothers me a bit – the look on her face is not nice. Mind you, with a chipmunk stuffed in there she’s got to be uncomfortable. Ick. There is text on the mural (not in the photo) that says Graffiti Zombie
… a small lane in central Melbourne with lots of street art.
below: A very round face, a mysterious face. Is he sticking out his tongue? Where is his other eye? What happened to his neck? And then you could ask why his hand is drawn that way.
below: A very realistic drawing of a person with black hair, seated, with hands together wrapped around a glass jar. This wheatpaste piece of art has probably been strategically placed behind window bars. Unfortunately, the signature for this piece is also behind the bars.
below: Balloon and frying pan behind bars, by Tweet
below: Spread Love, not the Virus, a message brought to you by Mickey Mouse in a black Covid mask.
below: Raccoon by MyCuteCreatures on the top and a little guy with skull head and little black bat wings on his back.
below: The top one is probably a head.
below: Hairy purple creatures lurk in the lane.
below: White birds in flight behind the garbage bins.
below: Looking down Whitehart Lane
below: Paintings by Aki Yaguchi (female), floating girls and stars
When I walked around the Mission District back in February, I walked Osage Lane and Orange Alley one after the other. Later that day when I was sorting my photos, I messed up where one set of pictures ended and the next set started. It’s possible that the photos that I posted a week or so ago were not just Osage Lane either! (Mission District: Osage Lane) The two laneways run parallel to each other, one on the east side of Bartlett Street and the other on the west side.
below: Someone is a Gladys Knight and the Pips fan with a quote from their song, ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’, “Trying to get back to a more simple place in time….”
below: A Cheech and Chong themed mural celebrating the famous comedy pair. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong rode the free loving, hippie era to success with stand-up routines, records, and films based largely on drugs/cannabis and other counterculture subjects.
below: “My name is…” a 2022 mural by Precita Eyes Muralists. Directed by Flavia E. Mora. Assisted by Teresa Benson. In collaboration with 6th and 7th grade arts electives students at Synergy School. It’s a mural that touches on most social justice issues of the day – Missing Equity, Land Back, Black and Trans Lives Matter, Equality, and Reproductive Rights.
below: Only some heads remain.
below: Frija, Goddess of Fertility with her antlers and long white hair.
below: Faded.
below: Pablo A. Medina, “There is so much love in this city”.
below: All in green – a large tree…. and a hand on a paint roller… and everything in between.
below: A colourful fellow with whiskers and button-like eyes, in a mural painted by Sune Nesu. It also has a little glowing halo; is this a memorial to a lost friend?
below: San Francisco under the window with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.
Have a seat! It’s another tour of laneway street art.
Today’s blog features Paul Estrela Lane which runs for one block on the northside of the Danforth ending at Woodbine Avenue. Some of the garages and fences have been painted with bright and cheerful murals. There are quite a few paintings considering the fact that the lane is only one block long. I first visited it in 2017 and most of these photos are from that time. I went back the other day to see if there were any changes….
below: A mural by mediah and the CBS crew.
below: Another contribution from the CBS crew but this time in collaboration with kanos, a French artist, from Paris. More of his work can be seen under ikanografik on instagram.
below: A warm summer day by the surf.
below: Toothy grins and googly eyes, coloured monster faces all squished together to completely cover the back of this building. It is the work of monicaonthemoon.
below: Listening to music as her orange and pink hair blows in the wind, by Kim
below: Marine life swimming in the laneway, an octopus with orange eyes looking at you, and what I think is a squid on the left. Painted by kittzen.
below: Japanese characters painted by Tokyo. Hint to street artists – if you want to be found, your moniker should be something that doesn’t bring up millions of unrelated hits on a search engine. Any ideas about what he might be saying?
Most of the above murals are still there – looking a little faded, or with small shrubs growing up in front of them. The remaining photos were taken in March 2024.
below: A blue eyeless man and his cat with marvelous green eyes – the work of a mystery man, Victorful. This mural was here in 2017 but the painting to the right was a newer addition to the alley (photo from 2024).
below: Children eating ice cream.
below: Another newer mural is this 2018 creation by Caitlin Taguibao
below: This little blue boy is part of a larger mural that is on two sides of a corner of a building.
All of the paintings in this blog post were seen in a lane in Durres Albania, in the “old town” part of the city near the Roman amphitheatre.
Faleminderit Shqiperi = Thank you Albania!
They were all painted in 2014 (8 years ago) so most of them are looking a little weathered.
Written beside the painting below: “Ass. Cult. Ecletica 1st Bienale di Durazzo 2014”.
With thanks to the Mulliri Vjeter coffee shop on Rruga Myslym Shyri in Tirana where I hung out trying to stay cool while editing photos for this post. June 2022
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Eyes on the Streets 