street art in Havana

Back in June 2015 I spent a week in Havana.   The street art that I saw there ranged from scribbles on walls to elaborate murals and pictures.  The following photographs cover almost all the street art that I saw.

mural on a wall of a group of people, stylized slightly, obviously cuban

below: A young boy by 5 Stars

a painting by 5 stars of a young boy seated, in a sleeveless white top, black curly hair

street art, large eyes staring straight ahead

below: A variation on a slogan, “just do it”

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below: yellow faces, holding up a portrait

a small person with a yellow head holds up a large yellow square which in turn is a yellow head

below: Charlie Chaplin and the kid

black and white street art piece of Charlie Chaplin looking around the edge of a door - the door is real. A young boy is with Charlie Chaplin

below: A fish out of water, swimming down the street

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While I was in Havana, the Duodecima Bienal de La Habana was also on and some of what I saw on the streets, including the photo below, probably belonged to that.  The Bienal De La Habana is an art festival that occurs every three years (yes, three years even though bienal means every two years!).  The next festival will be in November 2018.

below: The little blue signs says “Gabinete del imaginario” which translates to Cabinet of the Imaginary.

a rough wooden cover covers a window, a wall used to be orange and blue but most of the paint has peeled off. On the wall a picture has been mounted. It is a beach scene, two people sitting on an orange beach with orange sky and blue water.

below: Oops I did it again, scribbles on the wall.

scribbled graffiti on a wall, a silly drawing of a boy with the words oops I did it again, some exclamation marks

below: Black and white portraits overlooking the street

a man and a woman talking on a street corner. Beside them is a wall with three black and white murals painted on it. A middle ages woman with a head band and hands on her hips, an older man's head in a white hat and looking upward and last, a man in a white uniform holding a box under his arm.

below: “…no quiero mas el queso” or, I don’t want more cheese.   It is signed as Cuba Ecuador 2015 as well as Ratador.  So far I haven’t been able to find any information on this artist.

two street art pieces, one is a large rat with a piece of cheese and the words No quiero mas el queso. On the right is a black and white image of a man's head with a number below him. N I 8908202623.

below: “A las almas”  To the souls, on one side of the door while a woman rides her bike on top of the world on the other side of the door.

an old green wood door on a building. on one side is a red poster with a black silhouette of the upper part of a man with one arm reaching to the clouds as well as the words a las almas, on the other side of the door is a painting in pinks and bieges of a winged woman on bike riding on top of the globe

below: An eye over number 156

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below: Waves of hair, waves of water

a street art picture of a young woman's head and face, she is looking slightly back over her shoulder. Blue abstract beside her

below: Calling Seth

the word Seth in a word bubble, with the top part of a man's head as he pokes his head around a wall.

face of a man drawn in black, with dabs of yellow, green, and red added to the picture

 

a wooden cart in poor shape is parked next to a mural of a woman lying on her side. It looks like she is lying on the sidewalk. She is topless.

photos on the wall

There are also a number of political pieces.  I suspect that some state are sponsored and some are not.

below: CDR #8 refers to Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Spanish: Comités de Defensa de la Revolución) which is a network of neighbourhood committees across Cuba.  Their purpose depends on what side of the fence you are on.  They promote social welfare and report on counter-revolutionary activity or they are a secret police organization.  Take your pick.

mural cdr number, portraits of three men wearing green, Che Guevera, Castro and

below: This is the symbol of the Young Communist League in Cuba.  In Spanish it’s  Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas or UJC. Estudio, Trabajo, Fusil = Study, Work, Rifle.   The symbol shows the faces of Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevera.  Mella was a founder of the Cuban Communist Party while Cienfuegos and Guevera were major figures in the Cuban Revolution.

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below: A UJC mural, “fieles a nuestra historia ” or Faithful to our History.
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below: Che Guevera on his own.

a black stencil of Che Guevera's head

many poster of Che Guevera

The next three pictures are of a mural on Callejon de Hamel (callejon is a lane)

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba

below: A woman looks out the window above the mural.  The words on the beige part say “Puedo esperar mas que tu, porque soy el tiempo.” This translates to, “I can wait more than you because I am time. ”   On the red section the words are “Salvador 26 to 95”.

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba - a woman looks out from a window above the mural

below: And last, a picture that was definitely a part of the Bienal.  ‘Identidad ‘ by Julio Cesar Garcia  It is part of a series of photos called Resistencia.  The words that accompany it are given below along with a translation – not the best but with my beginner Spanish and the limitations of google translate, you get what you get!

a black and white photo of a man's head and shoulders, wearing a white hat, older man, large picture, on a wall outside

Identidad da inicio a una serie titulada Resistencia.  Apelando al uso del lenguaje y el concepto de arte callejero, la serie esta compuesta por retratos de gran formato ubicados, a largo plazo, en varias ciudades del pais.   La intention es intervenir muros, edificos, aceras y calles de la ciudad con gigantografias concebidas en forma de mosaico sobre cartulina cromada.  Las obras, en relaction directa con todo tipo de publico desede el proceso mismo de su instalacion, tendran un caracter efimero.  Resistencia sera una consigna, una actitud, un modo de vida y de hacer el arte.

 

Identidad is the first in a series titled Resistencia.  Appealing to the use of language and the concept of street art, the series is composed of large format portraits located, in the long term, in several cities of the country.   The intention is to intervene on walls, buildings, sidewalks and streets of the city with large photos made in the form of mosaics on chrome paperboard. The works [In direct relation with all types of public from the process itself of its installation]  will have an ephemeral character.  Resistance will be a slogan, an attitude, a way of life and making art.

more Dublin street art

Street art seen September 2016 in various parts of the city.

below: A place for Jenny to sit on a rainy day, by Albenty.

mural on a wll painted white, by Albenty and for Jenny, a red straight back wood chair with a red umbrella hovering above it

below: Wanted Kats, the Superhero Lady, by Amanda Deer, on a metal box beside the street.

on a metal box beside the road, a blue kat superhero woman with an rocket tank on her back, brih=ght pink background, by Amanda Deer

below: “Trust me, you’re lovely.”

a young man on his phone is standing in front of a street art painting, lavender colour background with a boy and girl withtheir back to the viewer. THe boy has his arm around the shoulder of the girl. There is a heart in the upper right corner, outlined in red and containing the words Trust me you're lovely.

below: “Once we were heroes”, by canvaz

stencil of a man sitting on a stool, wearing a suit and hat, and holding a sign with red letters on white that say Once we were heroes.

below: “I feel free when I’m riding a horse in the wild… Also when I take Ecstasy”

wall painted red, stencil of a horse's head plus some blobs in green, yellow and blue. Words written on it that say I feel free when I ride a horse in the wild and when I take ecstasy

below: Making his escape on Earl Street.

altered red and white circular no entry street sign, a black figure is trying to climb out of the white horizontal bar

below: U Are Alive

mural, diagonal rainbow stripes for the background, large white letters for the words U are alive

below: Better together crayons.  Red + Blue = Purple.  By peachydublin

a poster of three crayons standing together and holding hands. The one in the middle is purple and it's shorter, On either side is red and blue. At least that's what the words say, only the blue has been coloured in, signed #peachydublin

below: Making music, musical shamrocks

black stencil on a wall, a girl is playing a trumpet and out of the trumpet come shamrocks, three leaf clovers

below: Believe.  A portrait of Kate Taylor, an Irish boxer and winner of a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in the lightweight division.

poster on a grubby dirty white wall of a woman in profile, black with white top and red boxing gloves held in front of her chest. The word believe is written in capital letters under her

below: Pink vines growing towards the door by the bridge.

man walking away from the camera, walking past a mural on the side of a shop, pink vine growing upwards, a small round balcony with a window.

below: On the wolf’s back. Available

black drawing on white of a woman sitting the shoulders of a person with a wolf head, hands on her knees, signed Available

below: A yellow horned animal on the street

mural of a yellow horned animal on the side of a store, beside the sidewalk

below: Vote yes for marriage equality.

two adjoining window shapes with brown frames and rounded tops. On the left a picture of a man voting yes with the words marriage equality. On the right the word yes in yellow with a yellow heart.

below: Two pieces.  Trees, mountains and sun that has been tagged over and second,  a long blue haired person by Evolve Urban Art.

two street art paintings on a yellowish stucco wall, side of a building. One is a stylized landscape with trees, mountains and sun that has a large tag on top of it. The other is a person with long blue hair, hand by chin, head and shoulders only, by Evolve Urban Art

below: Another piece by Evolve Urban Arts, this time on Thomas Street.

a street corner in Dublin, two men are walking on the sidewalk past a shop, Welsh's confectioner that is closed. A street art painting is on the metal screen or awning that covers the window of the shop.

below: What caught my eye here was the word “Don’t” on the door.  Perhaps Simone and Caitlin were here too.

exterior of the The Tenters Bar in red with black trim, closed and boarded up. The door is brown. Stencilled on the door is the word Don't. Simone and Caitlin are also written in white on the red wall.

below: Space invaders, cute little creatures, come in peace.

a line of 5 space invader creatures from the video game, with the words we come in peace under them.

below: I saw this face a number of times in various sizes…

large paste up a man's face, white with black line drawn features, on grey wood hoardings in front of a construction site.

below: … including this one, diceman by canvaz

large paste up of a man's head on a door of a grubby dirty white wall.

below: A cute little white cat and white dog surrounded by flower petals.

flowers in different colours, black and white pattern on petals, plus red petals, yellows and pinks too. In the background a pink blob with words written on it, street art,

a metal street box is covered with a colourful painting of a shite skull decorated like Mexican day of the dead on a many patterened background.

abstract painting street art on the side of a building and over the door, many colours and shapes

little street art painting of a yellow and black little guy with face towards the wall (or is faceless)

below: A younger Seamus Heaney, Irish poet.  1939-2013.  Winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

poster of a portrait of a man with ripped corners

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

some more Fitzroy murals

Some murals found in Fitzroy

large mural of a man standing waist deep in water holding onto a folded paper boat in both hands. A seagull is flying past. The man is fully clothed.

below: By Plea and Dem 189, a mural

large mural by Plea and DEM 189, of an older man on a unicycle with many things on his back including a monkey and a parrot in a cage

below: A mural dedicated to Adriano by Seth (Julien Mallard), Sirum, Dem 189, Plea, and Mike Maka on Rochester street.

mural on Rochester steet in Fitzroy, boy sitting on ground with his head looking up and into a circular rainbow. Above him is a scene with skulls

below: Mural of a woman by Cam Scale.

large two storey mural on a red brick building, by Cam Scale, of a woman's head and face, long black hair.

below: portrait of Raimond Graita, Australian philosopher and writer.

mural in black and white of Raimond Graita on a garage door.

below: Mural on the side of the Napier Hotel, rhinos by Putos.

Napier Hotel, with a mural on the side, two animal like creatures, one (on the left) is a rhino

rhinos mural by putos on the side of the Napier Hotel.

below: Living the dream

a mural of many geometric shapes on the side of a building, also with the words living the dream
below: Concentric blue patterns on the corner of George  and Moor.

a building on a corner of an intersection, white, with concentric circles of blue patterns.

below: The belle and the bull-headed ranger, sizzling true story, real to life marionettes.

mural with the words (red lettering on yellow), The belle and the bull-headed ranger, along with a picture of a bull

below: Leaving the brick untouched, blue wall mural by Deams

mural by deams in melbourne, negative space, wall has been painted blue except for patches where the original brick is left unpainted.

mural by deams in melbourne, negative space, wall has been painted blue except for patches where the original brick is left unpainted. close up

below: large tribute mural painted by DMA (Da Mad Art) crew: Kidparis, Peril and New2

large mural in Fitzroy by kidparis, Peril, and New2, who collectively are the DMA crew, with the words From Queens come Kings, by Da Mad Art, or DMA for short

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guerilla territory

As I have walked around Melbourne, I have seen a number of paper paste-ups by street artist baby guerilla.  I’ve collected the photos that I have taken of these paste-ups in the past month and put them in one blog post.  Some of these photos have appeared in previous posts.

below: In downtown Melbourne near a construction site.

On a brick wall, in yellow, are the words guerilla territory as well as a horizontal pasteup of a black and white drawing of a boy.

below:  McLean Alley, just around the corner from the above picture.

A paste up on a red brick wall of a girl reaching upwards with a violin in one hand and the bow for it in the other. By her feet is a blue and white sign saying McLean Way. No stopping signs are also in the picture.

below: Footscray,

wall of an old red brick industrial building, 3 storeys high, covered with street art. Lower level is series of murals and above them is a large paste up by baby guerilla of a couple flying. A man is behind a woman and he is reaching for her foot as she is reaching for the roof of the building.

below: ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ 2015.  Part of the Big West Festival.  A woman is holding a soldier in one hand and a helicopter in the other.   Located in Footscray.

a large paste up of a woman in a long dress holding her hands in the air. In one hand is a helicopter and in the other hand is a small soldier. She is pasted high on a wall and she is about 10 or 12 feet high.

below: Drewery Lane

three wheatpaste graffiti pieces on a brick wall . On top is the largest, a man wearing a tie and holding a briefcase is diving horizontally, bleow him are two faces (both wheatpastes)

below: remnants, near Jewell station

Horizontal blue tag, letters, graffiti across the bottom of a building

below: Brunswick flyers

wheatpaste street art by baby guerilla of a mother holding a baby while flying across the sky, with a child holding onto her ankles and another child holding onto the first child's ankles

 

More information on baby guerilla

evolving word bubbles, Hosier Lane

Hosier Lane in downtown Melbourne is always full of tourists.  If you search online for street art in Melbourne, you will certainly find Hosier Lane.  Like a lot of popular graffiti places, there is some good street art and there is some junk.  I have been to Hosier Lane a few times now and what is interesting is how frequently things change in the alley.  New paintings, or new little things are always popping up.

below: I took this picture, and the next one, the first time that I was in Hosier Lane.

graffiti on wall, words that say I have no idea what any of this shit on the walls say? Nice colours though

below:  The thought bubble in the foreground was a much more popular place to pose.

Lots of graffiti on the wall of Hosier Lane, windows with metal bars over them, a man poses in front of words that say "Maybe if I pose for a picture in front of this wall it will help to hide the fact that my life is a lie"

Lots of graffiti on the wall of Hosier Lane, windows with metal bars over them, a woman poses in front of words that say "Maybe if I pose for a picture in front of this wall it will help to hide the fact that my life is a lie" while a man takes her picture with a smartphone camera

Lots of graffiti on the wall of Hosier Lane, windows with metal bars over them, a woman poses in front of words that say "Maybe if I pose for a picture in front of this wall it will help to hide the fact that my life is a lie"

below: On a subsequent visit to the lane, the instructions became a bit more explicit.
I love the sneering pink face beside the sign!

Lots of graffiti on the wall of Hosier Lane, windows with metal bars over them, including words that say "Maybe if I pose for a picture in front of this wall it will help to hide the fact that my life is a lie" Under those words, a large square section of the wall has been painted white and more words added: "Pose for shitty tourist photo here" with a black arrow pointing the place where you should stand.

below: The third time I saw this wall, a life size man had been added.
Take your picture with a stranger!

Two women with cameras stand in front of lots of graffiti on the wall of Hosier Lane, windows with metal bars over them, including words that say "Maybe if I pose for a picture in front of this wall it will help to hide the fact that my life is a lie" Under those words, a large square section of the wall has been painted white and more words added: "Pose for shitty tourist photo here" with a black arrow pointing the place where you should stand. A life size wheatpaste picture of a man is now beside the words, where the arrow is.

below: The other word bubble had also been added to.

An Asian woman poses in front of a wall of graffiti. On the wall in large red letters are the words 'look at me'

little pieces, Newtown

 More graffiti seen in Newtown (Sydney)…
This time, little pieces that I saw – stencils, objects and little sculptures.

below: “Every day is invasion day” little relief sculpture graffiti

small relief sculpture graffiti of a naked man with the words 'Every day is invasion day'

below: “do you even” another little sculpture

small relief sculpture graffiti of a headless man holding up his T-shirt while holding a camera. Great abs on the guy

below: The whole pole was wrapped like this.

pole wrapped in colourful yarn crocheted in square pattern, laid on point, with green crochet yarn around the diamonds.

below: A balaclava mounted on a wall, similar to those seen in Melbourne
balaclava mounted on a brown brick wall, spray painted gray

below: “drink to get drunk” is inscribed on the smashed can.

crumpled piece of metal with a small spout, looks like a metal gas container. Words written on it are "drink to get drunk"

intricate and detailed drawing of a topless woman surrounded by apples and leaves. She is heavily tattooed

black on white stencil paste-up of a man's head

power people

Surrounding the CitiPower Collingwood power substation at the corner of Easey and Wellington streets is a large monochromatic mural.  It is by Juddy Roller (a company specialising in street art and graffiti management) and it involved collaboration between street artists including Rone, Adnate, Mayo, Guido Van Helton and Askew.

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The script/writing on the mural was painted by Mayo.

monochromatic realistic portrait of a woman part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne.  The woman has a ring in her nose
The portraits were by Askew, Rone, Guido and Adnate.

monochromatic realistic portrait of two women part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne

This mural was also made possible with the support of CitiPower Powercor, The Neighbourhood Justice Centre and City of Yarra.

monochromatic realistic portrait of a woman part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne.  Long hair is covering one side of the woman's face

monochromatic realistic portrait of a woman part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne

monochromatic realistic portrait of a woman part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne.  There are power lines in the background

monochromatic realistic portrait of a woman part of a larger mural painted on a wall surrounding a power substation in Melbourne

monochromatic painting in  greys of a hand on a large mural

 

monochromatic painting in  greys of a rose in bloom on a large mural