This is “Vibe Mantra Scroll”, a collaboration between two Toronto artists SOWL (aka Rowell Sowell) and Flips as a shout out to hip hop culture and its global appeal. It is on the southwest corner of Coxwell and Gerrard.
On the back side of the same building there is another SOWL mural
Photos taken March 2024
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog
below: On the left is a little Nuno Costah character with a bird on its hand and the world on its back, all showing más love. Beside it is a portrait of Domenico Modugno by bio dpi (aka Fabio della Ratta). Domenico Modugno (1928-1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, then, a member of the Italian Parliament.
below: On the south side of the city is this old wall.
below: Two old reddish faces
below: A crab with its insides exposed takes on a squid
below: A boy and his cat.
below: A little black Qwerty figure partially obscured by a scowling blue man from Beijing Tattoo China.
below: Ti apprezzo – I cherish you.
below: Tiny coloured drawing of a young woman with three flowers, along with what looks like another woman in profile drawn with parallel black lines. Also, at the bottom, an AU OSCE sticker
below: And last, a little yellow feathery bird with skinny legs and a cap with a W.
In Altamura a wall has been painted with copies of old photographs of Campo 65. This camp, or center, began as a Prisoner of War camp during World War 2. Allied POWs were held here in 1942 and 1943. It was also a training center for troops that liberated Yugoslavia in 1945. After the war was over, it was then used to house refugees.
below: The 36 barracks contained up to 12,000 Allied prisoners of war: British, South African, New Zealand, Canadian, Cypriots, and Palestinians mainly from the North African war front. It was the largest Italian WW2 prisoner of war camp.
Murals painted by: Donato Lerusso, Marco Forte, and Mattia Pellegrino, 2022
Photos taken February 2024
There is one large mural in the old seaside town of Monopoli (Italy).
It is “Beyond the Sea” by Millo and it was painted in the summer of 2020.
There is another Millo mural in the nearby city of Lecce; if you are interested, it is included in another blog post, 167B Street Lecce.
Photos taken February 2024
Nettuno, or Neptune as he is known in English, is the Roman God of the sea who controlled the winds and storms encountered by sailors. This large mural by Kraser Tres stands over part of the waterfront in the Italian city of Taranto – Neptune holds his trident as he looks out toward the Ionian Sea. Nettuno tiene il suo tridente mentre guarda verso il Mar Ionio.
The mural was part of a Gulìa Urbana project. This organization has been bringing murals to Italian cities for 12 years.
Photos taken February 2024.
The swan maiden appears in the legends and folklore of many cultures. Like most stories that have evolved from their oral story telling roots, there are many similar versions of the same tale. Also, they are rife with symbolism and are often allegorical. The swan is a symbol of purity. Swan maidens can change between their two forms, swan and woman, often by using a cloak of feathers. In folk tales men steal and hide the cloaks so that he can have the woman. Not a pretty story, but then again, most fairy tales aren’t. (Of course, this may not have been what the artist was thinking!).
below: Bue2530 painted this mural in Florence of part sleeping woman and part swan (seen on a foggy day).
below: It looks her arm has taken on the shape of a swan. It seems to be looking at a map
below: Apples have been the symbol of sin and the fall of man since Eve persuaded Adam to eat one in the Garden of Eden. But it also a symbol of knowledge as well as immortality. It was also a poisoned apple that knocked out Snow White.
below: A broken chain. Has she just broken free?
Photos taken January 2020
There is a new mural (2022) in Toronto by Nick Sweetman featuring animals and plant life commonly found along Ontario’s rivers, especially the Don River that flows nearby. It adorns a wall/fence that runs the length of a new park, Riverside Square, which is southeast of Queen and the Don Valley Parkway.
below: The east end of the mural
below: A blue-fronted dancer damselfly (A very long name for a very small creature!)
below: Mink, toad, and a water insect called a water strider.
below: Catfish
below: A raccoon eyes the fish swimming past
below: A happy dog among friends, a raccoon and a cotton tail rabbit. If you look closely, there is a bridge in the background by the fox – Torontonians might recognize this bridge as one of the many that cross the Don River.
below: Red fox, coyote
below: In the middle
below: Egret diving for fish
below: White-tailed Deer
below: North American beaver
below: Painted turtle
below: Northern Leopard Frog
Tensoe2 and Moises (Luvs) also contributed to ‘Along the Riverbank’
Photos taken January 2024
This large mural titled “Oceanic Market Merge Cultures”, was a collaboration between three artists, Lillipore, Sentrock and Birdcap in 2019.
Closer views, from left to right
below: A very pink lady by Lillipore.
below: The center character is wearing a bird mask, a sign that this portion of the mural was painted by Sentrock aka Joseph Anthony Perez. The mask may have been redder when it was first painted.
below: This fellow with the big round eyes and long banana nose was Birdcap’s (aka Michael Roy) contribution to the mural
Photos taken April 2022
A mural by Joel Artista, aka Joel Bergner in the East Village neighbourhood of New York City. Painted in 2019. Joel is a co-founder of Artolution, a non-profit organization supporting local artists and arts programs with vulnerable children around the world.
For this mural, Artolution partnered with KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), We Are Royale, Key Food Supermarket, and Education Alliance.
Photos taken August 2023
More Manhattan murals were featured previously in this blog – Kobra on 10th Ave (from 2022)
below: Miners hard at work under the mining museum in Heerlen.
below: More miners, but this time they are having a bit of fun riding in the mine carts as they roll downhill.
below: The Heerlen workmen aren’t just in the mines. You can see them in a number of places around the city.
below: In some cases you can spot them dealing with the blackbirds, the gold crown topped ravens.
below: The stenciled workmen were created by Jaune. On his Instagram page there is a great line, “The world belongs to those who build it”.
below: A white crow joins the fun.
below: A larger mural full of black birds. Like all the other birds in this post, this is the work of Daze Two, a local Heerlen artist.
below: Closer view of the ravens in the mural above.
below: Is there a story here? What kind of interaction is there between the realistic looking black birds and the flat red bird? X marks the spot, but why?
below: A last look at the birds, a small Daze Two work, part of a larger piece, on a brick wall.
Photos taken October 2023
More Heerlen murals can be seen in the next blog post – link to “more Heerlen birds“.
Eyes on the Streets 