Tag Archives: murals

Kiefernstrasse houses

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Kiefernstrasse translates to Pine tree street… it is a street in Dusseldorf that has history. It is lined with apartment blocks that started life as homes for workers in the local factories steel works in the late 1800s. Some were damaged during the war. In the mid 1900s they became home to squatters and other “left wing” groups. Now many of them have been fixed up and/or covered with large colourful murals.

row of buildings, 4 storeys, all covered with different colourful murals, kiefernstrasse (pine tree street) in Dusseldorf Germany

below: He’s hiding behind a tree now – a mural that M05K and Johanna OLGA painted in 2013

upper part of mural, behind a tree, person in blue head scarf, holding something yellow and large,

below: Bare feet on long skinny legs stick out of pink pants.

more of mural, blue headscarf, also pink trousers, and bare feet, sitting, smaller creatures at street level, black outfits, and pyramidal shaped hats

part of larger mural, three smaller creatures standing at street level, black outfits with just face showing, and pyramidal shaped hats, one hat is turquoise and the other is blue and purple,

below: At street level, groups of strange characters in black outfits are standing around. Except for the little one, they are all wearing hats shaped like pyramids.

part of larger mural, three smaller creatures standing at street level, black outfits with just face showing, and pyramidal shaped hats, one hat is yellow and the other is pink. one of the characters is much shorter than the others and he has no hat
green rat with large pink eras painted on concrete, beside bare foot that is part of a larger mural, rat partially behind a real garbage bin

green cat with large white eyes painted on concrete, beside bare foot that is part of a larger mural

below: There are quite a few signs that help tell the story of Kiefernstrasse. The headline on the poster below is ” 1992 Wandbilder sind lebendige Kunstwerke” (= Murals are living works of art) and the article talks about 1992 and how it was the year that Klaus Klinger, Daniel Pulido, and a group of youths painted “Everything’s Bananas” at number 37. This was the first mural on the street; it no longer exists.

framed picture of an article about the history of Kiefernstrasse, 1992, the year the first mural was painted here
apartment blocks covered in murals, kiefernstraase
residential building on kiefernstrasse covered with street art that looks like a large red honeycomb

residential building on kiefernstrasse covered with street art

below: Daniel MacLloyd painted this large blue bird.

large mural on Kiefernstrasse of a blue bird, dark blue eye, with red near the bottom of the mural, on a wall with two arches at street leel

below: This gable is covered by a marine scene – including turtles swimming in the water – was painted by Ami One

gable mural by Ami One in Dusseldorf, marine scene including turtles swimming in the water

below: Bright orange faces!

orange faces from a larger mural

below: The Dusseldorf monkey is also here.

yellow monkey crouching beside a mural with orange people

below: And again!

graffiti on a red wall - yellow stencil of a monkey holding a paint brush with his tail and a bucket in his hands, beside a paste up that says evolution in the same font as used by coca cola

below: A bright red door, surrounded by….

Kiefernstrasse houses, street level, leaves falling on wet sidewalk, one door entrance is bright red, walls have red dragon with gold clouds,

below: … a long red dragon winding its way through golden clouds.

mural on front of apartment block on kiefernstrasse, walls have red dragon with gold clouds,

below: Käferhouse, or Beetle House, by Till Martin Köster and Christian Bolte, 2008. Insects galore! beetles, ants, roaches, bedbugs…. including some with human faces on their backs.

4 storey residential building covered in paintings of insects, beetles, ants, and others both real and imaginary, mural in Dusseldorf, some insects have human faces

4 storey residential building covered in paintings of insects, beetles, ants, and others both real and imaginary crawling around between the windows, mural in Dusseldorf, some insects have human faces
4 storey residential building covered in paintings of insects, cockroaches, beetles, ants, and others both real and imaginary, mural in Dusseldorf, some insects have human faces

below: One of the many interesting smaller artworks found among the larger murals is this pair of kids in the playground riding their elephants and playing at war, or protest, or being social justice warriors… your choice. Google wants me to believe that it is a Banksy but I am not falling for it.

small graffiti, realistic (i.e. photo) image of two kids on springy elephants in a playground, one has balaclava and happy face flag, the other is wearing a metal helmet

below: Another social commentary artwork. This time a girl has plenty to eat (and takes a picture of it) while the person beside her goes without.

below: A white unicorn with laser vision – the little white sign painted into the mural says “Laser Rainbow Unicorn & Robocat Rider”. Apparently cats riding unicorns in space is not an unusual theme. The other little sign says “Kevin Gucci” – is that the artist?

part of a mural on kiefernstrasse, white unicorn with laser eyes, and two cats, one sitting in the corner, and one with robot mechanical leg and carrying a flaming sword

below: Strange things are happening on the balcony! There’s even a sheep…. but wait, that’s not a real balcony, instead the artist has employed what is known as “trompe-l’œil style” – it’s painted to look like a wooden balcony structure.

mural in "trompe-l'œil style" - it's painted to look like a wooden balcony structure.

below: At street level, under the balcony seen above, is an alcove for a garage entrance – but it seems like a green police van is parked there already! I wonder what the gnome mechanics are up to!

mural of 2 gnomes in red caps and blue tops, working on a green police van. one gnome is holding a wrench,
some of the painted houses in kiefernstrasse dusseldorf
small yellow and brown painted animal on a balcony, beside a wall painted in rainbow colors with an image of the planet earth

below: 2007’s addition to the street was a (mostly) monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the ‘grid’, while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg. Was it dropped? Or is it hatching? 2007.

monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the 'grid', while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg
large image of the urban art mural, monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the 'grid', while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg

robot, painting in mural

below: Splotches of blue

building with potted plants on the balcony, and walls white with big blue splotches

below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story written by André Franquin. In the story, a man delivers a mysterious package from South America and as it turns out, the package contains a baby Marsupilami. Franquin continued writing about their adventures until the 1970s. In the 1980s the characters were re-invented and found themselves in TV episodes and video games.

street art on the outside of a building, between windows, a large yellow cat-like animal, marsupilami, with black spots and a very long tail

marsupilami painting on a green door, a yellow animal with black spots

below: The next two paintings flank a doorway, one on either side – an equestrian statue (i.e. a man on a horse) and a woman from time gone by but with anachronistic cans of spray paint in her hands.

mural of a man on a horse, equestrian statue
This image shows another of the articles documenting the history of the area. This one describes an event in 1919 where a train was robbed outside Dusseldorf by a gang of about 30 men, led by “A communist from Kiefernstrasse” known as Steil. He was subsequently shot by the police and died from his wounds.
mural of a woman in medieval clothing, but with a can of spray paint in each hand

below: Stencil, boy with a large helmet – ready to be an astronaut. Once upon a time there were a few more details visible in the helmet. This ‘Space Travel’ was made by Seileise aka Tim Ossege.

graffiti art, child wearing only orange shorts, seated, also wearing astronaut helmet, arm reaching out with fingers pointed

below: Everyone’s painting these days!

a framed poster describing part of the history of kiefernstrasse beside graffiti stencil of a young girl wearing a covid mask, with a large paint brush in her hand
Another poster tells the story of the first Streetfest here in 1982 where the greengrocer’s shop was turned into a cafe with a borrowed sound system.
part of larger mural, person with a red hat and a pacifier in his or her mouth

below: It almost looks like a giant crossword puzzle.

house painted in black and white squares like a crossword puzzle

below: Neptune swims upside down

urban art painting of neptune, the god, upside down, with trident in his hand, a dolphin swims nearby

below:The Reds are reaching out, wanting to run? looking for something?

painting on a door, in reds, 4 people reaching

below: He doesn’t look very happy.

man, dressed in green with blue shoes and blue cap, sitting on the ground, seems to be yelling

below: Jesus carries a goat

old railway car sits beside sidewalk, covered with street art including an image of Jesus carrying a goat

below: On an upper wall, a golden Buddha sits and meditates.

Buddha in seated meditation pose, gold, mural on wall in kiefernstraase

below: “Love will tear us apart” more than once.

little pieces of graffiti on a wall beside a large mural with orange faces, two stickers that say love will tear us apart,

below: Together in one place, four little pieces by JoinyStreetArt (round white face), sm111le, Karl Heinz Swaggert (hairy fellow on the left), and Metraeda (pink cat). If you have been following this blog, you will probably recognize some of the names and their corresponding styles.

black wall, graffiti, 4 small pieces, by JoinyStreetArt (round white face), sm111le (smiling radish), Karl Heinz Swaggert (hairy fellow on the left), and Metraeda (pink cat)

graffiti, 3D caterpillar in white, blue, pink, and yellow, glued to a wall

addition of a long red tongue to fake stonework on the front of a building, on a face with big nose and square eyes

below: Bad Goat, with a strand of green vine and a third eye

bad goat graffiti, a white goat head with black horns and three eyes, graffiti

below: “Nothing else matters” actually refers to a football club.

graffiti
graffiti stickers and paste ups

Photos taken October 2025

Shalom Habibi, and other things seen in Nippes

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Nippes is a neighbourhood in Cologne Germany.

sticker with a cat wearing a Turkish red hat, with text Shalom Habibi

below: Nippes has it’s own mural complete with city skyline on a red background – painted by Robin Von Gestern.

cars parked in front of a mural painted on a metal garage door, red background, the word nippes in calligraphy in blue and yellow by Robin Von Gestern

below: These little Kölner Heinzelmännchen can be seen on the side of a residential building. These helpful gnomes appear in German legends and folklore; they are rarely seen because they do their work at night and in secret.

little gnomes in pointy red caps in a mural

Goodlack Art has painted them falling down the stairs – Ooops, not so quiet tonight!

little gnomes in pointy red caps in a mural by Goodlack Arts

below: As part of Cologne’s City Leaks street art festival, this mural was painted by Danjer Mola.

large mural in Nippes Cologne, by Danjer Mola, of a female astronaut with either bare legs or brown skin tight leggings,

large mural in Nippes Cologne, by Danjer Mola, of a female astronaut with either bare legs or brown skin tight leggings

below: This mural is Okik Momoe’s little bird on a branch… in a fishbowl?

mural by artist Okik Momoe of a little bird on a branch.

below: Preparing to paint a new mural by a community garden.

artist with ladder preparing a wall for mural painting, lines drawn on wall, a painting of a bird already exists beside the spot

below: Immediately above the new painting (above) is a large mural depicting daily life in years gone by.

part of a larger mural depicting daily life in the previous century, in Wilhelmplatz in Nippes

large mural in Nippes depicting daily life, making things, hauling, selling

below: In fact, there is a matching mural on the other side of the garden lot.

gable mural, large mural in Nippes depicting daily life, making things, hauling, selling

white chair sits in front of a colourful mural, street art, outdoors,

below: Another gable mural, this one by Sat One.

gable mural, this one by Sat One, abstract

below: A closer look at part of the mural

A closer look at part of mural by Sat One on a gable in Nippes Cologne

below: This cow, painted by The Kuhl Kid, is a common sight around Cologne. Here it is behind a fence

urban art on a brick wall, behind chainlink fence, one is a black and white cow by the kuhl kid

below: Even though most of the cow is missing, it is still recognizable as being the same as the one above. A little red heart glued into a jar lid seems perfectly placed between the cow’s ears.

remains of face of cow, with red heart in jar lid above its head, and a torn red poster over one eye

below: Cars, pipes, and other accessories on a brick wall

below: Cars and flames. Why are flames so often associated with fast cars?

mural of a car crashing through the wall of a building
street art mural
mural with calligraphy and text
“Wo immer ich bin
vernehme ich deine stimme ihr sinn
Schwingt durch raum + zeit
in sussem einklang
Verbringen wir jede stunde”.
Translation: Wherever I am, I hear your voice, it’s meaning, it resonates through space and time In sweet harmony we spend every hour.

below: Joiny

paper paste up by Joiny of a woman saying Alaaf You, wearing a dress wth green and yellow flowers on it, peace sign nacklace

below: It’s now a little red and blue abstract painting.

small street art painting on the end of a concrete wall beside a garden

below: A much more complex image than the one above, mechanical yet anatomical. Obviously a face but obviously not a living person.

graffiti, of a face but with mechanical or robotic parts

below: Remnants of a 2010 painting on a long low concrete fence.

concrete fence, low, with metal bars above, autumn leaves, old painting from 2010 on the concrete, red background,

below: Tags on the other side of the fence.

construction of new buildings behind a vacant lot, some graffiti tags on the wall

below: Two faced jester? Or two, back to back?

small painting on metal box cover, column or pillar with two jesters' heads on the top, back to back, graffiti

below: Graffiti stickers on metal poles.

Three graffiti stickers on metal poles, all three are monochromatic black and white

below: More graffiti sticker on a pole. Is that a lobster? or a monstrous creature?

sticker on a pole that seems to say dey hummey des schrecken but that doesn't translate into english

below: Owl on a box

drawings and paintings on a sidewalk electrical box, a little owl

Photos taken October 2025

other Naples urban art

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There was far too much interesting graffiti and urban art seen in Naples to squeeze it all into one post. I have posted some previously and this post attempts to “finish” what I have from February 2024 – before I go back to Naples. Most of these images were taken while exploring the streets of the Spanish Quarter (Quartieri Spagnoli)

below: Electric! … but unplugged.

street art mural of an electric cord and plug lying on the ground

below: La Ditta Fortunato (The Lucky Company)

street art, shades of grey, a man with a sign La Ditta Fortunato

below: Zelda enshrined

a little street art piece that turns a religious shrine into a shrine for Zelda, the video game character and heroine.

below: Dancing in the dark

large paper pasteups of dancing girls

below: Superwomen sharing a pizza, street art by LiDieSis

street art by lediesis, two women dressed as superwoman eating pizza

below: Couple, staring into each other’s eyes.

street art, two people, middle aged, man and woman looking at each other

below: A street scene in the Spanish Quarter

Street scene, Spanish Quarter, Naples, motorbikes, graffiti, balconies, laundry, doorways,

below: Graffiti paper wheatpaste by Lingual (I think that’s what it says), a man’s portrait in grey tones, with two small green snakes slithering out of his mouth. Is this a political statement? He’s designed like an antique stone bust and carefully positioned on top of a real stone plaque on a wall in Naples

monochrome paper paste up by lingual of a man's portrait with a small green figure hanging from his mouth

below: Graffiti cat

paper pasteup of a cat

below: Like the image above, here is another strange woman sniffing flower parts

graffiti on a wall, largest piece is an orange woman in red flower petals sniffing red, she has blue hair

below: More than one person has left their shoes here…. A runner with a stopwatch in lieu of a head.

street art graffiti on a small concrete lab, a runner with a stop watch clock for a head, at least two pair of shoes have been left on top of the slab

below: Very big hands, skinny arms and legs, and a puffball rabbit tail?

graffiti on a wall in Spanish Quarter, Naples

below: A small section of Vico Toto where there are some paintings that pay tribute to Totò, the stage name of an Italian actor Antonio “Totò” De Curtis (1898-1967). You can see more of the works here, Toto and friends, an earlier blog post.

part of Vico Toto, a narrow street in Spanish Quarter of Naples

below: Life is short

graffiti urban art, painting of two fish, with a big hook between them and the words life is short

below: Maradona (1960-2020) was a football hero to many and references to him are all over Naples. For more Maradona and football graffiti in Naples see “Football and the ‘cult’ of Maradona“

street art painting of Maradona, beside a blue bench

below: Let your phone blind you and suck your brains out! Graffiti by Inserra.

graffiti by inserra, a smartphone is using a red straw to suck out the brains of a man, phone has yellow hands that cover the man's eyes

below: “Sempre la… stressa… cosa” or, in English, “Always there….stress… what” as he tries to balance a precarious load of chair, tire, fan, wine bottle, and more.

street art, drawing of a person balancing a number of household objects such as a chair, trash can

below: Punk chicken – except, don’t those feet look like a humn hand??

graffiti, painting of a bird with a chicken head

below: Outstretched hands encircle a shiny orb in a paper wheatpaste by Vivia Cirillo.

monochrome paper pasteup, man with arms outstretched

below: Perfectly placed skateboarder by Satwerz

graffiti picture of a skateboarder on a wall above a real railing

below: “mmm”Il faccio mordere” or “I’ll make him bite”

a motorbike, a pile of empty crates, and a street art painting, Spanish Quarter, Naples

below: Monochrome portrait of a local rapper, Geolier (Emanuele Palumbo), who is from the Gescal neighborhood of Naples. It was painted by Salvatore Iodice.

a motorbike is parked in front of a black and white street art portrait of a man, a famous rapper from Naples, painted by Salvatore Iodice

below: Two young men, by J.P. Gimenez

monochrome street art portraits of two young men

below: Sophia Loren serves up a pizza and on the right is, apparently, San Gennaro – On September 19, 305 AD, the Bishop of Benevento, Gennaro, died in Pozzuoli, martyred along with 6 others. As for the fellow in the middle – I don’t know!

motorbike parked in front of black and white monochrome street art paintings of three people, Sophia Loren holding a pizza, an unidentified man, and San Gennero who was martyred in 305 A.D.
Naples street scene with people, parked cars, street art, narrow streets, balconies, laundry,

below: Cartoonish interaction between telephone and eyepiece, only a fragment remains.

fragment of an old street art painting on broken concrete, blue telephone and white cartoonish eyepiece

Napoli graffiti urban art, large paste up of one woman combing another woman's hair

graffiti in Naples

below: Keyboard player

graffiti, silhouette of a man playing a keyboard

abstract figure, street art

below: Cyop and Kaf painting high up on a wall. There are many examples of their work on the walls of Napoli! For more images, see Cyop & Kaf in Naples blogpost

mural by cyop and kaf on a wall, above the street

below: Another street in the Spanish Quarter.

street scene, shrines on wall, cars parked, graffiti on garage door, laundry hanging from balconies

below: Bright red lips and blue cheeks.

street art picture of a woman with bright red lips, grey eyes, and blue make-up,
yellow guitar player graffiti

below: Cave Gu-Tang black dog

cave gu-tang graffiti paste up of black dog

fishes invasion, don't sleep text sticker graffiti

blue face in a street art painting, along with words viva napoli

Photos taken February 2024

love and angels in Naples

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below: First angel seen – Sophia Loren by makergarcia

mural of Sophia Loren on a street in Naples

below: Second angel seen – Her (his?) face is covered (by her hair? by a mask?) as she leans over the globe. Is she mourning? Or protecting?

paste up graffiti of an angle with large wings as she leans on a globe, with north pole at the top

below: Keep your heart close; protect it.

stencil of a young girl carrying a large heart

below: Three shiny hearts at number 28

three very 3 D looking shiny red hearts, paper graffiti

below: A little artwork by ExitEnter, keep your heart held high – to which someone has added a whimsical kite.

graffiti by enter exit

below: Make Love! (there were quite a few of these around Naples) by the aptly named Unplatonic

paste up graffiti by unplatonic, woman's face with hearts, the word Napoli, and the words make love
paste up graffiti by unplatonic, woman's face with hearts, the word Napoli, and the words make love in red

below: “Til death do us part”

black graffiti on grey wall, a drawing of a heart with face in it so that it looks a bit like a skull, with text that says til death do us part

Photos taken February 2024

Collingwood (Melbourne) portraits

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A collection of faces that I saw as I walked around Collingwood one summer day.

below: She looks down on the parking lot.

street art painting, portrait, woman's eyes and nose on grey wall, high above cars parked below, lower part of face has been tagged over

below: Artist LING painted this image of Patrick Coyle on the side of the Albion Hotel. Coyle was the original owner of that hotel.

street art painting, portrait by artist LING, of Patrick Coyle, man sitting with a full glass of beer in his hand, elbow on table, chin in hand, face has mustache and beard

below: mmm

street art painting, portrait, 2 workman with beards and mustaches, yellow and orange high viz vests, black wool hats

street art painting, portrait, one workman with beards and mustaches, yellow and orange high viz vests, black wool hats

below: An older portrait by Adnate graces a small brick wall.

street art painting, portrait, a woman, by adnate, with head scarf and red cloth covering mouth

below: There is another, much larger, Adnate mural nearby. This apartment building on Wellington Street was painted in 2018. I wrote a blog post about it a few years ago – Four Adnate Faces, Dec 2018

tall apartment building in Collingwood, Melbourne, with 4 large portraits by adnate down the side of one wall

tall apartment building in Collingwood, Melbourne, with 4 large portraits by adnate down the side of one wall, close up of the lower two faces

below: On the left, is a portrait by Vince Moloney. Three little yellow characters by dscreet are on the door to the right.

on the left, in grey tones, street art painting, portrait in greys of young man wearing large headphones and on the right, three yellow characters by dscreet, one of which looks like an owl

below: Another portrait by LING, this time it’s Alf Stewart who stars in ‘Home and Away’, an Australian soap opera.

street art painting, portrait by artist LING, of Alf Stewart, under a street sign that says Bedford street, red car parked in front, person on sidewalk beside,

below: Michelangelo on a wood fence.

Michelangelo portrait in many colours, on wood fence in alley,

below: It almost looks like someone is playing “Peek a Boo” although I am sure that the two faces were not painted at the same time, or by the same person.

painting of person in rounded hat, with comic character like tag in front

below: Drew in bright colours

top of head in blue, bright blue nose, pink glasses, yellow and green eyes, red very short hair and red eyebrows, word Drew written across bottom of face, 24

below: One of the uglier faces that you will see today…

ugly mis-shapen face painted on gate, small forehead, large jaw, mouth and teeth, long nose,

below: With visions of palm trees in front of his face – a blue skull by Callum Preston

blue skull wearing red glasses with images of palm trees in the lenses, by Callum Preston

Photos taken February 2025

Austral Lane

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There was not a lot of street art in this central Melbourne alley but I decided to give it its own blog post anyhow.

below: A cat and a dog… and then someone added “woof” and “meow”. Clever, right? Groan. The cat stencil was created by Melbourne artist King of the Clowder aka Night Krawler.

street art on a white painted brick wall, Austral Lane in Melbourne, a green dog head with red tongue hanging out, a black and white cat with a pink tongue, a yellow tennis ball bounces between them

below: Robobop is Robert Scholten – ink drawing of a mask in two pieces.

Robert Scholten ink drawing of a face or mask in two pieces

below: Kyobi is also in Austral Lane.

austral Lane street sign, with a kyobi star sign,

Photos taken February 2025

Uniacke Court

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….. another Central Melborne lane with street art

below: A very large woman, painted by Deb, stands at one end of the alley

mural of a woman with long orange hair and a tight fitting dress, on a wall at the end of an alley, large condos and apartment buildings rise up behind her

man on sidewalk beside car, looking back towards entrance to Uniacke Court, a lane in Melbourne, with a large mural on the wall

below: A Joker mural, painted by Heesco (aka Heesco Khosnaran)

entrance to Uniacke Court, a lane in Melbourne, with a large mural on the wall, ugly man with bulging pink eyes and large teeth, big pointy chin, wild green hair

very close up of face of Joker with big teeth muscles, mural by Heesco

below: Harley Quinn

mural of Harley Quinn by Emmabelow: The Corporation and a hungry little black bird.

mural, urban art, small black bird looking upwards, with beak open, stencil on brick wall behind says The Corporation, with marionette string

below: A leopard silently watches from the doorway, another mural by Deb

painting of a leopard by DEB sitting in a doorway

below: Tattoos and golf clubs

man with tattoos in his face, mural, holding a golf club in his hands

below: Be rationally crazy idea

text graffiti that says be rationally crazy idea

below: Some small graffiti too – including Tweet with a several balloons.

paste ups on wall, arm, tweet, balloons, robot head,

below: Small white stencil

white stencil of a person fishing brick wall

Photos taken February 2025

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

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This blog post is a quick look some of the “art” that can be seen in Toronto’s Graffiti Alley at the moment. There is lot on display even though I only walked between Spadina and Portland so this post focuses on the murals and larger paintings that I saw. The smaller stickers and paste ups will be in a subsequent post (sooner rather than later I hope!).

below: Blue birds and big ugly black dogs.

two murals, street art painting, graffiti alley, blue bird with open wins, but feet on pine branch, in background is a squat heavy set black and white dog mural

below: A portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.

portrait of zelensky, ukrainian leader president, in blue and yellow, street art mural

below: Daisy, in rabbit ears

word daisy written on arm of girl in street art painting, graffiti alley, she has black rabbit ears

below: On one of the corners, there is a long grey mural with bits of red….

below: “A lone samurai known as Ghost stands on watch”.   A story and a mural by Dewucme

below: Portraits painted on skateboards – there has been a collection of such portraits hanging here for at least a year.  I am not sure if these three are newer, or if I just forgot them last time.  (Link to blog post of skateboards from 2025)

graffiti alley, portraits on broken skateboard,

below:  Portrait by Bunso

black and white portrait, street art mural, graffiti alley, man in white t shirt and black cap, smiling,

below:  Other part of the above mural, but painted by a different artist (I think)

black and white portrait of a man

below: In memory of Andre Campbell

blue trash bins and black garbage bags piled in front of street art mural, black and white portrait of a man with short dark hair and glasses, with text that says in memory of Andre Campbell

below:  Behind the Queen Street stores

parking areas and back yards of stores on Queen street, graffiti alley view, three storeys, with balconies across the back street art and graffiti on fences

below: Painting on hoardings as downtown redevelopment (and subway construction) slowly encroaches on the Queen and Spadina neighbourhood.

tiger and dragon street art mural on hoardings in an alley in Toronto

below: “Find peace in your chaos” Plus, it seems to be wearing shirt and tie but it’s also drooling and looking just a little unhinged!

words on sidewalk that say find peace in your chaos, below a painting of a pink monster head with white eyes and big white teeth

squished face, monstrous, big eyes with orange pupils, big white teeth with gums bleeding above one tooth

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, with snowman underneath

below: Monstrous television screen head with bloody gums and matching tie.

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, big teeth, with a head shaped like a television screen

tree in front, looking across alley to side of building, completely covered in street art painting, graffiti alley

street art painting, graffiti alley, purple face, blue hands with thumbs up

street art painting, graffiti alley

below: “Who you gonna call?”  Ghostbusters green slimey thing!

street art mural in graffiti alley with green slime creature from Ghostbusters movie in center

below: He’s got one big eye and a scowl on his face.  There’s a burning cigarette in his mouth and the Ace of hearts is tucked into his hat band.  Quite the character.

two garage door murals in graffiti alley

below:  Not all cats are cute?

ugly cat, yellow, with bulging green eyes, street art mural, with two monkey faces, graffiti alley

below:  A woman with her purple hair tied up with little glowing (but ghostly) lanterns in a mural by MonkYi

street art painting by Monk Yi, woman holding a blue fan, with her hair tied up and two little lanterns in her hair, big gold ear rings.

street art painting, graffiti alley, large red and yellow daisy by catchoo, wad of money bills with arms and legs and a face too

street art painting, graffiti alley, on a door, woman with black hair, red lips, and red clothing that looks a lit like flames, red hot

street art painting, graffiti alley, pink tiger, with pink hearts

below: Climbing green onions (scallions?)?  An upside down blue goose?  … And in the middle, yellow siu mai (Chinese open-topped steamed dumplings, a dim sum favorite), all images from the imagination of Mixt Paints aka Kelcy Timmins Chan

purple naked person climbing a bunch of green onions a light blue duck with yellow beak that is diving downwards, street art painting by mixt paintz

below: There’s that snowman again, but on a different wall and surrounded by graffiti

a little white snowman with carrot nose and black buttons, street art painting on a wall covered with graffiti, graffiti alley

below: Ninos Libres, by Kalaruno

street art portrait of a child by Kalaruno, ninos libres

below:  Another Kalaruno painting

lumber and trash in front of a mural in graffiti alley, grey squarish character with human face by Kalaruno

below: At least it’s a step up from tagging…..

red, black, and white mural in graffiti alley

below: A green finger on the trigger.

side by side, two smaller street art painting, graffiti alley, on left is green hand and pink spray paint can while on right is a stupid round face with big oval teeth

behind store, graffiti alley view, pile of empty boxes and trash at bottom of stairs, with doors with street art in orange and blue

graffiti and street art under stairs, green turtle, mushrooms

below: Blue.  And strange looking.  He’s hanging out in the doorway.

street art painting, graffiti alley, in doorway, blue faced weird looking man

below: An introspective dragon

a street art painting of a greenish grey dragon with the word introspection in orange across its body

street art in graffiti alley

people walking down a wet alley, puddles and reflections on the pavement, of the street art and graffiti on the surrounding walls

Photos taken January 2026

In a courtyard, behind a museum

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below: An emoji come to life and he’s laughing so hard that he’s crying. His phone is his window on the world, but in reality it’s also someone else’s window. This painting by Spok Brillor marks the passageway from Lafayette Street to a courtyard full of street art behind a building that is home to the Punto Urban Art Museum.

large mural by Spok Brillor of a yellow laughing emoji with tears in one eye, holding a smart phone in his hand. phone corresponds to a window in the building.
looking up from below, large mural by Spok Brillor of a yellow laughing emoji with tears in one eye, holding a smart phone in his hand. phone corresponds to a window in the building.

below: In a quiet corner, sits a little metallic fellow (by Pixel Pancho) and a blue peacock (?)

two graffiti aintings, beside a red and a yellow planter with plants, petunis and tomatoes. A white character by Pixel Pancho, white metal, yellow features, sitting on the ground, behind him a bird with a long neck, peacock? or maybe vulture?

below: Strawberry Shortcake is also here with a wise message about eating cake first (by Megzany). She first appeared as a doll in 1979 after being featured in Hallmark greeting cards for a few years before that.

street art painting on red brick wall, strawberry shortcake character, girl with red and white dress, red and white hat, red shoes, with words life's short, cake first.

below: One of the larger murals back in the courtyard is “Doña Mecho” by the duo Dúo Amazonas (Lina Castellanos and Nati Andreoli).

woman in a mural, beside a large table with a black pot on it, head scarf on her head, smoking a pipe

below: Farmers in their fields with mountains behind. This is “Mural De Campo” by Rigo Peralta, Melanio Guzmán​, and Ramón Santiago

mural, rural scene, workmen in fields, palm trees, mountain in the distance, two men on horses on dirt road, a couple of dogs, painted by Rigo Peralta, Melanio Guzmán​, and Ramón Santiago

below: Radiating lines and a smiling face in a mural (“Migrar”) by Felipe Ortiz and Ivan Salazar.

large mural on the side of a brick residence by Felipe Ortiz and Ivan Salazar

below: Equality, by Goma and Amby

equality mural, two faces, purple female and blue male, woman has red rose in hter long white hair, man has basket of flowers on his head.

below: A quiet corner among the trees.

outdoor chairs on a patio, with murals on the walls behind them

Punto Urban Air Museum (PUAM) is located in the Point neighbourhood of Salem and one of it’s goals is to “create a beautiful, uplifting environment for Point residents”. It also hopes to tap into the tourists that visit Salem – to get them to explore the area and help the economy of the Point neighbourhood. There are now more than 90 murals painted here. Not all of them are shown in this blog, but there some of the other Salem posts:

  1. Dream Home
  2. On Congress Street apartments,
  3. Wrapped buildings

Photos taken July 2024