Happy New Year!

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Mary C

January 23rd is Lunar New Year as we enter the Year of the Rabbit (except in Vietnam where apparently it’s the Year of the Cat).

below: Although this mural has nothing to do with rabbits (or cats), it is found in Toronto’s Chinatown. Three dragons cavorting on the wall on Oxford Street, painted by sightone in 2016.

below: Blue dragon guarding the door at number 5.

Nearby there is an alley where the Chinatown BIA has sponsored some murals with Asian themes.

below: A large koi, or carp, swimming towards a pink lotus flower.

below: “Flowers of the four seasons – Autumn Chrysanthemum” by rowdyradrat.

below: Another rowdyradrat painting – this one is “Flowers of the Four Seasons – Winter, Plum Blossoms” and it features Chinese plum blossoms.

Flatbush finds

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Mary C

Murals and graffiti seen while walking around Brooklyn near Flatbush Ave (near Prospect Park).

below: A Frida Kahlo portrait by Albertus Joseph

mural of South American painter and artist Frida Kahlo, with bright red lips, and flowers in her hair, on a metal door, painted by Albertus Joseph

below: A young girl surrounded by tulips and feathers painted at Rutland Road by Danielle Mastrion to honor the annual West Indian Day parade.

below: Community mural of palm trees and flowers by the lake. Brooklyn Peace Constellation was the work of a long list of artists and contributors.

A group of Fumero portraits beside Errol’s Caribbean Bakery on Hawthorne.

At Flatbush and Fenimore is this white on black mural by Katie Merz. In it you can find hundreds of little shapes, symbols, words and images such as a guitar, cats, dogs, and even a loaf of bread,

a motorbike is parked beside a store whose wall is covered with a white on black steet art mural by Katie Merz, little images of many things

below: Cue the Charis

black and white street art painting with Charis tag plus the words cue the charis

below: Don’t shoot!

garage door with graffiti, large letters, text that says don't shoot

below: Edmonster times four.

graffiti on the side of a box on the street, edmonster, four identical pictures of a multicoloured monster

Photos taken in June 2022

Schade on the street

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Mary C

A few years ago, one of the themes running through the work of Otto Schade, aka Osch, was a sunset circle in a black background. The figures within the circle were silhouettes.

street art by Otto Schade, sunset circle on black background, silhouettes of young boys with handguns pointed at the back of the head of the boy in front of him

Graffiti on a wall, wheatpaste graffiti surrounds a large orange and yellow circle with black silhouettes inside, boyes with rifles, spears, and bows and arrows pointed at man with jester hat and arms raised

Otto Schade, a k a Osch, mural of a circle with a sniper rifle target with mother and two kids in the crosshairs, sunset orange and red circle on black background, London, Shoreditch

moon circle in black sky, with silhouette of boy on a bike with E T in a basket on front handle bars, ET has a gun pointed at the boy

below: “Say it with Flowers”

a young girl picks flowers, the heads of the flowers are in the shape of radioactive symbol, silhouette, on sunset circle, by Osch, also known as Otto Schade

mural by Otto Schade on a large wood gate in Camden London England, sunset coloured circle with darker on bottom, a man in top hat with cigar in his mouth is counting notes of money as some of the notes blow in the breeze, a large bag of money by his feet, a girl is being lifted upward by a bunch of round helium balloons

Photos taken in 2016 and 2017

Some of these have appeared in prior posts.

Coney Island

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Mary C

Greetings from Coney Island! A postcard type mural by Megan Watters.

postcard style mural, greetings from Coney Island, with images in the letters

Here street art has been incorporated into the amusement park. Each year since 2015 , Coney Art Walls has added to their collection of murals and now has more than 60. Go when the park is open!

large painting of a woman's face on the side of the cyclone, a roller coaster ride at Luna, the amusement park at Coney Island

below: More of the Art Walls. The largest one in the photo is by Nina Chanel Abney. The one closest to the camera is ‘Handsome Brother and the Mermaid’ by Aiko which is based on an old Japanese tale called “Taro Urashima and Dragon Palace”.

mural of two people, woman with green face

mural in black and white and grey tones, portrait of 3 black men

below: Behind a chainlink fence, another Coney Island mural.

an old RV parked in front of a coney island mural, sign above the mural advertising cotton candy and other products for sale

below: And yet another Coney Island mural, this one with old black and white photographs of New York City views inside the letters. The Statue of Liberty makes a great exclamation mark.

mural for coney island, letters spelling coney with old black and white photos in the letters

below: Although it is disappearing behind the ivy, this is yet another Coney Island mural.

blue mural with coney island in cursive, an ince cream cone and a hot dog, but ivy is growing from above and starting to cover up the mural

below: Clown face and more faces. Live and let live – street artists against hate in the bottom right. And that blue guy? Have you seen how many teeth he has?!

stickers and slaps on a wall, a clown face in red white and blue, a light blue drawing of a man with one eye open the other eye closed, big smile with too many teeth, also a black and white sticker live and let live street artists against hate

below: Smell the flowers before they die and by the looks of it you don’t have long….

graffiti sticker on metal pole, vase of flowers some dying and some still healthy with text that says stop and smell the flowers while you can

three slaps on a wall

below: A jumble of strings and wires and a few found objects all wound up and made into a slightly human-like shape. Man is a mess?

a wheatpaste graffiti on a red pole, a photo of a mass of string, ribbon, and other items in a vaguely humanoid shape

below: The 5th, and last one here, Coney Island mural is the newest and the biggest. This is “Coney Is For Everyone” on Stilwell Avenue, painted by Danielle Mastrion. It was an Alliance for Coney Island project.

part of a large welcome to coney island mural

part of a mural, a large sea turtle swimming past an octopus as a young boy looks on, aquarium

a woman breathing fire in a mural

coney island mural, the word coney in a beach scene with 2 beachchairs and a child's silhouette

far right end of welcome to coney island mural, beside a pizza restaurant

below: A blue Subway Doodle monster sleeps in front of Nathans on the boardwalk.

Nathans hot dog restaurant on the boardwalk at Coney Island, closed, painting of a blue monster lying on its side, asleep on the metal shutters covering the windows

below: Another result of the Alliance for Coney Island efforts is this multicolour mural on the shutters that was painted by Ledania.

blog_multicolor_amusement_park

sticker on a metal pole outdoors, I (red heart) my hood

below: Lock him up! Donald Trump behind bars. Doesn’t he look cute in black and white stripes?

graffiti sticker on a metal pole. Head shot of former American president Donald Trump (aka the former guy) in jailhouse black and white and behind blue bars

subway is above ground, and above the stores along a coney island street, near Steamania Seafood restaurant and its shrimp mural along the sidewalk

quatre murs peints – no hiding here!

Posted on November 11, 2022 by Mary C

There is a spot at 169 bd Vincent Auriol where you can see four large murals at once. Boulevard Vincent Auriol, presqu’au croisement avec la rue du Château-des-Rentiers.

looking up at a couple of high rise apartment blocks where you can see 4 murals painted on exterior walls

On the far left is a mural by Wen2 and Pakone called “Les Perdrix ” . I’m not sure what “Partridges” have to do with it, but below is a clearer view.

Sitting on the dock. Watching the world? What thoughts could be going through her head? From this angle, the calligraphy on the black and grey mural is also in focus. It is a poem, ‘The Time of Your Life’ by William Saroyan, written in the artist’s own very stylized English script and it covers the entire side of the building. The artist is Cryptik, a Korean-American. I’m sorry that I don’t have a more complete picture of the mural.

les perdrix, a mural by wen 2 and paxone, showing old wood buildings or shacks, on a dock, one is cafe du port, some sea gulls flying around

The dominant mural in the top picture, the mural with the brightly colored sun is ‘Sun-Daze’ painted in painted April 2019 by Hownosm. How and Nosm (Raoul and Davide Perré) are identical twin brothers. The lower part of the mural is best seen from street level.

At the very top there is an image of man who has turned his head towards the setting sun.

a bright round sun at the top of a mural, a man on the left corner,

And last, there is the pensive looking Asian woman (Japanese?) who was painted by British artist Hush (with some more of Cryptik’s calligraphy).

mural by hush portrait of a Japanese woman with bright red lipstick, eyes looking town, clothing made of strips of Japanese print fabric, dark black hair,

”In the time of your life, live –
so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself
or for any life your life touches.
Seek goodness everywhere,
and when it is found, bring it out of it’s hiding place
and let it be free and unashamed”
…. opening lines from “The Time of Your Life”, William Saroyan,

Hip Hop Homage

Posted on October 15, 2022 by Mary C

In a vacant lot on 14th Street in Manhattan are two large murals by the street art team, OSGEMEOS (or Os Gemeos), a Portuguese word meaning twins. An apt word in this case because the two Brazilian artists, Gustavo Pandolfo and Otavio Pandolfo, are twin brothers. The murals were painted in 2017 after a building was demolished – the lot is still vacant and the murals are still looking good (even if they are behind a fence).

They face each other across the wasteland. Music fans might be able to find the references to various musicians that have been included in the paintings.

Osgemeos mural hip hop homage on 14th street in New York city, young people with ghetto blasters playing music and dancing

two men walk past a vacant lot with a tagged fence in front of it, on the far side of the lot is a large Osgemeos mural hip hop homage on 14th street in New York city, young people with ghetto blasters playing music and dancing

Photos taken October 2022

two women and a faded heart

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Mary C

below: A red headed woman wrapped in a blue shawl and holding a white rose. White roses are symbols of purity and innocence as well as love and affection. Traditionally the Virgin Mary is depicted with a blue shawl or similar clothing. The mural is ‘Oblicze Piękna’, painted in 2018 by Paulina Nawrot. The title translates to Face of Beauty, or Vision of Beauty.

below: A faded woman sits by her telephone in a 2014 mural by Russian artist, Morik as part of Galeria Urbans Forms.

mural by Morik of a woman sitting on the floor beside a telephone, with large plant leaves around her, monstera deliciosa.

close up of part of a mural, a woman's head with large leaves from a monstera deliciosa house plant.

close up of part of a mural, an old fashion telephone with the receiver off the hook and lying on the floor. A woman's hands and bare feet are by the phone.

below: Another faded mural, this one shows an anatomically correct heart with half of a butterfly on each side. Above the heart grows a large tree. The mural was painted in 2015 by Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz and is titled “Czuć” (or in English, “Feel”)

on the side of a building with a small tree partially blocking the view, a faded mural. An anatomically correct heart in the center bottom with a large deciduous tree growing from it. A butterfly, cut in half, sits on either side of the heart.

Bird Watching

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Mary C

“The Vision of St. Dominic”, 2017, by Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk, one of three murals sponsored by the Dominican order of Łódź in honor of its 800th birthday.

mural by Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk in Lodz, of St. Dominic sitting in a tree reading a book white a flock of bluebirds fly

below: Part of one of the other St. Dominic murals. There are three birds in the mural.

below: ‘Ptak” by Axl Studio, aka Alexander Mehlhorn, 2016

mural of a girl standing by a large hummingbird, fence is blocking part of the mural.

below: Chasing the bluebird but not quite able to catch it.

part of a mural, a small blue bird is facing a larger blacker bird with a yellow beak.

New Dawn collaboration

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Mary C

New Dawn is the name given to the latest laneway street art mural painting project. It is a celebration of the 10th anniversary of StreetARToronto.

The alley runs parallel to Queen Street West (just west of Ossington); it crosses Brookfield and Fennings streets.

mural part of new dawn project, painting by Nick Sweetman standing on a ladder as he paints bees on the top part of the mural

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The largest mural of the project is a collaboration between five artists: Meagan Kehoe, Kreecha, Bacon, Sight, and Nick Sweetman.

contributions by bacon, a flower, and kreecha, calligraphy designs in white and gold, on a mural

mural, part of, a large cat's head in silver and gold with long whiskers and a gold coloured eye. Cat painted by street artist Bacon and calligraphy by kreecha

mural part of new dawn project, painting in progress by Nick Sweetman

This post also appears on the As I Walk Toronto blog.

Spirit Stories under Old Mill

Posted on July 16, 2022 by Mary C

In Toronto, subway tracks cross above the Humber River at Old Mill station. The concrete pillars that support the subway bridge have been covered with many watery blue First Nations themed murals.

Philip Cote Anishinaabe mural of water and spirits on concrete pillar

below: The artist, Philip Cote, described the story behind this image on the ArtworxTO website (see link); like all cultures, the Anishinaabe have an origin story. In the beginning there was just Spirit. “And that spirit decided to send signals out into the universe and waited for a response. And when no response happened that spirit called the signals back and said, “As you come back to me, create light in the universe”. And at that moment they had light and dark in the universe. And that is the beginning of the Anishinaabe cosmology. Everything for Anishinaabe is made of light and dark. Everything we look at has a spirit, everything, the ground, the rocks, the sand, the trees, the birds, the plants, everything is… and even our sun and our Mother Earth and the moon, they all have a spirit.”

The blues of the water, the Humber River, were painted by Kwest. Water is the Underworld in Ahishinaabe cosmology and the Guardians of this Underworld are the fish. Another artist, Jarus aka (Emmanuel Jarus), painted the fish.

Philip Cote Anishinaabe mural of water and spirits on concrete pillar, large grouper fish in the water surrounding the central medallion

Most of the paintings have a well defined circle. This is the boundary between water and earth, between the spirit world and the physical world. But there are connections between the two worlds – all living things are connected and we are all connected to the Spirit World.