A number of artists created this tribute to David Jude Jolicoeur, who rapped as Trugoy the Dove in the trio De La Soul. He passed away in February 2023 at the age of 54. It was painted during the 2023 Bushwick Block Party this past summer and involved a number of artists (Enjoy Hads, Six Million Dollar Steve, Mr. Makro, Brandy, and Sure78 and more? )
below: On one of the walls there is a portrait of Biggie Smalls (1972-1997) also known as The Notorious B.I.G., a rapper and hip hop artist who was born and raised in Brooklyn. It was painted by Danielle Mastrion
below: Up high on the roof, figures by stik, holding hands and looking down at passers by.
A woman, Madonna-like? or in a Muslim head scarf?….. holding an olive branch which is a symbol of peace, but she’s wearing an ammo belt around her waist.
Aurora refers to the buildings covered in the brightly coloured stripes, a work by the Spanish artist collective Boa Mistura. It includes the test, “In het hart van elke winter leeft een trillende lente” which translates to “In the heart of every winter lives a vibrating spring”. The artwork covers 228 apartment units and is probably the largest mural in Europe.
In front of the apartment complex is a large 3-D sign spelling the name of the city, Heerlen. When it was first installed, it was orange. Now it has been enhanced with some DazeTwo ravens and crows at one end ….
…. and the ending letters were decorated by Amber Delahaye with other elements from nature such as mushrooms, butterflies, and flowers.
NOTE: The quote on the buildings is taken from one by Kahlil Gibran which says: “In every winter’s heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn”
There are many murals and other great street art works in Heerlen. There are too many for one blog post so I have tried to find a way to show them in small sections that make some sort of sense. My previous post (the workmen and the black birds) contained photos of the ravens or crows that DazeTwo features in most of his work so in this post I will continue with more bird themed murals.
below: A massive heron with a collection of items that help represent Heerlen, a mural best seen from the other side of the railway tracks, or better yet from a train as it enters the city. The “Heerlen Heron” was painted seven years ago by Vincent Lancee and Dave de Leeuw.
below: Another collaborative effort, this time DazeTwo teamed up with fellow Heerlen artist, Ivan Sanda (aka MF Ivan), to produce an image of a woman whose head is also that of a raven.
below: High above the street a yellow bird in a cage. The canary in the coal mine? by Collin van der Sluijs.
below: Dzia’s little blue chicken on Willemstraat.
below: And last, a quick bird head in the semi darkness under a bridge.
The “If Walls Could Speak” festival in 2019 was an Amsterdam Street Arts (ASA) project whose aim was to create 10 large murals, each on the end of a row of apartments on Platanenweg in Amsterdam Oost. These are the ten murals.
below: First, “In Case of Lost Childhood, Break Glass” by Leon Keer.
below: This mural is a Sjem Bakkus & IVES.one collaboration and is titled “De appel valt niet ver van de boom.” (in English: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree).
below: A mural by British artist Dan Kitchener of a Japanese Geisha as well as a street scene on a rainy night.
below:aka Painting by Studio Giftig (aka Niels van Swaemen and Kaspar van Leek) – a bare footed woman in mid-air with a few pigeons.
below: A bird with pink, green, and turquoise feathers is keeping an eye on the balcony. It was painted by Dopie.
below: Lots of arms and hands holding boxes in a mural with the title of “Carrying Belongings” by Case Maclaim.
below: A boy under a tree with a creature (dragon?) in his hands. The text says “When it comes to settling disputes, compassion is more useful than magic”. It was painted by German artist Hera (one half of the artistic partnership, Herakut).
below: The symbol of Amsterdam, the three white X’s on a black stripe with a red background. It is based on the city’s coat of arms which features a red shield with a black band and three silver St. Andrew’s crosses. The same design is found on the Amsterdam flag. Mural was painted by Kash (aka Friso Kasher) and Chuck (or Chuckone)
below: This girl and her little pink heart are part of a large mural by Julieta XJF, “Wherever you come from, here you are welcome.”
below: Three of the buildings with the murals on them.
below: “Beter een goede buur, dan een verre vriend.” (English: “Better a good neighbor than a distant friend.”) is the title of this mural by Smug One.
below: Although it wasn’t part of the 2019 festival, this mural by DFace is across the street from the others. “I feel so incomplete” reads the text. It is actually a few years older than the other murals that I have shown here.
There are two murals, bright eye catching red helping to hold up a bridge in Heerlen. They were both painted by Brazillian artist Finok, aka Raphael Sagarra, in 2014. The first mural is painted in mostly white, red, and green… three masks, a fish, and a chicken-like creature.
On the same bridge, across the street, is another Finok mural. It too is on a red background. Is the fish about to eat the white headed guy? Or like a genie, has he just been conjured from the fish’s mouth? Whatever the backstory is, the white headed guy looks rather frightened.
Ybor City is an historic neighbourhood close to downtown Tampa Florida. It was founded in the 1880s and was home to a large immigrant population, many of whom were employed in cigar making factories. The cigar industry, and the city, flourished from the 1890s to the Great Depression of the 1930s when demand for cigars dropped.
below: Viva Ybor! Painted by Chico Garcia in 2012. It features a portrait of Vincente Martinez Ybor who brought the cigar making industry to this part of Florida.
…. or perhaps humans in cat costumes. Love and peace and a frilly tutu.
below: More cats, cats climbing up the wall, signed by eunice.music (aka Eunice Brito) and kosuke_james
below: A concerned looking cat – maybe the ball and chain around his leg is going to be a problem?
below: The yellow and red background pattern was painted by 7 Line Art Studio (aka Duel Ris) and I suspect that the dog was added later by someone else.
below: A second dog, this one in bold shapes and bright primary colours.
below: Brazilian artist Eder Muniz’s mural features vibrantly coloured animals and fantasy creatures dancing and swimming along the wall in their own little parade Blue of water; blue of air.
below: One of the most human-like character in the mural carries a long serpentine pennon in front of an elephant that is either eating a tree or that has tusks growing into trees.
below: At the rear of the parade, a hummingbird (or similar small bird) rides on the back of the elephant.
below: A host of creatures in the mural’s mid-section – walking, sitting, swimming, floating.
below: Humanoid body; leaf head, all smaller than the long skinny bird legs.
below: Instead of leaves, this little guy has a head full of crystals.
below: Faces on creatures of fantasy. One with plumage like a bird and the other with squiggles and curls like nothing else. Eyes closed. Big lips.
below: Swimming together, a greenish fish and a striped snake.
below: More fish swimming in the blue bubbles.
below: Taking the lead in this little parade is a large green beaked bird character. Following along with the fish and the snake is a snail and a pinkish purple frog. There even seems to be a scuba diver.
below: Here’s a closer look at that grinning frog as well as the spotted iguana beside it.
below: And last, the long finned fish gracefully makes it way through the watery blue.
On Crouch Street in Rochester NY, this large face stares out at passers-by. When it was painted by Vexta in 2015, there was a lot more vibrant pink and red in it. What is now pale yellow used to be closer to neon green and yellow.
Time passes and colours fade, but the eyes still stare relentlessly ahead.
Murals in the central part of the city. Some old and some new.
below: Conor Harrington headless duellng men, or one man against himself?
below: It looks like a small blue whale inside a larger transparent whale. It’s called “Detecting Machine” and it was painted by Nevercrew, a pair of artists, Pablo Togni and Christian Rebecchi.
below: Be stronger than your excuses, under the bridge
below: Be yourself, everyone else is already taken
below: ‘The Giant Storybook Project’ by Herakut, painted Oct. 2012, on St. Paul Street
All pictures taken May 2023 except the bottom photo which is from 2015. The mural is still there but I didn’t take another picture of it when I was in Rochester a couple of months ago.
Eyes on the Streets 