In the past few months I have posted three sets of pictures of Bonn murals and graffiti. The images that I am posting here are all that I have left from my time in Bonn. At this point, I have no plans to return so this is “the last of Bonn”. Of course, if anyone wants to send me pictures of more Bonn urban art (because I am sure that I missed some, or that there is more recent art/graffiti), I will be happy to post it with full credit.
below: “Einsusflug” and a tripping pigeon wearing its cool sunglasses.
below: “This zystem is our enemy”. To which someone has replied, “True that”.
below: Many of the sidewalk/traffic/utility boxes around central Bonn have been painted with scenes from the city. This is the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) that dates back to the 18th century. I have always liked how City Hall ‘translates’ to Rat House in German!
below: Another box, this one with very stylized, almost abstract, trees.
below: Images of Johannes Sebastien Bach (1685-1750), the German composer, are all over Bonn.
If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.
A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.
This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….
below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles
below:Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.
below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere
below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art
below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio
below:Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.
below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul
below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile
below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.
below:Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.
below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.
below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.
below: GO train – definitely On the Move!
below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo
below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.
My previous post was also about a walk down a section of Toronto’s Graffiti Alley (Spadina to Portland). This post is from the same walk – because there were so many images that I wanted to share, I decided to divide the fun into two parts. This second part takes a closer look at some of the smaller pieces.
below: Peeling paper hands…. A 33wallflower33 group of three women in their dashing outfits … and a charming man with devil’s horns and red glasses.
below: Although it’s getting more difficult to see, there’s a Poser rabbit by the door. The door is disappearing behind a layer or two of paper and paint.
below: There is a little pink stikman on the light above the door.
below: Once upon a time this skinny little guy was pink but ooops, a layer of paint and now he’s prematurely grey.
below: In her face – another stikman
below: Last stikman for today… sometimes you find them tucked away in hard to see places.
below: Party line? Four hands phone.
below: A bleeding heart, a pansy flower, and a woman with a red hat and big ear rings.
below: Polly wants a cracker before she takes over the world, or at least that’s what she told me.
below: A young woman with blue lipstick and jagged pink make up on her cheeks. A spiked collar is around her neck. Make of it what you will.
below: Another young woman, this time she’s a little softer (at least in appearance) – drawn by Catchoo.
below: Multiple Sailor dudes (trp613) in two varieties hanging out with a happy little catchoo critter and its smiley daisy balloon.
below: “Save me”!
below: It looks like catchoo has been busy.
below: More of that wall.
below: Darth Vader makes an appearance too. Who’s that man peeking through the hole?
below: One flower sprouts a bald person while the other produces a sunny orb. That black octopus doesn’t look very happy – perhaps in this winter weather it needs more than just a woolly toque.
below: There are those women again!
below: Dogma slaps standing tall in his puffy jacket and bright red mitts.
below: Riding a D7606 crayon – T-bonez always finds new adventures.
below: A collaboration between Tamm Shinzo and April Showers Art produced this little round piece – sitting on top of the clouds with the moon shining over her shoulder.
below: Cryptid Supremacy – a rat with a very long tail
below: While we’re dealing with rats – Squee! They are all fleeing from an NYC trash can. Don’t litter!
below: Another small collection – Catchoo shows up on a soy sauce bottle while a Sentient Cookie (aka Cecil Tian) character gets taped to the wall… remember that banana?! And last, in the top left corner, a Cartoon Car Slaps.
Sixteen paintings lined up on a wall in a downtown Buffalo alley…. a series presented by the Albright Knox Gallery. It is titled “Works, from Home” and it represents the thoughts and feelings of sixteen artists on their experiences with lockdowns during the Covid pandemic of 2020. Presented here in no particular order (with the artist’s name underneath) –
Ihwa-dong is a neighbourhood, built on a hill (Mount Naksan) in Seoul. Some of the houses are literally built into the city walls. Because of its hilly nature, it is often referred to as a mountain village. In 2006 as a cultural project there was an effort to transform this relatively poor section of the city into an artistic landmark by adding public art – especially murals. Seventy artists were involved. The area became a tourist destination. It was also saved from demolition and redevelopment.
In 2016 the residents petitioned to have the art removed as they did not like the increase in tourist traffic. The local government didn’t do anything so some of the residents painted over a few of the more popular murals. There are also reports of murals being painted over in 2023 … or residents adding their own art
below: A woman walks down (very down!) a street in Ihwa-dong
below: A small neighbourhood behind a fence. Bright red shutters.
below: Girl with a red balloon at number 69.
below: Little puppy dogs and a friendly kitten by the hedge
below: Toucan and monkeys. The black car is blocking the shiny green car but he doesn’t seem to mind.
below: Watching time, but it’s always ten past two; watching each other but seeing nothing.
below: Motorcycle parcel delivery (although on closer inspection, it might be a trailer load of cardboard for recycling)
below: A great place to see views of Seoul…. but there are a lot of stairs!
below: Up a narrow street (no not street, just stairs), more paintings on the walls
below: Doorway conversation
below: Square head sitting with a woman with very, very long red hair
below: Fish by the door of the shop
… fish on the wall
… and fish kissing teapots.
below: A tired old faded bear sits by the road
below: Looking down to the layer below where people are sitting outside Espresso Bar Odeoksae Coffee. They are joined by a few silent people on the walls. To the left, two camels have wandered into the scene.
below: Rainbow stripes and some silhouette figures that look they belong in Alice in Wonderland – a trumpet blowing rabbit and the queen of hearts.
below: Slouching past with his mind on other things far away….
below: Yellow shirts and flowers
below: This is Son Heung-min who is the captain of the Tottenham Hotspurs as well the South Korea national team.
below: Off to the shops with her bright red purse and blue shopping bag
below: People on the boat, fish swimming under it.
below:Wrdsmth – “This is my palette. A mere twenty-six deep, yet the possibilities are infinite.” … Plus his typewriter that appears in all his graffiti and street art. The mural also credits PowWow Worcester which was an annual arts festival (for a few years prior to 2021) that was responsible for bringing a number of murals to the city.
below: A tower of women, by Marka27, aka Victor Quinonez, 2016, a very vertical mural on the side of the parking garage at Federal Plaza.
below: A painting by Christina Angelina, another parking garage mural at Federal Plaza
below: Another mural that was painted during a PowWow Worcester is this cartoon-like painting by Greg Mike (2016).
below:Jason Eatherly’s trucks parked beside the old brick building.
below: One of the first murals painted in Worcester is this now slightly faded creation by Caleb Neelon
below: At the YWCA, two young girls in shades of blue on a red background.
below: Keep on smiling!
Photos taken July 2024
There were also murals by Damien Mitchell (below) and Insane that I saw in downtown Worcester but they have already been featured in a prior blog post, (Insane + One)
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
below: Near rue Liban, Bar Populaire with a wall of graffiti.
below: In a circle of knives and with a Medusa head of snakes,
below: Another Laszlo piece – Stern looking portrait of Wednesday Addams from the “Addams Family” TV series.
below: A column of paper pieces
below: The top two, both on pages of old books. Top – a heart with “Aimez-sous Bordel” with a multicoloured figure by Corine Forest. On the bottom, drawings by Sulfid
below: More Corine Forest – this time a bird on a page of of music along with a little monster character by Axo. Mam’zelle Nitouche is the music that was chosen (or happened upon?). This is a vaudeville-opérette in three acts composed by in 1883 Hervé (aka Louis-Auguste Florimond Ronger (1825-1892)).
On the bottom – a dove in a heart shape full of white cursive love. “Go Love Anybody Anywhere Anytime”. A little saccharine but sort of sweet.
Learn from yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow.
below: One more Corine Forest wheatpaste – a winged horse among the moon and stars.
below: Paix
La suele couleur qui compte c’est celle denotre de notre sang (The only colour that matters is the colour of our blood).
Eyes on the Streets 