Dusseldorf, big and small

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Mary C

… a few things seen as I walked around Dusseldorf on a rainy day.

below: At the train station – not really street art? But it’s a colourful addition to a grey platform.

below: One of the original pieces of street art in Dusseldorf is this large yellow Monkey that appears to be painted by a group of smaller monkeys. It was painted in 1969 by the Majo Brothers. The title is, appropriately “Affe” which is German for monkey. You could probably call it Der Gelbe Affe, or the Yellow Monkey.

below: Joseph Beuys is memorialized in this large portrait – he was a native of Dusseldorf who was influential in the development of the city from the 1960s until his death in 1986. One of his famous phrases is, “Everyone is an artist”.

below: Complex and largely symmetrical in shades of pink and purple is one way to describe this mural by HowNosm (or How & Nosm), a partnership between brothers Raoul and Davide Perre.

below: This is a large-scale, monochrome mural realistically depicting a person’s feet as they stand. They are wearing old boots (or shoes) and you can also see the bottom of their pant legs in the image. The artist was Hendrik Beikirch (aka ECB).

below: “Meat is Murder” he says as he holds out a sausage.

rough street art painting in Dusseldorf Germany, green male figure holding a sausage in one hand, text on painting says meat is murder

below: “No more wore” written on the Ukrainian flag.

below: Floral dog on a black and white slap, image by Christin Wenga.

below: Sad face with a blotch of yellow on his forehead.

below: “Nix Gelernt?” Nothing Learned?

below: In the center, raising the flag but it has been altered from the original photograph of the American the flag being raised at Iwo Jima on 23 Feb 1945 to an Anarchist flag. In the bottom corner is a small League of Legends sticker

below: His burning inside produces enough hot air to keep him afloat. There is a word written on his T-shirt which might give some clue as to the artist who created this large paste-up but I haven’t been able to find any answers online.

below: The thirteen of hearts and a pinwheel of robotic arms.

below: mmm

below: A bright green potted barrel cactus “growing” on a concrete wall.

below: Another dusseldorf monkey, not so big this time.

below: A lot of advice packed into a small space. “Don’t Panic”, “Be Big”, as well as “Never ever on a first date”.

below: Red head.

below: Framed twice.

old brick building with boarded up windows, windows used as frames for 2 paper paste up wheatpaste graffiti pieces, on left is cartoon character in blue, on the right is bald headed person with garland of flowers around head, head only, no body

below: For aspiring photographers – here is one way to display your work. Do you think that is effective? Worth the effort?

many coloured photos mounted on large white sheets of paper or bristol board, and then mounted on plywood, displayed outside

below: I’m not sure who it is, but they have very big black and blue lace-up shoes.

below: “Love will tear us apart”

Photos taken November 2025

trouble makers

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Mary C

below: Trouble Makers on Heliosstrasse in Cologne. There was a Paste Up Festival in August of 2025 here that was organized by Street Art Against Hate. Although that was a couple of months ago, lots remain here on this wall and many other walls on the street.

paper paste-ups graffiti on a wall in cologne, along with words trouble maker in black paint

below: Some of the paste-ups found on the “Trouble Makers” wall.

paper paste-ups graffiti on a wall in cologne

below: On the left is a cross-eyed orange Pummel Fee Fart Fair (and I wish I knew what words were in the thought bubble above his head!). On the right is a MyCuteCreatures little cat with two even smaller friends between her ears.

below: One of these dogs has a peach coloured sweat shirt adorned with eyelashes and lips, by Miss GlueInverse (she calls her work analog collages). To the left of that dog is a woman cutting her long hair with a pair of blue scissors by Kalaa Baar.

below: An interesting phone conversation? And a bearded man in sunglasses and a bear (cat?) suit.

below: At the bottom, a pink Nadroschka pretends to be modest.

below: Another MyCuteCreatures and a second Mopsi. This time Mopsi has a bat on his neck and the words read, “Good boy, Bat habits”.

below: “I love Cologne” – but that cat seems too excited! So Schoen Immer Wieder is a German street artist who is responsible for the paste-ups of her pug ‘Mopsi’, most of which have cute/interesting words. In this case, the words are “easy, peasy, lemon squeezy”. The little blue dog also comes with words (same artist? I don’t know). It’s sign says, “You did so well today”.

below: On the right is a black and white drawing by SheepArt Cologne (aka Klaus Schaefer) while sleeping in the bottom left corner is a small drawing by French artist Balaet Balaets (viens, on rêve). A very full purple trash can sits in the middle. Is that a yellow balloon in the garbage?

below: Tweet cat (seen in Melbourne!) has teamed up with Mario while a little furry nose pokes his nose over the wall.

below: “Wer mit Dreck wirft verliert am Boden” which Google translates to “Those who throw dirt lose on the ground” which, by the sounds of it, may not be precise!

Photos taken October 2025

Brunswick

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Mary C

Brunswick is one of the suburbs of Melbourne; it is north of the Central Business District.

below: One of the murals painted on the side of an older building on Sydney Road. This is the Retreat Hotel and the mural was painted by Buff Diss.

cyclist cycling past a street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: Treaty” and “Teach Black history” JESWRI (aka Jesse Wright) on the side of another older building on Sydney Road. There is a Korean BBQ restaurant on the lower level although most of the building looks a bit decrepit.

street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: A series of paintings in shades of gray with a large pointy mountain in the back.

below: “Tram Kangaroo” by Mike Maka. One very large kangaroo hops along beside an old abandoned Melbourne tram (route 19, which runs along Sydney Road) in this dystopian future scene.

below: A closer look …

below: Not such an old building this time.. on the side of the Savers store is a mural by Danielle Weber. A pair of hands is trying to pull back the gray wall to reveal a tropical scene hiding behind it.

below: Zatira (aka Katherine Gailer). has used a palette of vivid colours in this mural dedicated to Teresa Bruno, a well known local chef and owner of Zia Teresa Restaurant (Italian).

throw up type street art in Brunswock, abstract shapes and colours,

below: Protest type poster where the mayor is shielded from the people by layers of armed police. People are too mesmerized by what is on their screens to care.

below: Uprooted police cars.

below: “The colony will fail”.

Photos taken February 2025

AC/DC Lane

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Mary C

(and Duckboard Place)

AC/DC Lane was named for the Rock band of the same name. It has been a place for street art for many years, one of the first locations in central Melbourne.

below: Dominating the corner of the lane is Mike Makatron’s 3D sculpture of AC/DC band member, Bon Scott bursting through the wall.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne

below: Melbourne in 3D

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, The word Melbourne in gold letters, beside a drawing of a ballerina

below: In the bottom corner, RIP Malcolm Young, another member of AC/DC. The text in the word bubble is “C’mon Saint Peter, how many bloody times you gonna make me play Hell’s Bells before you let me through the gates mate?”

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, portraits of musicians at the end of the alley

below: Fintan Magee’s painting of a man carrying a tree towers over the end of the alley.

below: Taking selfies with Malcolm Young.

below: Steen Jones painted this tall Melbourne mural with the red roses.

below: Andy Warhol with paint splatters

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, portrait of Andy Warhol with paint splatters

below: A printed discourse on reality that starts with: “Realities can be controlled through the altered perception of real monocultrial [sic] relationships. This undeniable truth is self-evident through seeing mind’s eye. You will never be real, and in turn, that verifies your existence.” Think of it what you want.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, typed text, with scribbles in black and yellow on top

below: A boy, a girl, and a dog going for a walk, by VKM,

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stencil of two kids walking a dog,

below: Three more posters, two female and one male, all in vibrant colours. On the left is a purple haired, and very sad, woman by Vasso. Next to her is the green haired smoker by YAYA and on the right is an interesting woman with great red sunglasses but I have no idea who created that picture.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, 3 paste ups, all of heads, two female, one male,

below: Love is love, and many others including a little Robbo-t

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stickers and paste ups includng a robbo-t, and love is love words,

below: Rock on! Elvis Emu (by John Murray) and the red dino. What you can’t tell from this picture, is that the emu is just over 6 feet tall (i.e. a little taller than the average man). There are now many wonderful emus all over Melbourne!

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne including an emu dressed like Elvis Presley with rhinestone covered white jacket and big sunglasses

below: Neftnik’s blue woman reading an orange book while smoking her pipe.

below: A blue girl in a flowery dress and a blue bunny rabbit, more blueness from Neftnik.

below: Christmas street art! Lots of Santa Clauses and even a reindeer or two.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, Christmas theme street art, Santa Claus, snowflakes, reindeer,

below: … and the festive season continues… with Batman delivering presents down chimneys. This is one of many places in Melbourne that were “decorated” for Christmas, see “A Christmas collection of friends” for more pictures.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, Christmas theme street art, Santa Claus, snowflakes, reindeer, batman, tweet cat with balloons,

below: Salvador Dali looking a little surreal beside another blue person by Neftnik.

below: Carmadymnd’s little diamond shaped mosaic

street art, small piece, diamond shaped made with mosaic tiles and glass beads,

below: by French artist, Vale,

below: She leap frogs over, by JAH

below: “You don’t deserve all the bad things you say to yourself” beside a blue eyed woman by Jover. Muttley snickers in the bottom corner.

You don't deserve all the bad things you say to yourself text on a sticker, also a paste up by Jover of woman's face, with blue eyes,

below: Michael Caine looks a little bored by it all.

portrait of Michael Caine, black and white photo, on poster, as a paste up in AC DC lane.

below: Lumpkin definition: A blundering fool; A clumsy and often stupid person.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, cutout letters form the word lumpkin

below: Alice falls. The Queen of Hearts along with the two of clubs and other cards fall with her.

below: “I yam what I yam,” I’m Popeye the sailor man. It looks like he’s still eating his spinach.

below: Asian woman with a fan

below: Keep calm and plant a tree.

below: “Lets laugh while we still can” by Loui Jover

below: A very strange looking slightly abstract man, also by Jover

below: More contributions to the alley from Vasso and Jover

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stickers and paste ups,

below: “Always learn” along with “We don’t need more we need to be more”.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, paste up by Jover of woman's head but instead of facial features, has text that says we don't need more, we need to be more. another sticker that says always learn

below: Rocket man, literally, on guitar

Photos taken February 2025

Napoli paper

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Mary C

Stickers, paste-ups and posters seen around Naples.

below: Love letters pasted to the wall, each decorated with a little red or pink heart. So many words and expressions such as – “Dillo con volo fiori” (Say it with flying flowers), “Non ti ho detto mai quello. Che me fai.” (I never told you that, what are you doing to me?)

below: “Yes I know My Way” by Renzo Mezzetti on the right and a blue woman smelling a blue flower on the left.

below: Someone’s not happy ….

below: On the left is an old cyop & kaf face – there are a lot of paintings by Cyop & Kaf and I blogged about them previously (Cyop & Kaf in Naples)

below: With a red heart in its mouth, by RNZ aka Zenro. Also, in the top left corner, the faceless photographer, “the photographer all over”, this is mrbt62

below: Here stands Viracocha, the supreme creator deity in pre-Incan Andean mythology.

below: Surrealism? Or just a bizarre imagination?

below: Completely covered

below: Words around a door

words pasted letter by letter on the side of a wall between two doors of residences, Naples,

Lady, [words behind air conditioner] .. veramente stassera in connanti niente appena arrivate bendalevi visivede which google translate says in English, “Actually tonight in cash nothing as soon as you arrive blindfolded you will see”.

signora siete 9 uasi e lo sarete senon portate stassa….. The bottom part is illegible so the fact that google translate says the first part means, “Madam, you are almost 9 and you will be if you don’t bring this” is also meaningless….Maybe the picture of the man with a gun to his head is part of it all!

below: Playing card graffiti by Francesco Di Martino, and a melting globe head by Lumen.

below: Trallalla’s drawing of a Bishop wearing a pirate hat and eye patch.

below: Trallalla is also responsible for the “Save the Mermaids” paste-ups.

below: Another heavy (pregnant?) mermaid, this time with drawings that look like they have been done by children.

below: Graffiti Propaganda and Fishes Invasion (Merioone)

below: A prickly cactus? or a hairy hand? holding an anatomical heart .

Photos taken February 2024

A Christmas collection of friends

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Mary C

The previous post, Covering a yellow door, showcased some slaps seen in Baptist Place, a lane in Melbourne. They were created by a variety of artists from a number of different countries. You will find that many of the same artists appear in this post mostly because this post features a different section of Baptist Place. Here the graffiti is Christmas themed (more or less).

below: Holiday sharing – a little Wall Lilo figure is giving a candy to the long nosed elf (by liAXrt). A Stoeyes drawn woman in fur lined blue hat and matching mitts has a red box with wise words written on it – “le chocolat fait rétrécir les jeans” (chocolate makes jeans shrink).

many small Christmas themed paste ups on a yellow wall in Melbourne, Baptist Place,

below: This koala is ready for a Christmas party with his festive red hat and a pair of balloons. Another little Wall Lilo figure is dancing on the head of a very stern looking fellow (by Atelier Waladou). Maybe this will put him in the Christmas spirit?

below: Father Christmas, or Jolly Old St. Nick, in a long blue robe, by liAXrt as well as more candies! As to why Father Christmas carries a staff with a skull on it, anyone have any ideas?

below: A bird by Darwinagain in red, white, and blue, atop a happy Christmas tree. Dreaming pleasant dreams beside the tree are two sleeping girls – perhaps dreams of sugar plum fairies or of a red-nosed reindeer leading a sled through the winter sky. (Girls are by Belaets)

below: A kangaroo with a red hat also wants to join the party.

below: A cute little yellow creature with a tall blue and white striped hat riding bareback on a brown animal with antlers (by Nevoul Art)

below: That’s quite a big bubble that she’s blowing!

below: Two little elf feet poke out from under the tree (is it a tree? or an elf in a costume?). This furry squirrel not has has a festive red Santa hat and a lot of balloons, but he’s also wearing the cutest little Christmas booties! (by Tweet). And there’s the Grinch too!

christmas themed graffiti, squirrel by tweet streetart wearing a red hat and red boots with holly on them, carrying a bunch of balloons, also the grinch wearing a Santa hat,

below: Merry Pokemon Christmas! .. and a skull, for some reason, by Loui Jover.

graffiti on a yellow wall, a blue pokeman creature with blue cap with white pompom and a blue scarf, also a black and white drawing of a skull by Loui Jover

below: A blue butterfly tattoo, also by Loui Jover

Photos taken February 2025

Whitehart Lane

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Mary C

… a small lane in central Melbourne with lots of street art.

below: A very round face, a mysterious face. Is he sticking out his tongue? Where is his other eye? What happened to his neck? And then you could ask why his hand is drawn that way.

below: A very realistic drawing of a person with black hair, seated, with hands together wrapped around a glass jar. This wheatpaste piece of art has probably been strategically placed behind window bars. Unfortunately, the signature for this piece is also behind the bars.

coloured paper wheatpaste of a youg person seated, wearing sweater with geometric patterns, pasted on old window, behind bars

below: Balloon and frying pan behind bars, by Tweet

graffiti and street art on boarded up window, behind metal bars, white sciblles, a small sticker, and a paper poster wheatpaste of a yellow balloon and a frying pan, drawn on reused paper with chinese characters on it

old brick buildings in whitehart lane in melbourne, with street art on them

below: Spread Love, not the Virus, a message brought to you by Mickey Mouse in a black Covid mask.

below: Raccoon by MyCuteCreatures on the top and a little guy with skull head and little black bat wings on his back.

below: The top one is probably a head.

below: Hairy purple creatures lurk in the lane.

below: White birds in flight behind the garbage bins.

below: Looking down Whitehart Lane

below: Paintings by Aki Yaguchi (female), floating girls and stars

mural in Whitehart Lane, young girls faces, stars

below: More graffiti (or maybe one is an advert)

urban art and other posters in Whitehart Lane

Photos taken March 2025

Barton Street “shoes”

Posted on June 19, 2025 by Mary C

Once upon a time, a very long time ago in fact, it used to be a shoe store on Barton Street. Now it provides exhibit wall space for street art artists. Almost two years ago I showed some photos that were taken here for the Wheat paste anti-gallery, (September 2023). The building still stands and the doors and windows are still covered with plywood. But now that plywood is taking on a life of its own as old wheatpastes fade and tear and new papers are added on top. This is how it looked mid-June 2025.

below: Oakwood Place and the old shoe store at Barton E and Ottawa.

below: A large wheatpaste, monochromatic, symmetrical collage with eyes in the center – a work by Jumblefacefoto, aka Jeremy Lynch.

below: Zeroing in on just the lower portion of one …..

below: Such wonderful feet!

below: Post no bills, if you can’t read it do you need to obey it?

an eye, and a sliver of the edge of a paper paste up piece, beside a section of plywood wall with multiple bits of old paper from graffiti, and some paint

below: More wheatpaste with eyes in the center.

jumblefacefoto paper collages graffiti on plywood wall

below: Remains of crnshnk pieces. Follow the link at the top of this post to see these in their prime.

remnants of older paper paste up graffiti, torn, on plywood, in black and white images

below: Another fragment of an older piece – what looks like a skull in a round mirror.

image of a skull in a round mirror, a portion of old paper paste up on wall, rest is torn away

below: Polar bear by Invasive Animal (from Sept 2023) is still there although now it appears to be behind bars.

paper wheatpaste of a polar bear, on plywood, by Invasive Animal, now behid a metal construction fence

three wheatpaste animals by invasive animal, a warthog, a rhino and a goat with horns

wheatpaste of horse head and mane by invasive animal

below: Almost disappeared.

below: Warning triangles – missiles, tanks, and robotics.

below: Stickers on the side of a Canada Post mailbox including two vintage kids by 33wallflower33

bicycles parked on the sidewalk outside a cycle shop, also a motorized wheelchair, scooter, in pink, Hamilton, Barton Street

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Mary C

In Toronto, running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side. The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago. Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to spray, stick, or paste graffiti.

below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.

below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on. Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.

below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers

below: Holding tight to that red rose.

Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….

below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold

below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?

below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around. Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado

below: “Tell me its all going to be okay? Not sure if I can do that buddy…..

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

below: Enough! Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

words on a pole

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Mary C

There is a pole, or pipe (downspout?) in Baptist Place, Melbourne, that is covered with many little drawings. They are all slogans or phrases written using music scores as a paper source. I am not sure what songs were used (or if that has any relevance?) but the lyrics are written at least two languages. At the top is “Eat the Rich” .

on a pole, or pipe, in an alley, covered with pasteups, paper, posters, that are words written artistically on old music scores

below: Next comes “Resist”. I was curious about what song was in the background, so I checked google translate – “qui quae-runt” is Latin for “those who run”.
paste up with the word resists written in large letters aver music score