street art in Havana

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Mary C

Back in June 2015 I spent a week in Havana. The street art that I saw there ranged from scribbles on walls to elaborate murals and pictures. The following photographs cover almost all the street art that I saw.

mural on a wall of a group of people, stylized slightly, obviously cuban

below: A young boy by 5 Stars

a painting by 5 stars of a young boy seated, in a sleeveless white top, black curly hair

street art, large eyes staring straight ahead

below: A variation on a slogan, “just do it”

blog_havana_graffiti_just_do_it

below: yellow faces, holding up a portrait

a small person with a yellow head holds up a large yellow square which in turn is a yellow head

below: Charlie Chaplin and the kid

black and white street art piece of Charlie Chaplin looking around the edge of a door - the door is real. A young boy is with Charlie Chaplin

below: A fish out of water, swimming down the street

blog_fish_street_art_wall

While I was in Havana, the Duodecima Bienal de La Habana was also on and some of what I saw on the streets, including the photo below, probably belonged to that. The Bienal De La Habana is an art festival that occurs every three years (yes, three years even though bienal means every two years!). The next festival will be in November 2018.

below: The little blue signs says “Gabinete del imaginario” which translates to Cabinet of the Imaginary.

a rough wooden cover covers a window, a wall used to be orange and blue but most of the paint has peeled off. On the wall a picture has been mounted. It is a beach scene, two people sitting on an orange beach with orange sky and blue water.

below: Oops I did it again, scribbles on the wall.

scribbled graffiti on a wall, a silly drawing of a boy with the words oops I did it again, some exclamation marks

below: Black and white portraits overlooking the street

a man and a woman talking on a street corner. Beside them is a wall with three black and white murals painted on it. A middle ages woman with a head band and hands on her hips, an older man's head in a white hat and looking upward and last, a man in a white uniform holding a box under his arm.

below: “…no quiero mas el queso” or, I don’t want more cheese. It is signed as Cuba Ecuador 2015 as well as Ratador. So far I haven’t been able to find any information on this artist.

two street art pieces, one is a large rat with a piece of cheese and the words No quiero mas el queso. On the right is a black and white image of a man's head with a number below him. N I 8908202623.

below: “A las almas” To the souls, on one side of the door while a woman rides her bike on top of the world on the other side of the door.

an old green wood door on a building. on one side is a red poster with a black silhouette of the upper part of a man with one arm reaching to the clouds as well as the words a las almas, on the other side of the door is a painting in pinks and bieges of a winged woman on bike riding on top of the globe

below: An eye over number 156

blog_eye_above_door_colours

below: Waves of hair, waves of water

a street art picture of a young woman's head and face, she is looking slightly back over her shoulder. Blue abstract beside her

below: Calling Seth

the word Seth in a word bubble, with the top part of a man's head as he pokes his head around a wall.

face of a man drawn in black, with dabs of yellow, green, and red added to the picture

a wooden cart in poor shape is parked next to a mural of a woman lying on her side. It looks like she is lying on the sidewalk. She is topless.

photos on the wall

There are also a number of political pieces. I suspect that some state are sponsored and some are not.

below: CDR #8 refers to Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Spanish: Comités de Defensa de la Revolución) which is a network of neighbourhood committees across Cuba. Their purpose depends on what side of the fence you are on. They promote social welfare and report on counter-revolutionary activity or they are a secret police organization. Take your pick.

mural cdr number, portraits of three men wearing green, Che Guevera, Castro and

below: This is the symbol of the Young Communist League in Cuba. In Spanish it’s Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas or UJC. Estudio, Trabajo, Fusil = Study, Work, Rifle. The symbol shows the faces of Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevera. Mella was a founder of the Cuban Communist Party while Cienfuegos and Guevera were major figures in the Cuban Revolution.

blog_havana_che_fusil

below: A UJC mural, “fieles a nuestra historia ” or Faithful to our History.
blog_havana_che_historia

below: Che Guevera on his own.

a black stencil of Che Guevera's head

many poster of Che Guevera

The next three pictures are of a mural on Callejon de Hamel (callejon is a lane)

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba

below: A woman looks out the window above the mural. The words on the beige part say “Puedo esperar mas que tu, porque soy el tiempo.” This translates to, “I can wait more than you because I am time. ” On the red section the words are “Salvador 26 to 95”.

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba - a woman looks out from a window above the mural

below: And last, a picture that was definitely a part of the Bienal. ‘Identidad ‘ by Julio Cesar Garcia It is part of a series of photos called Resistencia. The words that accompany it are given below along with a translation – not the best but with my beginner Spanish and the limitations of google translate, you get what you get!

a black and white photo of a man's head and shoulders, wearing a white hat, older man, large picture, on a wall outside

Identidad da inicio a una serie titulada Resistencia. Apelando al uso del lenguaje y el concepto de arte callejero, la serie esta compuesta por retratos de gran formato ubicados, a largo plazo, en varias ciudades del pais. La intention es intervenir muros, edificos, aceras y calles de la ciudad con gigantografias concebidas en forma de mosaico sobre cartulina cromada. Las obras, en relaction directa con todo tipo de publico desede el proceso mismo de su instalacion, tendran un caracter efimero. Resistencia sera una consigna, una actitud, un modo de vida y de hacer el arte.

Identidad is the first in a series titled Resistencia. Appealing to the use of language and the concept of street art, the series is composed of large format portraits located, in the long term, in several cities of the country. The intention is to intervene on walls, buildings, sidewalks and streets of the city with large photos made in the form of mosaics on chrome paperboard. The works [In direct relation with all types of public from the process itself of its installation] will have an ephemeral character. Resistance will be a slogan, an attitude, a way of life and making art.

these walls have eyes

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mary C

Faces painted, stenciled and pasted on Montreal walls

street art painting on a bright orange door of a man in a suit sitting cross legged with a cup and saucer of tea. red tea cup and red saucer. his tie is flipped up and his hair is weird he is Monsieur Croissant Head

$two paste ups on an old window. on the left is a black and white photo of a young woman. on the right is an abstract of a face in bright primary colours, fractured so she has 4 eyes$

a tesalation of 8 faces, 4 on the left and 4 on the right. they are stacked on top of each other, alternating a white face and goldish brown face. The column on the right is looking upwards, the column on the left is looking down, with nose on the ground.

a large brick wall in Montreal with the bottom part covered with a mural. on the right is an image of a black man in a black hat playing the harmonica. The rest is text and tag like shapes in blues and greens. RIP.

under a balcony with two sets of stairs in front of it, a mural with a blue faced girl as well as some other creatures

On a garage door, three heads, each has a cat on top. On of the cats has a mouse pulling a small red cart.

in an alley, a black silhouette of a woman's head with the words Chlo Row 1861, on a salmon coloured wall, another mural on the next wall in the lane

a mural of a young girl in many colours. A red turtlecap is on top of her shoulder

5 poster of Marilyn Monroe on a wall. The 6th poster has been covered by a poster of a man, Bill W.

A man's face in grey tones surrounded by a rainbow coloured ribbon

a multifaceted face in grey tones by omen, with a small pasteup (or painting?) of a blue owl beside the face

two rows of repeating posters. In browns, faded, with torn edges, and red paint blobs and drips on top of them. The top row is girl's head and the bottom is a young girl looking up

large black and white man's face painted by omen with a small orange face to the bottom left and bottom right - orange faces painted by kashink

two faces are part of a larger mural

fresh paint under pressure, a man is holding a spray paint can. he is old looking, bald, with glasses at the end of his nose, wearing a top with black polka dots, done in grey tones

three mens heads. in the center, a bald man in pinks. on either side of him, the identical green man looking upwards.

girls head in pinks

realistic painting of a man in a white shirt, on a purple background, mural

a quickly drawn face with wild spiky black hair. face in red. a red star to the bottom left

a red head woman, with black bra, and many arms, some are snakes, two hands on her breasts and two hands holding her hair.

black abstract faces on white background, painted in an alley

a face painted on a brown metal wall beside an exterior stair case

a paste up of a black and white photo of a young man that is torn and the bottom half is missing

line painting of a woman's head and face

painted face on a brick wall, pink and yellow

once a black and white face, now blurred into grey

two small stickers of black and white demon faces with horns, and tongues stuck out

brown street art painting of a blad man's head and face with droopy eyes partially closed and wrinkled foreheard and cheeks

cartoon character like woman with yellow hair and a red and bllue suit

a roughly drawn black skull on a green fence, with white holes for the eyes and white outline

large painting of a girl's face with bright blue eyes and purple hair

blog_montreal_face_yellow_scribble_guy

a realistic painting of a woman's head, wearing a black shawl, fingers also in the painting.

mural of a woman's face , touch of turquoise but mostly in pinks and yellows , drawn mostly with lines

a black door in an alley, 911 Ave Mont Royal that has graffiti on it, as well as a painting of a man's face

a white stencil of an older Indian (first nations) man in a feather head dress. A stereotypical picture of Indian chief from old pictures

white line drawing of two men, one short and one tall. The tall man is under a window and looks like he's holding up the window

These photos were taken in June 2015

Princelet Street, Shoreditch

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mary C

Graffiti and street art seen on Princelet Street, another small street in Shoreditch.

A wall covered by street art and graffiti of all kinds – paint, stencils and pasteups – by many different artists. The children pointing their guns at the jester (pied piper?) is a painting by Otto Schade. The Muslim woman and white man at Stik people by street artist Stik. Three black and white posters, top middle, have slogans and pictures of people…. “Greed for oil causes war” features George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. “Consumerism causes child labour” features an Asian child and a Barbie like doll. The third poster talks about debt dependence being addictive and shows a picture of the man from the Monopoly game.

blog_princelet_street_wall_graffiti

below: Three portraits. Two women by voxx flank a gilded framed picture of Karl Lagerfeld by endless. Mr. Lagerfeld is holding a white cat as well as some Chanel perfume bottles. For some reason there is a small naked man in the picture too.

three pasteups on a wall, poster size, two by voxx and one in the middle by endless. Karl Lagerfeld is the subject in the endless paste up - with dark sunglasses and a wild patterned jacket, a fancy gold frame is around him,

below: Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil paste-up by buenocaos aka Luis Bueno.

a paste up of a boy reading a book, Neitzsche's Beyond Good and Evil

below: A red head by C3 sits on the ground beside a woman by iljin.

3 paste ups of women on a wall. One is a woman's head and shoulders in blue with short black hair by iljin . One is a multicoloured face. One is a young woman sitting on the ground with her knees up. She has red hair and a heart on her leg, by c3b

below: A ballerina by neoh
a wispy partially abstract painting of a ballerina by neoh

blog_red_heart_woman_qwerti

two street art faces painted on a metal covering over a shop window. One is man's face in beige with brown hair and the other is a stylized face in green with black hair
below: Coming apart on the wall.

two large black and white eyes and a white nose with black outlines, painted on a wall.

below: Savant says to Collapse the Certainties

stencil on a wall. poster sized, words by savant that say Collapse the Certainties.
below: Some very sharp claws… chasing the worm?

Two pieces of street art on a grey metal covering over a shop window. One is an intricately drawn realistic looking yellow bird's foot with long curved talons.
below: And last, a small red figure high on a wall.
It seems to be trying to get something off of its head

a 3 D figure in red attached high up on a wall

inti in the 13th, Paris

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Mary C

There are two very large murals in Paris by South American street artist INTI. INTI was born in Valparaíso, Chile and he takes his name from the Quechua word for ‘the Sun’.

The first mural is a tall one on the side of an apartment building on Avenue L’Italie near Rue Du Tage in the 13th arrd. Its title is “Our Utopia is Their Future”.

a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti -

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - a child is working a puppet who in turn has a small puppet on a string

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - a puppet of a man in a suit and tie, on a string

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - boys feet

The second INTI mural is also in the 13th arrd. This time it is a very large horizontal mural on a fence. It’s also difficult to take a picture of the whole thing! It seems to be a doll dressed in a patchwork of colours and patterns filled with symbols. His knees are wooden masks and he has two gold charms attached to his belt.

long horizontal mural of a man with many hats above his head, by Inti, in Paris, on a concrete wall

man in a long horizontal mural, cloth puppet like face, dressed in a patchwork of colours and patterns and Inca and South American symbols, two gold good luck charms attached to his belt.

the end of a hotizontal mural of man bedecked in Inca symbols and colours, wood masks on his knees, patterned knit socks with symbols, not matching, rainbow coloured socks with toes.

Fashion Street, Shoreditch

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Mary C

The following pictures were taken in September 2016. This was my second visit to the area and I have already blogged about my first visit in March 2016. See ‘People of Fashion Street’. A few of the works from the spring still remained in September but there were also a number of changes.

below: The musculature of a man as he walks amongst the skulls and bones of other men, a pasteup by drsc0

pasteup of a man showing his musculature, like a standing body with the skin removed. He is standing in front of rows of skeletons. A pasteup street art piece by drsc0

below: A mural of a woman’s head (she lasted all summer) by Mr. Cenz

blog_mural_woman_face_magenta

below: A wall with graffiti as well as a painting by neoh of a ballerina whose multi-faceted face appears to be in motion.

wall with lots of street art and graffiti, paste ups and posters

below: Pirate, Jolly Roger bombs falling from the sky and a partial Poison pasteup.
If consumed, plan funeral.

street art, red bombs with black skull and crossbones wings,

below: Bill Murray keeps an eye on that marshmallow guy while Freddie Mercury sings along with the help of a collage of people and images.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste ups of actor Bill Murray's head looking upwards with the marshmallow guy from the movie Ghostbusters above it, a paper paste up of Freddie Mercury singing with his body made of a collage of other pictures and peoplr

below: Freddie Mercury again, this time with a starry eyed tiger.

blog_freddie_mercury_collage_graffiti

below: Another street art collection on Fashion Street. The top pieces are the same as seen in March but there have been changes on the bottom.

a brick wall on Fashion Street in Shoreditch that is covered with a lot of paste up pieces of graffiti and street art

below: The top part of the wall above. Still here – Stikki peaches James Dean paste up man, Rebel with a cause. A purple beaver, pistachio shell art, and a drawing by costah complete the picture.

blog_costah_pasteup_sticky_peaches

below: Additions to the lower part of the wall. Face the Strange and Endless coca cola cans with visual innuendo. Also, someone is trying to tell us that they are well and they are happy although they look quite blue and empty.

pasteup on a wall, collage of overlapping layers of pictures, jumbled up together,

below: Face the Strange lego headed man and a partial City Kitty face

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up from face the strange of a man in suit and tie with a red lego brick as a head. little yellow lego heads in a pattern in the background. Also part of a cat head elaborately drawn and colored with the words city kitty mows 510

below: Syd’s ‘why so serious?’ Joker was there before as was the image of Liza Minnelli in the red and white top. Unfortunately the paper has been torn from wrdsmith’s typewriter so the words can’t be read anymore.

blog_shoreditch_graffiti_wall_images

below: An endless woman, a dog and a man with a green tie.

three large pasteups on a brick wall, a woman in an orange skirt and jacket by endless, a large growling dog who is running - head and front part of body are complete, back part of body is just the skeleton, and last is a man with longish hair, a multicoloured suit and a green tie.

below: Under the watchful eye of a surveillance camera, a taosuz poster warning you about the harmful effects of icons. Can you name the people?

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, a poster with black and white pictures of mens heads with the words Icons seriously harms you and others around you

below: You see things and say why?…. but I dream things and say why not? The sunset mural is by Low Tech Designs, a group of artists who work with youth to teach them graffiti skills and to promote the positive side of graffiti.

two murals. on the left, a large white cloud with yellow eyes and three white upper teeth is spitting out a rainbow that someone has written pride on the top of . The other mural is a sunset scene with a palm tree and beach in silhouette in the foreground, purple sky and water, yelloish orange sun and reflections in the water.

below: No Banksy no cry

on a black wall, two small stencils, one is a white ghost head with big black oval eyes and the other is the words: no banksy no cry

below: A mural painted in the memory of Muhammad Ali who died June 4, 2016.

blog_mural_memorial_boxer_fighter

below: The many abstract faces of Costprice.

a photo of a costprice store, an off licence beer, wine and spirits merchant, as well as food. A painting of multicoloured colourfuil abstract faces covers all surfaces.

below: Two between the doors.

blog_graffiti_between_doors_exterior

below: Gava? Oui, gava.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing of two insects with large globe like tails, one is asking gava? and the other says oui gava

below: A soldier on horseback, and a targeted mother and kids.

blog_graffiti_endless_horseman_target

below: Black and white drawing of folded paper – a sculptural forms of a rabbit nipping at the tail of a fox. It’s the work of Annatomix.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing in black and white that looks like folded paper rabbit nipping at the tail of a folded paper fox

below: A child in motion.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing

below: The last two photos were actually taken on Commercial Street but close to where Fashion Street joins it.

blog_log_inn_restaurant_streetart

below: Gold Dragonfish = endangered, and E D of London. Both closed.

blog_fish_commercial_street_shoreditch

Braithwaite Street, Shoreditch

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Mary C

blog_braithwaite_street_sign_london

Most of Braithwaite Street is under railway tracks next to Shoreditch High Street station on the London Overground. The south end of the street used to be called Wheler Street and appears as such on google maps. Photos taken September 2016.

street art paste up of two people, man and woman, that look like inflatable dolls. The woman is holding the leash of a balloon dog.

below: Mssd Connctn, To the one who could have been everything, sorry I swiped left.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street,

below: More of the detailed grasshopper pasteups (previously seen on Grimsby Street) and an old paper pasteup of a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle…. this one full of skulls. The perfume bottle is the work of endless.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a grasshopper paste up, an old chanel number 5 perfume bottle

below: Above the grasshoppers is a headless flying horse or pony. The star on its backside suggests that it’s from My Little Pony.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, paste up of a flying pony with its head cut off, also a dodo bird

below: Portrait of a street artist with spray can, respirator, tattoos, and bling, by Cloakwork.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, mural of a large fat man with gas mask on and spray paint can in hand by cloak work

below: Graffiti under the bridge.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, on the curved walls of an underpass, darkish, with a couple of people walking under the bridge

below: A jumble of facial features.

an arch under a brick bridge is covered with plywood and painted blue. On it is a jumbled face in five pieces. Two people are sitting on the kerb in front of it.

below: A collection of little graffiti pieces high on a brick wall.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, three little pieces on a brick wall behind a wire fence

below: Another chanel perfume bottle by endless, this time Marymee and eau de streetart. The cat playing card has some tiny words written on the bottom including, @hellothemushroom. A google search reveals this to be the work of Sara Doucette.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a yellow chanel perfume bottle with MaryMee on the label as well as eau de street art. Also a playing card, ace, with cat face on it, and the words @hellothemushroom

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a woman walks past construction hoardings covered with street art

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, large mural of a woman with back to viewer, lifting up the skin on her back to reveal digital codes

below: A painting by Nathan Bowen.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting by Nathan Bowed on a man in yellow clothes (a clown?)

below: A few pasteups including one that resembles Lt. Vincent although it’s a little bearded guy in a snail shell being pulled by a large red cat.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, six or seven paste ups on a wall, including a Lt. Vincent being pulled by a cat

below: Pink, fuzzy and spread eagle on a wall – a large teddy bear.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a pink teddy bear with terry cloth body high on a wall, beside a black and white pasteup of a bomb

below: Rapid. Mask and goggles. Street art by Someart

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting of a man's head wearing balaclava and goggles, with word bubble that says I am Rapid Some Art

below: Shoot the Bank with photos added above and “Not Art” sprayed below.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, black and white piece Shoot The Bank with a picture of a man in mask and with rifle. In red spray paint someone has written over it Not Art. 8 posters above it, with photos

below: ‘Stranger Things’ from the Netflix series.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, mural entitled strange things, man in old fashioned scuba mask waving, in turquoise background.

below: Construction hoardings on Braithwaite immediately south of the tracks around what used to be a car park.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, construction hoardings covered with street art

below: Continuation of the hoardings… the red brick building is Bedford House, at the corner of Quaker and Braithwaite streets.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, construction hoardings covered with street art

below: Another Nathan Bowen work, this time beside a strange drawing by Clancy.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting of a Buckingham palace guard with its bushy black hat and red uniform, on a union jack by Nathan Bowen and a drawing of a man sitting on a sidewalk by Clancy

more Dublin street art

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Mary C

Street art seen September 2016 in various parts of the city.

below: A place for Jenny to sit on a rainy day, by Albenty.

mural on a wll painted white, by Albenty and for Jenny, a red straight back wood chair with a red umbrella hovering above it

below: Wanted Kats, the Superhero Lady, by Amanda Deer, on a metal box beside the street.

on a metal box beside the road, a blue kat superhero woman with an rocket tank on her back, brih=ght pink background, by Amanda Deer

below: “Trust me, you’re lovely.”

a young man on his phone is standing in front of a street art painting, lavender colour background with a boy and girl withtheir back to the viewer. THe boy has his arm around the shoulder of the girl. There is a heart in the upper right corner, outlined in red and containing the words Trust me you're lovely.

below: “Once we were heroes”, by canvaz

stencil of a man sitting on a stool, wearing a suit and hat, and holding a sign with red letters on white that say Once we were heroes.

below: “I feel free when I’m riding a horse in the wild… Also when I take Ecstasy”

wall painted red, stencil of a horse's head plus some blobs in green, yellow and blue. Words written on it that say I feel free when I ride a horse in the wild and when I take ecstasy

below: Making his escape on Earl Street.

altered red and white circular no entry street sign, a black figure is trying to climb out of the white horizontal bar

below: U Are Alive

mural, diagonal rainbow stripes for the background, large white letters for the words U are alive

below: Better together crayons. Red + Blue = Purple. By peachydublin

a poster of three crayons standing together and holding hands. The one in the middle is purple and it's shorter, On either side is red and blue. At least that's what the words say, only the blue has been coloured in, signed #peachydublin

below: Making music, musical shamrocks

black stencil on a wall, a girl is playing a trumpet and out of the trumpet come shamrocks, three leaf clovers

below: Believe. A portrait of Kate Taylor, an Irish boxer and winner of a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in the lightweight division.

poster on a grubby dirty white wall of a woman in profile, black with white top and red boxing gloves held in front of her chest. The word believe is written in capital letters under her

below: Pink vines growing towards the door by the bridge.

man walking away from the camera, walking past a mural on the side of a shop, pink vine growing upwards, a small round balcony with a window.

below: On the wolf’s back. Available

black drawing on white of a woman sitting the shoulders of a person with a wolf head, hands on her knees, signed Available

below: A yellow horned animal on the street

mural of a yellow horned animal on the side of a store, beside the sidewalk

below: Vote yes for marriage equality.

two adjoining window shapes with brown frames and rounded tops. On the left a picture of a man voting yes with the words marriage equality. On the right the word yes in yellow with a yellow heart.

below: Two pieces. Trees, mountains and sun that has been tagged over and second, a long blue haired person by Evolve Urban Art.

two street art paintings on a yellowish stucco wall, side of a building. One is a stylized landscape with trees, mountains and sun that has a large tag on top of it. The other is a person with long blue hair, hand by chin, head and shoulders only, by Evolve Urban Art

below: Another piece by Evolve Urban Arts, this time on Thomas Street.

a street corner in Dublin, two men are walking on the sidewalk past a shop, Welsh's confectioner that is closed. A street art painting is on the metal screen or awning that covers the window of the shop.

below: What caught my eye here was the word “Don’t” on the door. Perhaps Simone and Caitlin were here too.

exterior of the The Tenters Bar in red with black trim, closed and boarded up. The door is brown. Stencilled on the door is the word Don't. Simone and Caitlin are also written in white on the red wall.

below: Space invaders, cute little creatures, come in peace.

a line of 5 space invader creatures from the video game, with the words we come in peace under them.

below: I saw this face a number of times in various sizes…

large paste up a man's face, white with black line drawn features, on grey wood hoardings in front of a construction site.

below: … including this one, diceman by canvaz

large paste up of a man's head on a door of a grubby dirty white wall.

below: A cute little white cat and white dog surrounded by flower petals.

flowers in different colours, black and white pattern on petals, plus red petals, yellows and pinks too. In the background a pink blob with words written on it, street art,

a metal street box is covered with a colourful painting of a shite skull decorated like Mexican day of the dead on a many patterened background.

abstract painting street art on the side of a building and over the door, many colours and shapes

little street art painting of a yellow and black little guy with face towards the wall (or is faceless)

below: A younger Seamus Heaney, Irish poet. 1939-2013. Winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

poster of a portrait of a man with ripped corners

Sligo walls, murals

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Mary C

On the walls around the Adelaide Car Park, Sligo Ireland, are a number of small murals.

mural, stylized painting of a person playing a blue guitar with a cloud in the background, yellow sky, and a bottle of something floating beside the musician
on a brick wall, with houses behind, a mural of a man in grey monotone, some blur highlights in the rest of the mural which is a picture of ships at sea
mural on a brick wall in a car park, with houses behind, three stylized women with bright red hair, flowing to their shoulders, all holding bouquets of flowers
a mural of a woman in blue tones, frontal image, staring straight ahead. Two birds are in flight, one on either side of her, flying towards the center of the picture

a woman's face, black hair, looks like she's coming out of the center of a purple flower, a yellow bell, a bird and a bone are also in the picture

two cars parked in the corner of a car park, blocking views of two small murals, one on each wall of the corner. One is a stylized young man's face in blue and yellow.

below: Shligo Shtyle, Nooneboy

text mural, white letters on black that say Shligo Shtyle

Free Derry murals, Bogside

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Mary C

Free Derry was a zone in the Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods in the city of Derry (or Londonderry) that existed from 1969 to 1972 when people barricaded streets to keep the British Army out. To understand the reasons for Free Derry involves understanding the history of Northern Ireland, especially the story of ‘The Troubles’. The Troubles, or the Northern Ireland Conflict as it was also known, started in the late 1960’s and largely centered around the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Although it may be an oversimplification, Unionists (also called Loyalists) who were mostly Protestant and thought themselves to be British wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the UK while Irish nationalists (or Republicans) who were mostly Catholic and considered themselves Irish wanted to leave the UK and join a united Ireland.

Three artists, Tom Kelly, William Kelly and Kevin Hasson, aka The Bogside Artists, have created a series of murals known as the Peoples Gallery in the Bogside area of Derry. There are 12 murals and most are on the sides of houses along Rossville Street. They tell the story of events that occurred here during The Troubles.
blog_murals_free_derry_flag

below: “The Civil Rights Mural, The Beginning”. The title refers to the beginning of the struggle for democratic rights in Derry by both Protestants and Catholics. On the 5th of October 1968, a civil rights march ended in bloodshed in Duke Street when the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) beat up protesters – televised for the world to see. Protesters responded with petrol bombs and bonfires. The march was organized with the support of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), a group that had been formed in February 1967 to fight to end discrimination against the Catholic/Nationalist minority.
Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - civil rights and anti-sectarian, pictures of people with placards who marched in a peaceful demonstration
below: “The Petrol Bomber”. This was the first mural, painted in 1994. A boy wears a gas mask to protect himself from RUC tear gas. He is holding a petrol (gasoline) bomb. It represents the ‘Battle of the Bogside’, August 1969.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - a man wears a gas mask

The problems in 1968 and then the riots in 1969 marked the beginning of the Troubles. At this time, the city of Derry became (or was?) more segregated with neighbourhoods almost entirely nationalist or unionist. In some places, residents and paramilitaries built barricades to seal off and protect their neighbourhoods from incursions by “the other side”, the security forces or both. These became known as “no go areas”. By the end of 1971, 29 barricades blocked access to Free Derry, 16 of them impassable even to British Army tanks.

below: Commemorating ‘Operation Motorman’. Also titled, “Summer Invasion”. On 31 July 1972 the British Army with the help of the RUC broke down the barriers that had been built in Derry, Belfast, and other Northern Ireland cities.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Operation Motorman in 1971- a British soldier breaking down a door in Derry

below: In the foreground, “The Runner”, a cautionary tale; civil conflict can be deadly. The boy in blue, running from tear gas, is Patrick Walsh. Below him are portraits of two other boys who died in the Troubles, Manus Deery and Charles Love. Deery was 15 when he died in 1972, hit by fragments of a ricochet bullet fired by a British Army sniper. Love was 16 when he died in 1990, hit by flying debris from an IRA (Irish Republican Army) bomb. The deaths of two boys, unintended victims of both sides in the conflict.
Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - two murals on the sides of two buildings, one is a soldier breaking down a door and the other is people marching in a demonstration but running away from tear gas

below: “The Death of Innocence”. A 14-year-old schoolgirl, Annette McGavigan, was killed in crossfire between the IRA and the British Army on 6 September 1971. She was the 100th victim of the Troubles. The mural was painted in 2000 but was being cleaned up and behind scaffolding when I saw it. According to the plaque beside it, “she stands against the brooding chaos of a bombed-out building, the roof beams forming a crucifix in the top right-hand corner. At the left, a downward-pointing rifle, broken in the middle, stands for the failure of violence, while the butterfly symbolizes resurrection and the hope embodied in the peace process.”

blog_mural_schoolgirl_guns_derry

On 30 January 1972 there was a march to protest the mass arrest of 342 people suspected of being members of the IRA a few months previous, and their subsequent imprisonment without trial. The marchers were unarmed. The British Army opened fire on the people, killing 14 and wounding many others. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Two people were run down by Army vehicles.

below: Father Daly, a priest, holds a white flag as he helps a group of men carry the body of Jackie Duddy. Duddy was the first fatality on Bloody Sunday. This mural was painted in 1997 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - a priest with his head down carries a white flag as people carry an injured man

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972

blog_murals_free_kells_walk

below: In the background is the Peace Mural, a white dove on a multicoloured background.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - man with back to viewer watches a tank. Second mural in the background of a white outline of a peace dove over a chequer board design in many different colours.

There are a number of other murals in the area.

below: Che Guevara did have a small bit of Irish ancestry. One Patrick Lynch left Galway in the mid 1700’s. After a short stay in Spain he ended up in Argentina where he married an Argentinian woman. A number of generations later, Che Guevara, eldest son of Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna y Llosa, was born in Rosario Argentina in 1928. He was the 5 x great grandson of Patrick. The quote in the mural, “In my son’s veins flowed the blood of Irish Rebels” are apparently Che’s father’s words.

blog_mural_che_guevara_lynch

below: South Africa and Ireland, side by side. A portrait of Nelson Mandela. “Many suffer so that some day future generations will live in justice and peace”, a quote from Bobby Sands (also pictured in the mural). Sands was a member of the Provisional IRA and a leader of the 1981 hunger strike in Maze Prison. He was elected as a Member of Parliament but during the strike, but he died along with nine others.

mural with Nelson Mandela

below: “The way we were” and “free Gaza”.

blog_mural_free_derry_gaza

a mural that says bogside, written in celtic text, with a dragon in the center, an older man on the left and a young boy on the right.

a frayed Irish flag flies on top of a post. A sign that says Brits out now IRA is also on the post
More information on the Bogside Artists and the murals that I missed.

Grimsby Street, Shoreditch

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Mary C

Graffiti and street art seen on Grimsby Street in Shoreditch, East London, September 2016. Grimsby Street runs off Brick Lane, immediately north of the overground tracks. It is a short street that ends at Chilton Street. In this blog post I have included the little bit of street art that was on Chilton Street between Grimsby and the next street north (Cheshire).

below: Yo! It’s a red stencil signed by Malot.

below: A stencil of a man’s head on page 272 of an old dictionary, entries between Carinthia and Carlos. Signed by Oddo.

below: A wrdsmith stencil with the now iconic paper in an old typewriter. “Smile. It’s an old school status update.” A paste-up of woman and child, decorated with pink and blue yarn is on the same wall.

below: A 3D bunny rabbit carrying a hand grenade. The piece is signed along the edge of the grenade. Chima–? Tile. Sorry but I haven’t been able to find any more information than that.

below: Amazingly detailed pictures of grasshoppers and one colour bubble tree… that’s the name I gave to these trees as I saw them around Shoreditch this afternoon. I’m not sure what the artist calls them.

below: An MCLN plague doctor character in black coat and top hat.
More examples of his street art pieces on his website.

below: Le Touquet Paris Plage, or Le Touquet for short, is a coastal town in France. It has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians. The same plague doctor character by MCLN appears on two of them.

below: Little 3D animals are stuck to many walls in East London. I think this one is a cat but I’m not sure. He was quite high up on the wall.

below: Two of many of these biplanes that I saw today. These ‘thieve the world’ stencils are by L.A. street artist Megzany who must have visited London lately.

below: On the left is beach scene that only ‘face the strange’ could have created. Men in suits out of context and with their heads replaced with strange things – a striped candy stick, a horse’s head and a yellow bucket, and something red and flattish. In the middle, a woman with a red rose in her hair by artist KIN MX, aka Kathrina Rupit.

below: Red headed woman by C3, an artist whose drawings are often women, and usually red heads.

below: Some potty humour, by matlakas

below: And another…. Just press the button

below: A wise man turns change into good fortune.

below: Or, a wise man once said nothing

below: Stormtrooper buddha by minty beside a small green buddha amongst other things.

below: Three realistic looking bird heads. Birds with feathers in an awesome shade of blue.

below: A pasteup by Voxx beside an abstract sort of drawing with an eye in the middle. The latter pasteup was a fairly common sight in Shoreditch. Voxx is short for Voxx Romana, an artist currently based out of Portland Oregon.

below: Five more paste-ups, all people in one form or another. The woman in the center with the large flower on her hat is by Mr. Fahrenheit. He is responsible for the street art with the slogan “U R so porno baby”; if you’ve read some of the other London blog posts here you’ll have seen his work. If not, the next image includes one of his pieces.

below: U R So Porno Baby with Star Trek characters in funny shades of green and brown. Boom! Spock and Captain Kirk look a little off colour. The RX Skulls beside it are the work of Arrex, another Portland Oregon based artist.

below: This hand is looking at you. Bright blue eye.

below: A little lightning bug? Jake.

below: High on a wall, an upside down elephant with its trunk entwined with a pink elephant, a mural painted by Cerresto.

below: King Elvis.

below: Crouching beside the front door for a smoke and a chat.

below: Street art on the brick fence between Grimsby street and the train tracks.

below: “Protect children: don’t make them breathe your crystal meth.”

below: Two stencils, a little surdude who says that only little people pay taxes and a stencil by SSOSVA. The latter is an acronym for Secret Society of Super Villain Artists.

below: An electrical plug comes alive, signed by Ted Flip.

below: A paste-up by TeneT, a serious looking woman, Emma Goldman, with “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” TeneT is a Melbourne Australia based street artist. Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist and a feminist amongst other things.