Tag Archives: portrait

Passage Saint Bernard

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Paris street sign, Passage Saint Bernard, on a wall, along with a round no parking sign

below: An intricate drawing of a moth and the possible mechanics of its wing, by ardif

artwork on outdoor wall, intricate painting of a moth in browns and blacks, one sign is very realistic, and the other side shows detailed mechanics, cogs and gears and levers and such

below: Sitting above a window, the cat eyes the bird. Together they make a story. The bird with the goggles is the creation of nevoul_art (La petite Fée du Street Art) while the grinning cat was drawn and painted by liAXrt

two small wheatpaste graffiti on a wall above a window. One is the head of a white cat, the other is a yellow and orange bird

below: Seahorse by Industrie Tarte – hippocampe nageant sur un mur. It’s been divided into sections – bavette, entrecote, collier, filet, faux filet, similar to the way a cow would be divided into cuts by a butcher.

on brown paper, a drawing of a seahorse in upright position, black lines section of parts of the seahorse similar to a butcher's plan

below: And by the same artist, a buffalo. It’s been divided into sections too except this time they are labelled Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, and other American states.

on brown paper, a drawing of a buffalo, small part missing, black lines section of parts of the seahorse similar to a butcher's plan

below: Portrait by NJO972, a k a William Njo,

in grey tones, a portrait of a young boy

below: Monsta Julien’s contribution to the Love planet  (#loveplanet) project by Street Art Rebellion.

below: Nora Simon’s project “Histoires Doubles” involves the merging of two paintings into one.  This is number 79, “Force et détermination, Strength and determination” which is apparently a combination of Gustav Klimt and Edvard Munch (although I am not sure which paintings).

poster on a wall, part of Histoires Doubles project whereby two famous paintings are combined

in a Paris alley, a white backdoor with plant pots beside, a poster on the wall on one side and a small graffiti high on the other side
graffiti on a wall, including a blue arrow that sticks out from the wall

below: Teddy bear face in red

graffiti drawing in red, a teddy bear face

graffiti pieces, Paris

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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

on an outdoor wall, 6 paper pieces of graffiti

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).

below: Invader mosaics and Sorry Mom by Etienne Racine

below: I have no idea who produced the last few – help! Sign your work… or at least drop a hint, leave a clue, but don’t leave with nothing!

portraits on Rue Lambert

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First, there was this small portrait by Morèje, aka Jérôme Gulon. His street art pieces have mosaic frames made from tiny multicoloured tiles. Back in 2015, he made a series of portraits to honour the people who died in the Charlie Hebdo shooting. These can be seen in a blog post from 2016.

small hand drawn portrait of a young man surrounded by a frame made of many small tiles in different colours

The rest of the portraits on Rue Lambert are part of Rue Meurt D’Art, projects by Jean-Marc Paumier including these; the one on the left strongly resembles the man in the above portrait.

two portraits, with text, on a wall on rue Lambert in Paris, one male and one female, both by Jean Marc Paumier

below: “voyer quelle aurore se leve, un souffle et tout est efface” [see what dawn is rising, one breath and everything is erased”]

portrait of a woman, exterior, collage, street art

below: “Le poete est un voleur de feu” [The poet is a thief of fire]

portrait of a young man on a Paris street

below: “Revons c’est l’heure” [Let’s see it again].

portrait of a man with mustache and bushy beard, black ascot tie and blue jacket, street art, with text, rue meurte d'art

below: “Prenons donc notre place sans la mendier ” [let’s take our place without begging]

portrait of a man, exterior, street art,

below: “L’art est le plus beau des mensonges” [Art is the most beautiful of lies]

street art portrait in blue and brown

Translations were done using Google Translate, therefore there may be errors.
Photos taken June 2022.

older women

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This mural, a large photograph, has not weathered all that well. It’s title is “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and the artist is Bifido. On her website, Bifido says this about the artwork: “This work should have been called “selfportrait”, as it express how I’m feeling in this moment in the sight of the world. Working, talking, scoping, breathing Tirana atmosphere, I really realized, for the very first time, how it feels to be a woman caught in the grips of this male chauvinist society, to be a woman physically and mentally oppressed by men. As the work progressed, the sense of it changed revealing, maybe, the real reason that. I come back home, to Italy, more aware of something that makes me feel heartbroken, hoping one day something will change.” Please take a look at her website, especially if you want to see the photo in its original form.

By now you may have guessed that the word older in the title of this post has nothing to do with the age of the woman in the mural but in the condition of the mural itself. The Bifido work above is from either 2018 or 2019. Of the same vintage, is a mural by HazardUK

It’s title is “Motra Tone Revisited” which refers to a famous painting, “Motra Tone” also known as ”The Albanian Monalisa”, that was painted by Kole Idromeno (1860-1939).

below: This is a picture of that famous painting (found online, credit: public domain, wikipedia). She hangs in the National Art Gallery in Tirana.

behind Central Ave

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St. Petersburg is home to a growing number of murals. There are maps online that help you find the murals but if you walk along Central Avenue and explore the streets and alleys close by, you will encounter most of them.

below: There’s a short alley behind the north side of Central Ave that is home to quite a few street art pieces. This is the view westward from 6th St. North (toward 7th St N)

street art and murals painted on walls and buildings in an alley

below: This is the mural at the east end of the alley.  This portrait among the fishes and mermaids was painted by Derek Donnelly

mural of a man with black rimmed glasses painting on the wall, marine scene

part of a mural, a mermaid with long pink hair and a pink fin

part of a mural with fish

below: Colourful mural by kosharekart

a mural by kosharekart

below: Some paper pasteups that have seen better days
paper pasteups, partially peeling

paper paste ups on a wall in a lane

below: Circle patterns in a mural by Megan Kelly

below: Frida Kahlo

a small mural on the side of a garage, portrait of Frida Kahlocar parked in front of a mural

below: Another painting by kosharekart

female figures with very decorated clothing, painted in a mural

close up of a mural showing a woman in a sail boat, with a large bird and its beak beside

below: Another Derek Donnelly fish.  The lower portions were once a brighter orange but it`s faded over time (painted in 2014).

a car is parked in front of a mural of a very large fish painted by Derek Donnelly

mural in an alley by kosharekart

below: Boat on the water

mural in a lane, a woman stands beside a boat on very wavy water

below: Hearts, a bird, and a snail

mural in an alley of a female figure dressed in a red heart covered dress. There is a large snail on her lap

below: Someone seems to disapprove of Mr. Cactus.

a small sticker of a cactus with a face, stuck on a mural beside a face

below: `Twiggy`by Brad Mize is at the rear of 648 Central Ave.

very large face on white background, mural in an alley

pale purple background, cursive writing of the words life is magical
“Life is Magical When You Look” with a black cat sitting on the moon nose to nose with a dragonfly in a mural by Christy Faris

mural of a black cat sitting on the curve of a new moon, also a dragonfly by the cat

below: Brad Mizes ‘Mr. Sunshine’ is now partially behind a fence.  The sun is a copy of a 1940s design used to promote the city of St. Petersburg.

bright yellow sun on sky blue background, mural, sunshine mural

below: Fish in a birdcage

small sticker on a post, white background, black drawing of a fish in a birdcage

mural around a door that makes it look like it's in India, some white lotus flowers painted beside the door

below: Adios! Let it go

black mural with hands and the word adios in cursive

below: Treat yo self, woof woof, by aurailieus

mural of a black pug dog on blue background

below: Mural for Caskey, a musician, or more specifically, for his song “Thank God I Made it” which was released about the same time that the mural was painted (May 2021).  Artist: skycaptain

skycaptain mural ode to musician caskey

below: Shark mural by Shark Toof, a 2015 SHINE mural, on the east wall of the State Theater building.; It too is a little bit faded.

mural of a grey shark on an orange red wall
a car parked in front of a mural that is the same orangish red that the background of the mural is, a large shark with mouth open and many teeth

below: This the Hindu Goddess, Saraswati, who symbolizing knowledge, learning and wisdom was well as, music, art, and speech. She was painted by Palehorse Design. Follow the link to learn more about the mural.

large 50 foot by 30 foot mural by Palehorse Design of the Hindu goddess saraswati playing a musical instrument called a veena. She has four arms to represent the four elements of inner life, mind, intellect, ego, and consciousness.

below: “Space Rainbows” by Ricky Watts

view from behind trees in a parking lot, large mural called Space Rainbows covers the side of a building

Space Rainbows mural from the side

Many of these murals are the product of SHINE Mural Festivals. Follow the link for more information about these festivals.

All photos were taken in mid-April, 2022

faces on Nemr Al-Edwan street

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There are several faces on two murals on different walls, one older and one newer.  First is a series of faces starting with this singing woman in a turban.

a woman in a colourful striped turban, singing with her eyes closed, mural pn a concrete wall, with green tree behind

below: Several of the face were painted by Batool Edris

realistic painting of a woman's face in colur, short hair, light brown eyes, lips are slightly crooked, on a concrete wall, by Batool Edris

below: He has the whole city in his head – or overflowing from his head! (another  two portraits by Batool Edris)

Black and white, grey tones, painting of a man's face in partial profile, on a wall. Can see the city beyond over the top of his forehead

below: Speaking in Arabic

black and white mural of two faces, one at each end, with arabic letters between them

below: On the right is Edris’s portrait of Salvador Dali.  On the other side of the orange gate is a cactus-headed person

an orange metal gate in between two murals, on the left is face with a cactus instead of hair, and on the other side is a back and white picture of Salvator Dali

The second mural is “Unity in Diversity” painted late in 2018 by @mahahindi_,  Afnan Barqawi, and the Orenda Tribe (with support from the US Embassy).

mural of a line of large faces of different ethnic backgrounds, and colours,

mural of large faces by the Orenda Tribe

mural of large faces of different colours,

three large facecs in a mural, one with orange sunglasses and purple hair, one Asian looking with large black glasses

Allentown (Buffalo) street art

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The Allentown area of Buffalo is now home to some interesting murals.   If you walk around the neighbourhood of Allen Street and College Street, this is what you might see:

below: ‘Voyage’ by Chuck Tingley, 2014.  Commissioned by MyBuffaloPride and Loop Magazine and dedicated to Buffalo’s LGBT community and its allies.  “In a world of scrutiny, we have the power to embrace our differences and use our inner light to guide us through the darkest of times.”

a mural called Voyage painted by Chuck Tingley on the side of a building in Buffalo, a large multicoloured boy is sitting in a small boat and holding on to a yellow paddle. The sky is rainbow colours.

below: The corner of Allen Street and Wadsworth Street.

intersection in Buffalo with old two storey square front storefronts. wet road, rainy day, liquor store on the corner that is now empty but the sign only half works - only half the letters in the word liquor are lit.

below: Nietzsche (German composer and philosopher) with the quote “Without music life would be a mistake”.  When I googled to make sure that that was an actual quote, I found a quote from a letter that he wrote in 1888:  “Music … frees me from myself, it sobers me up from myself, as though I survey the scene from a great distance … It is very strange. It is as though I had bathed in some natural element. Life without music is simply an error, exhausting, an exile.”  The picture is on the side of a Nietzsche Bar.

street art picture of Nietzsche head and shoulders in black and white along with a quote that says Without music life would be a mistake.

below: It’s About Time, with three red fists on the upper part of the Allen Street Hardware Cafe.  One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can.  The third fist is in the background and is holding either tools or paint brushes or markers?  Painted by the Allen Street Street Art Collective (ASSA).

a brick two storey store with a mural on the upper part in red, yellow and black, with the words It's about time. The picture in the mural is three red fists. One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can. Another mural is in the background, a car parked on the wet street, a pedestrian on the sidewalk

below: ‘Tribute to Spain Rodriguez’ by Ian DeBeer.  Rodriguez was a comic artist who was born in Buffalo and the piece is largely about a fight that he got into in the bar across the street (once the Jamestown, now the Nietzsche).

long horizontal mural drawn like a comic book strip, dedicated to the memory of Spain Rodriguez and painted by Ian DeBeers in 2013, a large woman's face with bright red lips, the word 'she; painted in red, a motorcylce, a man wearing a hat,

a motorcycle, part of a larger mural

below: When this mural was first completed, the grey parts were black.  The large picture of the man that stands between the windows on the left and those in the middle, was quite distinct.  Now, you might have missed him when you first looked at the picture.

the front of a building is covered with black and white poster sized pictures of people.

below: The pink stripes in the background of the finger-like portions of this mural have also faded considerably since the mural was painted in 2013.   “The work we do is not for the faint of heart”.

a mural on the side of a building. On the left is a purple and black drawing of what looks like fingers. on the right are yellow and turquoise stripes with the words, the work we do is not for the faint of heart

blog_the_work_mural_closer

below: The last ASSA mural features an iron fireman. It’s a long horizontal mural with the words Iron and Fireman written in large letters over shapes that resemble flames.

word Iron written in large letters, part of a mural

below: Between the two words is a painting of a black ‘iron fireman’, a robot-like creature shovelling coal to feed the fire.   This was the logo for the Iron Fireman, a coal stoker first developed in the 1920’s by Thomas Harry Banfield and Cyrus Jury Parker.  A coal stoker mechanically feeds coal into a furnace or boiler – the Iron Fireman was a commercial success in the days when coal was a commonly used fuel.

picture of a black robot figure shovelling coal

word fireman written on large letters in a mural, brick buildings (apartments) behind, cars parked in front.

below: One of the other interesting things about Buffalo is how the architecture is different here, or at least different from what I am used to in Toronto.  The building with the green details on the front is the Puritan Building, built in 1893.  It has recently been renovated with the Billy Club restaurant on the ground level and three storeys of apartments above.   And yes, that is a purple house on the right.  Many of the houses in the area are painted in bright and cheerful colours.

 

mural in the middle gound, two low rise buildings in the background, one is the Puritan building with green details around the windows in the front of the building.

below: She’s almost disappeared.

very faded street art piece of crouched young girl with a pony tail - although it is faded enough that I might be wrong.

below: But he’s as vibrant as ever.

a painting of a man has been mounted in an arched window, covers the window.

a red brick building, side of a store, bottom part has been painted orange, probably to paint over graffiti, but has since been tagged twice, once in black and once in red, a parking lot is in front of the wall, with a small snowbank at the edge.

a door is covered with graffiti stickers.