Last summer, Chatham Ontario held its first mural festival event, Can Jam, and these are some of the murals that are now on some downtown walls.
below:Meghan Kehoe (aka MCK Studio) and Sarah Steele painted this very large woman behind the Capitol Theatre in downtown Chatham. Most of her hair is a bird’s nest with three shiny pink eggs. A small black and yellow bird stands on the nest.
below: A version of the Tooth Fairy, by Fel3000ft. Winged teeth and butterflies.
below: Rather plump, and very bright – blue, red, and purple birds sitting together on a red branch, by Crz Prz (aka Caesar Perez)
below:Sarah Steele also painted this musician duo.
below: Sunflowers, daisies, and a bee on a purple background in a mural by local artist, Sarah M. Robbins
below: In Melbourne’s CBD, Tattersall and Stevenson alleys are connected. They are also covered with a lot of paint and paper! As I wandered through these lanes I tried to capture some of the more interesting things, both big and small.
below: Spiderman likes taking pictures
below: The Street Art Hunters (aka SAH) are dressed in hot pink!
below: A purple Frankenstein along with his bride, also in purple, hanging out together behind bars. Artwork by Moon of Jupiter Art (aka Ryan Callisto)
below: Now in green. A small Complimentary Nuts paste-up is immediately below this version of Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, “7 out of 10 dentists say that your teeth are awesome. The other three need your cash”.
below: A third poster by Ryan Callisto. This time Frankenstein is just a tattoo on her arm.
below: “You’ve got to love Melbourne!”
below: Fall in love, not in line
below: “Sending you love because wow! what a shithow” and Love is Hell.
below: “What if we kissed in the smouldering ruins of capitalism?”
below: Little beaded diamond shapes like these have appeared all over downtown Melbourne.
below: Every deck of cards needs a Joker
below: Two artworks, paper paste-ups. A woman’s portrait on top and a playing card style image of Jimmy Hendrix, the H of Hearts, below.
below: Prince, in purple, becomes the P of Hearts in this playing card style image.
below: When someone came along with a can or two of spray paint, the little girl with the “Just doubt Fascism” sign survived. The bug on the right is probably not too happy with the situation.
below: A musical bluebird by Lukas Kasper.
below: Is it smiling? or smirking?
below: Two megaphones… and a very determined look on her face
below: It’s always fascinating to see how some bits of graffiti last so much longer than others. Even if they are left untouched, they slowly weather and fade away until almost ghost-like.
below: While we are on the subject of “vintage” graffiti, there are four pieces on this wall by Junky (aka Daniel Lynch) They are looking a little rusty and forlorn. I first encountered ‘recycled’ cans like these when I was in Melbourne in 2016. See post, Junky Recyles
below: Button-eyed face
below: What is a Lost Form?
below: Door covered with posters, street art images
below: Closer view of the posters on the bottom half – SAH, Tweet
below: top half
below: Scrawny alien-like character with big yellow eyes and spikey hair. Is there a pop culture reference for this guy?
Beaney Lane is a small lane in downtown Melbourne. Once it was nondescript, now it has colour. Along one wall there is a large street art painting with a portrait of a blue lady at one end. The words “Inner Dream” are written beside her head. Her hair is covered with a net-like cap; a waterdrop shaped jewel rests between her eyes. She was painted by Mongolian born artist, Heesco.
Australian artist Matt Adnate was also involved in the making of this mural. A pair of green eyes peers out from behind a head covering.
The Mission District in San Francisco is full of street art of all types from messy graffiti to fabulous murals. Back in February I had the opportunity to walk around the area with my camera. This is the first of many posts that should result from my walks.
The first sign that Lilac Street might be an interesting street to wander down is this San Francisco mural on the side of a house.
below: Mother with a child looking over her shoulder
below: Norm on a black garage
below: A portrait in blue.
below: A tribute to Sharon Jacobs (1982-2019).
below: Anti Skateboarding Hero.
below: Higher up, a purple rhino and a yellow bird by chilovia – a pair of South Americans, Pancho Pescador and Pablo (aka Raiz)
below: Contrasts – the empty, graffiti covered old building beside the newer redevelopment. A common urban theme found in most cities as they age and re-new.
below: A wish for peace in Palestine.
below: This street certainly has its scruffy and neglected looking sections. In small doses, streets like this have their charm, especially from a photogenic perspective.
below: Walking past number 133, frowning and grumpy.
below: There is a strong resemblance here to Olaf from “Frozen” – but this guy looks a little more deranged….
below: On the corner of Nelson and Carlisle streets, near Balaclava station in St. Kilda East.
below: Black panther roaring with mouth open wide, fangs and teeth ready….
below: The railway crosses over Carlisle street at the north end of Balaclava station
below: Praying. Painted by Pawtl
below: Two women hanging out with a white rabbit and a white cat, by Deb.
below: Come Alive Melbourne
below: A rainbow lorikeet
below: Owls by the door
below: More owls
below: Continuing the bird theme – a very old and weathered stencil of a pigeon
below: Another oldie, a paste-up of many people. One person in a red and white striped shirt, holding a toddler. A girl with long hair wearing a checkered red and white dress; she’s holding something like a brown box in her hands. Beside her is a girl who is wearing a white top and a blue skirt. Who else can you see?
The next few pictures are a selection of paintings on the upper level of some of the stores on Carlisle.
below: Dana’s Patisserie
below: Many hands
below: Flowers and faces
below: “TAKE” or perhaps “TAK E” above a painting beside the walkway to Balaclava station, southbound trains.
below: On the platform, Balaclava station, “Shake was here”
below: Gradients in blue and orange cover the ground floor level of a new development beside the station – seen from the station platform.
below: Also seen from the platform, street art on the back of a building by the tracks.
below: Raise a steaming cup to the coffee culture that is strong here in Melbourne! Cheers!
below: On one side of the alley is this long mural that comes in two sections – a sleeping woman with an outstretched hand is a collaboration between Vexta and Lisa King.
… and a little bird stands on her forehead.
below: The wall of the other alley is covered by a black and white painting of kangaroos, birds, and other animals… along with some plants. A few red feathers brighten the image. It was painted by Minna Leunig, an Australian artist from Darwin.
below: It’s easy to miss because of its location, but if you go to the end of the lane and look way up, you’ll catch a glimpse of this mural by Cam Scale.
Near the west end of Little Bourke Street are 4 large murals that feature people.
below: First there is this couple whose bed is high above the street – painted by Fintan Magee
below: The old man, pictured above as well as here, was painted by Smug, aka Sam Bates.
below: Next to the old man are two women in blue painted by Rone.
below: Last, is this portrait of a young man looking skyward, by Adnate (whose portrait of a mother and child is featured in a mural seen in Albany Alley that was shown here in a previous post).
A portrait project from 2014 – 10 years on and still looking great
A total of 528 portraits line the side of a walkway under the railway tracks in Lynn.
They are the product of a Raw Art Works project – Young artists took photos of various people in Lynn and then made portraits from those photos. The portraits also include ones that the artists made of themselves.
Raw Artworks – whose mission statement includes the words; “to ignite the desire to create and confidence to succeed”. It’s a program for youth that has been running in Lynn since 1994.
Toronto’s Graffiti Alley is still an interesting place to explore. Unlike some street art locations that have succumbed to the scrawls and tags of the less well-intentioned, good art and ideas can still be found here. At present, adding to the eclectic nature of the graffiti in Graffiti Alley are a few interesting portraits done on half skateboards (or at least on wood in the shape of a skateboard). All are screwed onto wooden utility poles.
below: One on natural wood colour and the other in vibrant red. The sticker says Positive Creations.
below: A man with a mustache
below: Three on the same pole in Graffiti Alley – A red person with shaggy hair and light blue glasses as well someone with very long orange hair.
below: At the bottom, a quizzical look on a pink face.
….. looking for (and finding!) graffiti and interesting bits of street art.
There were a few pieces by artist Blub who has used well known faces of famous figures or images from art history and placed them underwater wearing a diving mask. These are part of his series, “L’Arte Sa Nuotare” (underwater art)
below: Little angel
below: The Madonna. In some versions she is with baby Jesus who has been cut out of this image (as you can see the bubbles floating upward from his mask even though he is not in this picture)
Taken from Gustav Klimt’s, “The Kiss”, the kissing couple are now underwater too.
Another artist with a presence in Bari is LeDieSis and her/their Superwomen series
below: Barbie’s been shopping. She’s winking at you.
below: Pink and purple and another wink. Does she realize that someone is looking over her shoulder?
below: Another winking superwoman. I suspect that the official looking notice has been taped over her Superman symbol.
below: The Virgin Mary is also in Bari, also winking, as she carries her baby daughter
below: Frida Kahlo
below: “Gals are as strong as hell” by unknown artist.
Mopsi, by so schoen immer wieder, can be seen in many European cities including Bari. He (she?) usually has something to say.
below: Equality has no gender. The black scrawl covers the word “no” which can totally change the message if you’re not looking closely.
below: And the other has flowing red hair and colourful wings.
There were also Gu Tang Clan posters on the walls in Bari.
Zooming in to highlight some of the stickers – a blue shark in pink waters, a flaming sandal, and Ind–? Jam?.
And last, a selection of work by “Unknown Artists”
There are two large paste up figures in black and white which may or may not be by the same artist. The top one is Mona Lisa is a man’s suit. She’s been leaning on this wall since at least 2019 so although she’s looking a little rough, she’s doing well for her age.
Eyes on the Streets 