A large blue portrait of a woman, painted by Leticia Mandragora in 2020, dominates the center square in the small Italian town of Stornara.
Over the past few years, the organization Stornara Life, has been responsible for bringing artists to the town to paint murals. There are now more than 100 of them. Mandragora’s blue portraits are now on three of the walls in this town including this young girl on the side of a residential building. It was painted in 2023 as part of the annual Stramurales festival.
“Reginae Mater Natura” from August 2021
He is San Rocco, a 14th century pilgrim who was known for his ability to cure those with the plague…before he himself died of it
below: On the left is a little Nuno Costah character with a bird on its hand and the world on its back, all showing más love. Beside it is a portrait of Domenico Modugno by bio dpi (aka Fabio della Ratta). Domenico Modugno (1928-1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, then, a member of the Italian Parliament.
below: On the south side of the city is this old wall.
below: Two old reddish faces
below: A crab with its insides exposed takes on a squid
below: A boy and his cat.
below: A little black Qwerty figure partially obscured by a scowling blue man from Beijing Tattoo China.
below: Ti apprezzo – I cherish you.
below: Tiny coloured drawing of a young woman with three flowers, along with what looks like another woman in profile drawn with parallel black lines. Also, at the bottom, an AU OSCE sticker
below: And last, a little yellow feathery bird with skinny legs and a cap with a W.
There are a number of lanes and passageways that connect the canals/roads Singel and Herengracht in central Amsterdam. One of the narrowest of them is Treeftsteeg.
below: Entrance to the alley, from Herengracht.
Various messages and symbols of peace – “I Love Kherson”, a girl waving a large Ukranian flag, “Love no War” (Love not war?), a white dove with wings of blue and gold, “Love makes a house a home”. In addition (under the word Kherson) there is a portrait of George Yurri Shevelov (1908-2002). His CV is long but in general he is most known for his research proving that the Ukrainian language has a separate history from Russian.
below: The portrait of the man in the top left corner is of Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), a famous Ukrainian poet. Moving right, the woman at the top with the orange background is the former Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix. Third from the left is Ukrainian writer and feminist Lesya Ukrainka whose work spanned the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the right side there is an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy although it is not the clearest picture.
below: Commemorating the sinking of the Moskva, a Russian ship in the Black Sea near the beginning of the war.
below: arrow showing the way to Kharkiv
below: caricatures
below: The narrowness of Treeftsteeg. Along with the pro-Ukraine messages, there are a few black and white portraits.
below: These portraits are part of “A Paper Monument to the Paperless” is an ongoing project headed by Dutch artist Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries.
Rue Oberkampf is in the 11th arrondissement in Paris.
below: Tall pink mural by Francis Essoua, (aka Enfant Précoce)
below: A mix of little scenes, thunder and lightning, twins in red, pictures in a gallery,
below: Horse, by BONOM aka Vincent Glowinski
below: There were two little quick sketch portraits in red and yellow, possibly by LUIS?
below: A squashed spray paint can, a NEXT (nextmosaic) pedestrian crossing mosaic, and an orange and purple skull.
below: More little things, mostly paper this time – white dove of peace on the mailbox and two larger pieces beside, both by Corine Forest
below: These stencils were on a building at the corner of rue Oberkampf and rue Camille Crespin du Gast in the 11th.
below: A Kraken (aka Lou Daho) octopus, swims past as an orange cat or tiger jumps down.
below: “Telemaqueland” by Hervé Télémaque, was painted in 2000 along with eleven other large murals in Paris as part of a project “the walls of the year 2000” (les murs de l’an 2000).
below: Like many Paris streets, there is an Invader mosaic high up on a wall.
Breaking Walls was an Urban Arts and Culture event in Montreal that was held back in June of this year. It was supported by Kolors Worldwide (“Let’s kolor the world”) and MOS Canada – Meeting of Styles Canada. The event was held in a space between rue Moreau and the railway tracks, close to rue Rouen, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. In hindsight, I realize that I missed a couple of the murals the day that I was there. Additionally, a couple of the smaller pieces that I have included may be graffiti that pre-dates the Breaking Walls event.
below: I am going to call it a blue traffic circle because it’s blue and it has traffic related items in it such as an orange cone, the front of a car, street signs, and traffic lights yellow. It was painted by Sergio MB. Unfortunately, the red and white tag has already defaced the work.
To the left of this purple dog (by Hank) was a painting of a woman’s portrait in turquoise that unfortunately has already been tagged over. It was painted by Polographe and can be seen on his Instagram page.
below: Arlick Enigma ( Arlick PaXman Team), originally from Mexico, painted this wonderful portrait of a child wearing a parka with a fur lined hood.
There are many little collections like this one all over Paris. Let’s take a closer look at what’s here…..
below: Chic! with fabulous earrings and a heart shaped mouth, a woman by StoEYES, along with a pile of yellow rubber duckies from canards_vagabonds (aka Sylvie Gennerat) and a babydolls life,
below: A flowa, a single flowa in a little flowa pot.
below: She’s got green eyes, blue hair, and a smile on her face – by Nevoul Art (La petite Fée du Street Art) On the right was a little painting by G❤️ArT but unfortunately it’s been blacked out.
below: A complex drawing in black and white by Juliette Savaëte aka Dessin nomade below what appears to be a man’s body with a cat’s head. But it’s damaged so it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on.
below: More black lines and another portrait by Juliette Savaëte this time his name is Raoul.
I found myself stuck for a few minutes without an umbrella when the rain started. Luckily there was space under the arch at the entrance to Passage de la Bonne Graine
below: A little portrait by Sohan Street above a torn and defaced group photo of four men. The latter is signed in the bottom corner as Docteur something but because the paper is ripped, the rest of the name is lost.
Three Chimneys is an urban park that is built on the site of an old power plant. In Catalan it’s Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies while in Spanish it is known as Jardines de las Tres Chimeneas. It is one of a few legal places for street art in Barcelona.
below: Long horizontal mural by a group of artists, Noble, Turkesa, KTHR, and Wios painted as part of a Mural Jam in October 2022.
below: Monkey see, monkey do. “Buy bitcoin” says the Banksy monkey, pasted over the topless green woman whose portrait was signed in pink by Santiago [illegible surname].
below: purple duck
below: True love is pierced, tattooed, and stitched up.
below: “Relax, you’re on a floating rock”
below: Braiding green hair with snaps, crackles, and pops. Signed, dextre polo
below: Three chimneys refers to the three brick towers, or smokestacks, from an old coal burning power plant, the first one built in Spain. The first chimney was built in 1881 (or 1896 depending on the info source) by the Barcelona Traction Power and Light Company; the other two followed in 1908 and 1912. It became known as La Canadenca (in Catalan) because in 1911 one of its major shareholders became the Canadian Bank of Commerce. Each tower is 236 feet tall (72m) and up to 13 feet (4m) in diameter. Most of the facility was demolished in 1987.
below: Slaps on a metal pole.
below: poster high on a wall, #universalhumanity series of wheatpaste and collage
Some of the large pieces of equipment from the power plant were left scattered around the park to look like sculptures, adding interest and historical perspective to the public space.
below: Equitat is written across her chest in a painting by Vale Wilson and Popi. This is a very recent creation and was one of the murals painted for Womart Jam, and event that featured 10 female artists. It was held on International Womens Day.
Marvellously layered. Contributed to by many. Evolving over time.
below: “Please point the camera toward me” and a Salvador Dali portrait by Pat Brazil. In the middle, a large black and white object that resembles a bomb, a needlepoint bomb.
below: With hope in her eyes, by RAF Urban whose work reflects the idea that diversity is hope. Orange paint has partially hidden the bottle of pills (was there a label?) as well as the woman’s face and hands (what is she holding?).
below: Kandin ski. There are quite a few of these pictures around Barcelona – a whole series featuring different well known people. This Kandin-ski was the only one on this door. I haven’t been able to find out who the artist is – clues may lie in the top line of ‘text’ in the upper left corner but I can not figure out what it says.
below: Some wheatpaste in various conditions including a very torn and peeling Ironmould black and white drawing and a red capped Amar Garpa. Unsigned, and therefore unknown monkey, dog, little kid, and man with red beard and glasses.
below: The square in the top right corner reads, “The purpose of this festival is to use art as the attraction of the Qr code, generally used in transactions involving money, purchasing, and capitalism.” (last word in red). Then it is repeated in Spanish (where it might make more sense). “…. es utilizar el arte como atractivo del codico QR, en general utilizado en transacciones implicando dinero, compras, y el captilalism’.
Eyes on the Streets 