walking along the Seine

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Mary C

Graffiti and street art seen while walking along the Seine in Paris.

below: Woof woof! Yes Paris!

below: Multi-coloured by Tremos, Peruvian artist living in France

below: At Voie sur Berge (Passerelle Léopold Sedar Senghor), in the 7ème, is this long mural by Michael Beerens titled “Plastique” – it is a comment on the state of our oceans.

large mural in blues on a wall beside the River Seine

The title is French but the word in the mural is English, “plastic”.

part of Plastique, a long blue mural by Michael Beerens along the banks of the river Seine

below: Honey bear by fnnch. There are quite a few of these around Paris and I blogged about them in June of 2022, Honey Bears.

Swallows in flight; swallows with little white halos.

graffiti, painting of a swallow (bird) in flight, with a small white halo over its head

graffiti, painting of a swallow (bird) in flight, with a small white halo over its head. also words that say forever child and joja

below: A “My dog sighs” sticker beside a portrait of a woman with very orange hair.

stickers and pasteups on a metal box, outside, including a painting of a woman in turquoise dress with orange hair

below: A small black and white cat by Copycat, an “anonymeows streetartist” who has painted hundreds of cats.

below: Another Copycat cat…

below: ….. and yet another, on a multi coloured background

below: Another Copycat cat… this time it has a companion, another orange headed woman. She is surrounded by an intricate design and is the work of OJA.

two paste ups, paper, on metal boxes outside. One is a loose-skinned hairless cat by copycat and the other is a woman, surrounded by intricate detailed border by o j a

below: Two faded OJA pieces

below: Re-using many, many can lids – beer cans, pop cans, drink cans.

3 d art, large plywood board with circle made of pop can tops which are circular

below: Are three heads better than one?

below: A sassy blue monkey with a pink heart bum.

below: Mr. Djoul is an artist who creates mosaics, especially of this little green-eyed alien creature

below: Invader mosaic? And in the lower left corner, bright red hair and words that say “My weariness in longing”

below: From the description beside the photo: “Ho–[torn] made a famous photograph of a dying soldier which became anti war icon since 1930s. Later it was proven to be a staged image on which nobody really died… From Russian diaries of Krapiva Netleva” [krapiva is the Russian word for nettle]

faded large black and white photo mounted on an outside wall

below: Four photographs on a wall

4 small colour photos, framed, on a wall

below: On a post overlooking the river.

two stickers on a pole, river seine behind, buildings on the far side of the river in the background

below: This guy gets around! Nourf, by Pimax

below: More slaps and stickers. A Mohawk-type hair style with A2, Natreel (a clothing brand), Tom Azria (faded), and Venus in a witch’s hat.

below: Abstract shapes and colours. Trying to look 3-dimensional.

Photos taken March 2023

paper and old paint in Polignano a Mare

Posted on February 25, 2024 by Mary C

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.

Trastevere slaps – another wall

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Mary C

below: A street in the Trastevere neighbourhood in Rome.

below: A collection of paste-ups (or wheatpastes) from a number of artists.

an exterior wall on a street in trastevere section of rome with many pasteup graffiti pieces on it, in Roma, arte urbano

below: The large simplified guy has Frafimi written on his tummy while the blue hand says “Smile please” as it seems to reach for a skunk. Draw is on the run, The Chosen Few Worldwide show a fist and Horus, at the far right, has weird eyes.

graffiti on a wall in Rome by Farfimi and the Chosen Few

below: A pink thing by Tzing

below: T.A.C.I.M. Collective‘s black and white portrait of a woman with long hair beside a funny looking Jack’o’lantern (i.e. a pumpkin with a face carved into it).

below: Blackheart boy of The Chosen Few with another black and white woman’s portrait. She partially covers that strange image of the two men. ”Liebe” is on the screen at TV Clan. Liebe is love.

graffiti on a rome wall, by tv clan and black heart boy of the chosen few

below: Urban ninja squadron from Toronto makes an appearance. There is also a circular drawing by Streetartee of a women’s leg emerging from a swirl of hair – being reborn. The I ‘heart’ mare is also one of hers. On the top left, with big lips and finny feet is Fishes Invasion (aka Merioone). This little fish gets around; I have seen his image in so many places!

urban ninja squadron t bonez paste up along with some other graffiti on a trastevere wall

below: A combination of streetartee (aka 11tee, or Tracey) and Alessandro Spun (aka spun29) and a large black and white Marilyn Monroe. This is one of those pieces that I struggle with but the fact that streetartee is female seems to make it easier for me to accept it. ”Vivi di gusto” is live with taste while “vivi disgusto” is experience disgust. An interesting play on words.

black and white Marilyn Monroe with other pieces of graffiti and the text vivi di gusto

below: No Limits

black and white graffiti of Marilyn Monroe, a man's head, and many hands

below: Another wall, another collection.

a wall with graffiti paper paste ups on it

below: Two faces with a heart in the middle. The face on the left is an example of pareidolia since the ripped paper forms two eyes, a forehead, and a mouth – our brains see those shapes and interprets it as a face. The other pieces are more paste-ups by streetartee.

paste ups by streetartee on a wall in rome

below: It’s not a very good photo, but this little image of a woman lying on a cauliflower that has been cut in two is another Spun29 piece. The words, “pelle morta di ventisette anni” translate to “dead skin of twenty-seven years”. And I will leave you with that profound thought…..

Photos taken December 2019

If you are interested, there is a previous blog post from a couple of years ago with more Trastevere slaps

Ostiense bridge – another section

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Mary C

My last post, Under an Ostiense railway bridge, showed some of the graffiti and street art that I saw there a few years ago. This post includes more photos of the artwork (and scribbles) that were seen. There was a lot! Even this is only a small portion of the total.

below: Piramide

poster graffiti under a bridge, text says piramide

below: Project Qwerty’s alien in a cage

graffiti under a bridge, qwerty, blue alien-like figure with red high heels sitting in a birdcage

below: Disgusto is the name/word on this.

graffiti posters under a bridge, signed disgusto,

below: Leonardo Crudi 900 poster on the bottom and BVKA on the right .

graffiti under a bridge

below: Foto star Ostiense photo of a woman between a large yellow mushroomy fungus type guy and BVKA who puts the same black head on most of his work.

below: Closer look at Leonardo Crudi 900,

below: The angel resting her head on a trash bin, Cancelletto (aka Rizio Ticenco)

graffiti under a bridge

graffiti on a concrete wall under a bridge

below: He says “Smile!” but the croc is not interested.

below: Icarus on the bottom and a greenish crocodile face on the left. I am not sure what the woman is doing or thinking but that looks like a very long cigarette in her hand.

below: Factory mart and abstract art.

below: Plant a tree; Plant a life.

with a green crocodile in the middle

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Mary C

A collection of slaps, pasteups and stickers, on a wall in Montmartre, with a large green crocodile (or alligator?) head in the middle. Maybe it’s Krok.

below: A Gameboy … The 9 of clubs says that it’s all smoke and fucking mirrors by Broken Hartist … the climate change slogan that crops up all over theplace “There is no Planet B”.

below: The Postman has done many pieces with artists and celebrities on spray paint cans similar to this one featuring Jim Morrison. He died in 1971 but his fame lives on.

below: Little Miss Tickles? or Sunshine? or something similar, along with Tropa do Carallo which turns out to be the name of a band.

below: Batman and Robin in an amorous pose on a sticker by Brazilain artist Eraquario, a portrait of Diana Ross by Narotones, and a big green teddy bear by Keja Creation.

below: Half hidden behind a bandana. painted on the page of a book where the last lines are, “J’entends le feu parler en raint de tiedeur. J’entends un homme dire qu”il n’a pas souffert” (translation: “I hear the fire speak in warmth, I hear a man say that he did not suffer”). It is a poem, ‘Dit de la Force et de l’Amour’ by Paul Eluard.

below: Nat at Art portrait with purple lips.

Photos taken March 2023

More Montmartre graffiti can be found at “five little posters on a wall”

Senor Schnu hangs out in Aachen

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Mary C

Meet Senor Schnu – you’ll know him by his black mustache, his brown stick body, and the bite out of his head. This half eaten popsicle is the creation of Philip Wallisfurth. He has his own Instagram page.

painting of a large senor schnu character, red popsicle on brown stick, with bite taken out of its head, large black curly mustache, smiling face

below: Spreading Schnumunism like Chinese propaganda

sticker, senor schnu

below: A large paper paste-up of a rainbow flavored Senor Schnu hovers above the owl.

below: A kiss for the big guy
yellow senor schnu being kissed by a comic character, male, in the snow

below: Snowy, Tintin’s little white wire fox terrior, is carrying this Senor Schnu in its mouth – running off to have adventures?

two small stickers on a metal pole. On the top, a black bird on purple background, on bottom, Snowy the dog has Senor schnu in its mouth

below: Senor Schnu, a wanted criminal in a Dick Tracey cartoon.

three black and white stickers on a pole.

The German word for mustache is schnurbartt
Photos taken October 2023

In the alley after dark

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Mary C

A walk down Graffiti Alley on a rainy night.

below: Unfortunately, one of Uber5000’s large Toronto/Canada themed murals has been defaced (the one on the north side of the alley).

below: Doug Ford running away with the money, stencil graffiti by D. Terra. Our Premier seems rather happy with his haul. Accurate?

below: A dope piece that bears some resemblance to Homer Simpson.

below: A yellow one-eyed daisy standing tall.

below: This portrait has hair!

below: For some reason, a section of one of the side lanes (McDougall Lane? or Rush Lane?) was lit by a red light. Here there was a collection of pasteups and stickers including one with an abundance of flowers in her hair, a skater figure by drecks. She is joined by a bare breasted woman with even more flowers on her head as well as a Snoopy look alike and a cat on the telly.

below: On the same wall as the above – Tweetie bird, from Australia, along with some friends. Because of the red light, this photo is very low contrast and difficult to see. Best to see this wall in the daytime! Second best, would be to check out the instagram page of tweet_streetart

below: Another selection of slaps, mostly birds this time.

below: A little raccoon

below: Mortus figure – his hands are almost big enough to hold all those skulls.

below: On the pavement

below: FP Monkey (aka Julia H), Skamoney, Monster Fan Club, and PP Spray

below: Poser bunny

below: Making a rap music video

below: The east end of Graffiti Alley, the part closest to Spadina, was very dark.

below: As it turns out, the buildings at this end (north side) are now behind a metal construction fence. Darkness equals empty I suspect.

below: Yes they matter but was there no where else to paint this? There’s so much junk in the alley that no one would miss.

below: I am going to end this post with a bit of a rant. Yes, to some extent the art in this alley has come somewhat commercialized especially with the newer buildings on Richmond that back onto the alley. Uber5000 has benefited from some of this as he has painted a few large (and very good) murals here. Also, I understand that street art by its nature is prone to “disappearing” behind the work of others but I reject the notion that one person’s tag is as good as another person’s mural. Anyone can destroy. Anyone can paint their “name” but if you are proud of writing it over someone else’s more talented work then you haven’t progressed beyond the preschooler phase of life.

Photos taken October 2023

This post also appears in mcfcrandall.blog

little men on paper

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Mary C

In a few places around New York City there are stickers and paste-ups featuring stikman in his various forms.

stickers and graffiti on a red metal box on a sidewalk, including a multi coloured stickman in oinkm bklue, green, and brown and a round sticker with blue square on black and a reddish stikman like shape, also a small square sticker with a face on it, also a sticker in red and white with word yerrrrr

This little piece has a combination of the more traditional flat stikman in blue and yellow, along with a more three dimensional version.

sticker with a 3 D stikman walking on a yellow and blue sphere with stikman shapes on it

A three mannequin salute using photos of posed little wood mannequins

photo of group of three little wood mannequins posed in a salute, looking down from above

And last, a little mannequin down on one knee and with feathery white angel wings.

graffiti featuring little wood mannequin on one knee, with white feathered angel wings

Catchoo and friends

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Mary C

A group of stickers seen on a pole on Queen Street East recently

has an image from Catchoo combined with a perplexed Sailor dude from Ty Pro in the top place – what a cute balloon! At the bottom are three heads that you might recognize from previous posts. In pink is T-bonez from urban ninja squadron and the chosen few; on the right is a luchadore mask from bruho.

Here catchoo collaborates with c_priority (a k a Christopher Piccinich ) Even within the blacks of his suit there are little catchoo symbols and characters. I was hoping that there were secret messages written on the pieces of paper on the desk but there are just squiggly lines.

Last, feelings boi joins the fun. Is it a sword? or an umbrella? Whatever it is, there are smiles all round.

Photos taken Sept 2023

This blog post also appears in As I Walk Toronto

bits of paper in Graffiti Alley

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Mary C

Another visit to Graffiti Alley to see what’s changed…..

below: Collage on the back of a sign with contributions by many.

below: An orange dragon graces a utility pole.

below: Sentient Cookie with “The words you’ve said to me a decade ago still echo in my brain”.

below: Another section of wall covered with the remains of stickers and slaps.

below: Truth, It’s that simple. Consume daily. “Free through an earnest volition. Side effects include decreased stress and increased mental clarity…. ” Dorian’s House.

below: Who do you love? Apparently someone loves his/her girlfriend while someone else loves, and misses, Stephanie Ann.

below: More ink additions, this time on a bird. Someone has written, “no phone no wife” – either he thinks that without a phone he can’t find/attract a wife (no tindr?) or he has neither a phone nor a wife (lucky man?). Interpret as you want. Also, there is Kone x Roc on his wing as well as Sari D. declaring her love forever.