one wall of many

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Mary C

There are many little collections like this one all over Paris. Let’s take a closer look at what’s here…..

wall with a collection of graffiti wheatpasted onto to it, small paper graffiti

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.

small graffiti, black line drawing on white of a flower in a flower pot being watched over by a small robot

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.

two paper graffiti pieces

below: More black lines and another portrait by Juliette Savaëte this time his name is Raoul.

…. and another Raoul. Raoul L’Homme Tranquille

below: A bright little threesome by Mark Temlett

below: And last, La Marinade stars and bright pink flowers beside black dots on orange.

South Avenue scenes

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Mary C

Murals and graffiti seen along South Ave in Rochester.

South Avenue in Rochester New York, older brick buildings

below: Conor Harrington Untitled (Fight Club Series)

black and white mural by Conor Harrington of two men fighting, a bit of red blood

below: Floating in a pink sky over a sea of imaginary snakes and fish

mural of a person reclining in a cloud in a pink sky hovering over a sea of snakes and fishes

below: “You’re a Shining Star no matter who you are”. A jar full of shiny positivity by local artist Shawn Dunwoody.

street art mural, on yellow brick wall, a large mason jar with words shining star on it, text on mural says you're a shining star no matter who you are

below: A group of flowers with faces as their centers.

mural on wall, flowers with many petals and each flower has a face in the center

below: Maladjusted Mike is stuck on a pole. Apparently he’s from Seriously Disgusting Comics.

below: No room for Fascism

below: A pink Neptune-like sea creature ruling over his underwater worlds, by Bile, 2013

below: Part of Nova’s shapes and colours.

below: “LIFE in abundance comes only through great LOVE”

below: Whirls and swirls of colour in an abstract painting by Mike Ming, 2013

below: A fox and bunny by Mr. PVRT aka Justin Suarez

below: Adam Francey’s fantastic detailed mural with birds and faces and a couple of words – seek, understand.

below: “Big brother is watching you and he’s bored”.

below: Avocado face, by Stefan Fella

below: Walking white teddy bear

below: The old and the new – root beer and birds.

below: A large egret? (or shorebird of one kind or another) and frog. Do egrets eat frogs?

on the side of a store, a large mural of a stork and a green frog

sculptures on te sidewalk on south ave in rochester

Photos taken May 2023

three chimneys in Barcelona

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Mary C

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.

urban park in Barcelona, tall buildings in the background along with leafless trees (early spring), concrete space with large murals on one side, people sitting on benches in front of murals

below: A portrait painted by Pincel aka Felipe Pincel Echeverria

mural of a brown woman's portrait with long flowing black hair and black eyes, orange marks on face

below: Faces by Dake25 in bluish greys. They don’t look very happy, do they? Mirror images or two halves of the same face?

below: Iridescent oranges, blues, and purples make this snail glow.

below: Scandalist by Super Cool Syzman

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

mural of a woman with long green hair that someone is in the process of braiding

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.

mural at three chimneys garden of a woman with long hair and the word equitat written on her clothing across her chest.

a large box shaped structure in a park with murals on both of the sides that can be seen in the picture. One is a young black woman with two small pigtails and the other is an older woman with long grey hair who is looking downward

below: Gablo, butts and ashes on the table? by 45000ft (aka Ander)

two people walking through an urban park, on a concrete path, walls of street art around them, residential buildings of Barcelona in the background

Photos taken early March 2023

street art mural of creature with white face and purple and red hair, with text that says the last one

Barcelona red door

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Mary C

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’.

Photos taken March 2023

by Canal St. Martin

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Mary C

below: Green leaves growing everywhere in a piece by Mowcka

below: Another Mowcka piece with more green leaves. Long flowing hair and a cat mask add to the woman’s character.

paper wheatpaste drawing by mowcka of a woman holding a smaller woman wrapped in two green leaves

below: Bald Eagle carrying a box with its fragile contents, by The End. (the end of animals)

graffiti on a concrete pillar including one by The End of a bald eagle carrying a package, tied with a rope, in its beak

below: A concrete pillar with a number of tags, slaps, and other graffiti.

below: Up high on a pillar, a black and blue box above a bird and a mosaic Super Mario character smashing something to smithereens. As an aside, that’s probably a camera up in the very corner keeping an eye on me as I click away.

below: Love in triplicate and something about Alice and La France.

below: Sugarlandia is Calling. It seems to be full of monkeys swinging from vines and parrots sitting amongst big leaves.

below: Doing the splits… or running in a very strange way. But when you’re green and have horns maybe no one questions what you do.

old building beside a canal, St Martin canal in Paris, now covered with graffiti

Photos taken March 2023

a visit to Freeman Alley

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Mary C

Freeman Alleyis a private lane that runs parallel to the Bowery close to Sara Roosevelt Park and Bowery subway station. It has become a destination for graffiti both for those who make it and for those who want to look at it. Stencils, wheatpaste, and stickers are the most common and there is lots of it! There is probably more than one blog post’s worth so this is just the start.

below: No loitering in the alley. About to munched on – this one-eyed pink and purple banana by eye.sticker is i danger of losing part of its peel.

below: “Do you see this?” Eyes and hearts but with a tear or two.

below: Mickey Mouse crucified, and a feline love more, #nohatefamily. Something about hello mushroom in there as well.

below: “Black Lives Matter is a movement, not a moment, by Individual Activist,

below: Many faces here including a lightning struck David Bowie. In the center is an anti-war poster by Brad Heckman (aka hecksign) that features a portrait of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

protest poster, anti-war, support Ukraine in its war

below: Another Individual Activist anti-war poster. Ukraine is not Putin’s blank canvas. On the left is a big colourful beetle by modomatic.

below: Another modomatic, this time a multicoloured mask. Sticking out on the right is a yellow arm with a pink donut and half smoked joint while a Half Brooklyn Crooklyn’s figure is running away (the last is by TheOhioGirl).

below: Another modomatic creation – insect like? Botanical?

below: “So much love” on newspaper by jkosart along with a back and white intricate drawing of a creature of some kind (signed moose)

below: A picture of a painter painting a picture, by font147

a poster by font147 of a yellow headed person painting on a large canvas and easel in front of a door and window

below: Two women – one on the Sony screen along with one as a BLM tribute by Voxx Romana

below: Mother and Child on blue

stencil graffiti, black on blue, of iconic mother and child

below: A yellow duck below an old faded poem. Once there was a bouquet of red roses but it looks like someone showed their displeasure with pink paint.

below: At the very top, a multiple-eyed face by sold out art show. The woman with the black and white flower hair has her own post on this blog – see Unleashing Flowers.

below: A period piece, black and white in sepia, from 33wallflower33,

below: Oversalted broccoli and a boxer

In case you are interested in such things, there is a gallery/shop in the alley that features the work of many of these artists.

Photos taken June 2022

Bratislava Graffiti

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Mary C

woman in a black beret and striped shirt holding onto a large microphone

below: Fred’s a flying chicken – a rooster on the wing

graffiti sticker in Bratislava, words that say fred flying chicken with a cartoonish yellow chicken head in the middle

below: Godot was here (and so was Nadej) but someone is still waiting. “Nedockas sa kamarat” is Slovak for “You won’t make it, friends.”

words written on a wall, by different people, including Godot was here, I'm still waiting, some words in Slovak, as well as was here

below: A stencilled portrait with a list of 3 Jan’s. The last one, Jan Kucjak was a Slovak journalist who was murdered in February 2018 along with his fiancee Martina Kušnírová. At the time Kucjak was investigating tax fraud of several businessmen with connections to top-level Slovak politicians.
The middle Jan, Jan Palach, was a Czech student who set himself on fire in central Prague on 16 Jan 1969 to protest the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. He died three days later. His funeral turned into a mass anti-communism demonstration.
Jan Hus, the Jan on top, is another Czech who died for his beliefs; He was burned as a heretic in 1415 for calling for reforms in the Catholic church.

stencil graffiti on a wall, man's portrait, small, with names of three Jans, Jan Hus, Jan Palach, and Jan

below: Horst in text, a little fat guy Tubby1 by cooklan, and another drawn monster with two horns and a claw for a hand. Unfortunately the name under the drawing isn’t quite clear enough (or there is nothing online about said monster).

stickers on metal boxes on a utility pole in Bratislava, one is just the name Horst, two others are cartoonish characters in black and white.

below: The man with the red clown nose Igor Matovič, former “clownish” prime minister of Slovakia

graffiti, black and white photo of a man with a red clown nose added on to it. This is Igor Matovič, former prime minister of Slovakia

below: “Neklam” with a pink tie, plus a small black and white sticker from German artist HNRX. Neklam is Slovak for “don’t lie” and the image is a portrait of Slovak prime minister Robert Fico. The blue and white character with mirror symmetry is Mister Bohnita. Defend.

man with a gun, in combat clothing and helmet, graffiti on a piece of newspaper or magazine

below: I suspect that the Uncle Sam type red and white striped top hat is an insult or a protest. UPDATE: Apparently the woman is former Slovakia president Zuzana Čaputová. The hat is a reference to the belief by pro-Russian Slovaks that she is a US agent.

below: A pair of pigeons on a wall.

two large wheatpaste pigeons on a crumbling wall with another street art tag behind

below: cute animal heads

a sticker on a pole, graffiti, with rainbow coloured heads of sheep, cute,

below: Retus with a strange yellowish face and big blood shot eyes. Also, a blue and yellow ribbon for Ukraine.

two stickers graffiti on a pole, the upper one is about the Ukraine war, with a yellow and blue ribbon, the lower one is a yellow skinned character with large white blood shot eyes with word retus written beside it

below: REMS in a respirator,

three stickers on on a pole, the one on top pictures a man in a gas mask respirator and wearing a baseball cap with REMS written on it

below: © MGA with big eyes and pink flowers in her hair.

sticker on a metal pole, a girl with pink curls, pink flowers inher hair, wearing a pink and purple dress

Photos taken in June 2022
With many thanks to Bohar Gondar who has provided much of the information about who is depicted in some of the graffiti.

Coney Island

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Mary C

Greetings from Coney Island! A postcard type mural by Megan Watters.

postcard style mural, greetings from Coney Island, with images in the letters

Here street art has been incorporated into the amusement park. Each year since 2015 , Coney Art Walls has added to their collection of murals and now has more than 60. Go when the park is open!

large painting of a woman's face on the side of the cyclone, a roller coaster ride at Luna, the amusement park at Coney Island

below: More of the Art Walls. The largest one in the photo is by Nina Chanel Abney. The one closest to the camera is ‘Handsome Brother and the Mermaid’ by Aiko which is based on an old Japanese tale called “Taro Urashima and Dragon Palace”.

mural of two people, woman with green face

mural in black and white and grey tones, portrait of 3 black men

below: Behind a chainlink fence, another Coney Island mural.

an old RV parked in front of a coney island mural, sign above the mural advertising cotton candy and other products for sale

below: And yet another Coney Island mural, this one with old black and white photographs of New York City views inside the letters. The Statue of Liberty makes a great exclamation mark.

mural for coney island, letters spelling coney with old black and white photos in the letters

below: Although it is disappearing behind the ivy, this is yet another Coney Island mural.

blue mural with coney island in cursive, an ince cream cone and a hot dog, but ivy is growing from above and starting to cover up the mural

below: Clown face and more faces. Live and let live – street artists against hate in the bottom right. And that blue guy? Have you seen how many teeth he has?!

stickers and slaps on a wall, a clown face in red white and blue, a light blue drawing of a man with one eye open the other eye closed, big smile with too many teeth, also a black and white sticker live and let live street artists against hate

below: Smell the flowers before they die and by the looks of it you don’t have long….

graffiti sticker on metal pole, vase of flowers some dying and some still healthy with text that says stop and smell the flowers while you can

three slaps on a wall

below: A jumble of strings and wires and a few found objects all wound up and made into a slightly human-like shape. Man is a mess?

a wheatpaste graffiti on a red pole, a photo of a mass of string, ribbon, and other items in a vaguely humanoid shape

below: The 5th, and last one here, Coney Island mural is the newest and the biggest. This is “Coney Is For Everyone” on Stilwell Avenue, painted by Danielle Mastrion. It was an Alliance for Coney Island project.

part of a large welcome to coney island mural

part of a mural, a large sea turtle swimming past an octopus as a young boy looks on, aquarium

a woman breathing fire in a mural

coney island mural, the word coney in a beach scene with 2 beachchairs and a child's silhouette

far right end of welcome to coney island mural, beside a pizza restaurant

below: A blue Subway Doodle monster sleeps in front of Nathans on the boardwalk.

Nathans hot dog restaurant on the boardwalk at Coney Island, closed, painting of a blue monster lying on its side, asleep on the metal shutters covering the windows

below: Another result of the Alliance for Coney Island efforts is this multicolour mural on the shutters that was painted by Ledania.

blog_multicolor_amusement_park

sticker on a metal pole outdoors, I (red heart) my hood

below: Lock him up! Donald Trump behind bars. Doesn’t he look cute in black and white stripes?

graffiti sticker on a metal pole. Head shot of former American president Donald Trump (aka the former guy) in jailhouse black and white and behind blue bars

subway is above ground, and above the stores along a coney island street, near Steamania Seafood restaurant and its shrimp mural along the sidewalk

Viennese slaps and stencils

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Mary C

Stencils, stickers, and small paste ups around Vienna

below: You don’t have to look like this

two stencils on a concrete wall, one red and one black, both with a silhouette of a person's figure and both with words that say you don't have to look like this

below: K2m Cactus is feeling blue – I can Imagine is ici (or is it Incredible Crew of Invaders?) – and someone’s wearing a gas mask.

below: Skateboarder, diva, and 2 lit lighters. Let’s scream.

below: Fishman doesn’t seem to like his metamorphosis. I have questions – how does he breathe? How does his hair stay in place?

below: Screaming in anger and frustration “Nothing I do matters while Capitalism exists. “

black stencil of a man with head back and mouth open as he screams the words nothing I do matters while capitalism exists.

below: Comment on the Patriarchy

below: With a touch of green

stencil of a person sitting, in black except for green of lenses in glasses that they are wearing

below: Mouse with an umbrella or at least I think that it’s a mouse. Such a ballsy behind.

black stencil of a mouse holding an umbrella as it stands on its hind legs

below: Eyes – blue eyes on red and one eye almost hidden behind a mask and torn paper.

below: Stickers on blue

a blue circular street sign that has been covered with stickers

below: More stickers and paint on sign

directional sign by the waterfront that has been covered with stickers and some painted graffiti tags

below: Oh my! A sorry yellow ghost – he doesn’t look very sorry does he?

below: Frauhans

below: Little green happy faces plus translation surprises: Weihnacht hatte angst aber Ostern hat eier!! = Christmas has fear but Easter has eggs. Why do people choose the words they write?

below: While a blue Rick Astley claims that he’s never gonna give you up others are waiting for something to happen even though something is waiting behind you.

words written in black marker on a wall along with a little character

below: Forked tongue, sluglike hugs on a pole. We all need a little TLC.

below: Big theater, little applause. The curtain drew back and revealed that the world is on the stage. All the world’s a stage…..

graffiti pieces, Paris

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Mary C

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.