abandoned site, Baldwin & Spadina

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Mary C

There once was a building on the southwest corner of Spadina Ave and Baldwin (Toronto). That building is long gone but the hoardings around the vacant lot have become a home for graffiti. Although advertising posters sometimes take over some of the space, there is often new graffiti too.

This is what was there in January 2025.

below: The Last Laugh by Nigel Smith.

below: Paste-ups on plywood. On the left – a City Kitty character in big pink frame glasses (and what’s that on his head?!). Small black and white pasteups include Visual Noise with Urban Ninja Squadron.

below: WOW! He is not dead yet. Live! Let Live!

below: Two pieces by Bao aka (Bao Pham) who seems to like to mix cultural icons that aren’t usually associated with each other.

below: “Fab Four Troopers” Quebec highway sign

below: “Return of the Boom Bap Trooper”

below: A woman’s portrait among the advertisements.

below: “Frida Moss”, A Frida Kahlo and Kate Moss mash-up, also by Bao

below: A green catchoo looking atch you

below: Ouch! Another Urban Ninja Squadron paste-up, this one in collaboration with Dio Tha Dog.
\Photos taken January 2025

Photos taken January 2025
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog

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…..

little things on Barcelona walls

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mary C

Barcelona Spain, April 2018,
pasteups, stickers, stencils and other little pieces of graffiti.

below: The green creature (with Ore on its tail) seems to want to eat the heart. The tiger appears on walls in many Spanish cities although sometimes he’s just a black and white head. He’s the creation of Bloo. Last, an orange crab with eye lashes on one eye.

some pasteups and other small pieces of graffiti on a concrete wall. A tiger, a heart, an orange crab.

below: RAF Urban, young boy

paste up of a boy's head and shoulders by raf urban

below: Another face, this time a woman looking up. She’s not quite obscured by the paint around her.

yellow arrow, pointing to a pasteup of a womans face on a wall

below: Pointed

a stencil on a wall, a hand with index finger pointing, points to a metal door that is covered with a mural

below: “Lo importante esta en tu cabeza” on empty cans. As it turns out, this the name of an album by the group La Gran Orquesta Republicana. Rough translation is: The important is in your head.

empty cans covered with black and each with a blue letter on them, the cans are put together on a wall so the letters make words.

below: More cans on walls. This time they say “mensajes de amor en tiemps de guerra, mensajes de paz con la mente guerrera”. [messages of love in times of war, messages of peace with the warrior mind]. This can art is the work of an anonymous couple. Many examples of their work can be seen on instagram with the hashtag #llaunesbcn

empty cans covered with white, with black letters, one per can, on them. The cans are mounted on a wall in with letters forming words that say mensajes de amor en tiemps de guerra, mensajes de paz con la mente guerrera

below: Funny Bone and a little hairy chested, hat wearing, tattooed fellow with love on his tummy (or lower).

stickers on a door that has a red tag on it.

below: Güelcom was an Argentinian movie, a romcom from 2011. Because of my poor Spanish as well as the rip in the paper, I can’t tell what the second word is.

pasteup of a woman with blue hands reaching out for her face, also the words, guelcom

below: A black and white paste up.

pasteup of a man's face, wearing black sunglasses, also his face is covered with black lines

below: Mowcka “uniendo tus partes” and others

stickers and paste ups on a wall

below: Very, very with symmetry, as a red rose lies on the sidewalk.

stencil, in purple, words mucho mucho with the second one being uder the first, and upside down, also a stenciled red rose lying under the words, arranged such that the flower looks like its lying on the sidewalk,

below: Smile! Anthropomorphic rabbit photographer in blue

blue rabbit with a camera

… and red

red rabbit with a camera

below: somiatruites, Catalan for daydreamer

small painting on a gold coloured wall, exterioe, six green arms with fingers stretching out from a central reddish face
below: Utility box. JERC = Joventuts d’Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Young Republican Left of Catalonia). They support independence for Catalonia which is the part of Spain that includes Barcelona.

utility box with painted political statements graffiti

below: The Hulk. Even he is locked out.

The Hulk

below: Watering can and plant pot faces.

2 small pictures on white board on outside wall

below: Another collection of small paste ups on a wall. There’s that tiger again. A blue unicorn and a very large insect share the upper left corner. That little black and white figure in the bottom left is a flying peanut, a character by Hadsawit that really gets around.

graffiti pasteups on a wooden door

many pasteups on a wall

below: The Raven, or at least a large black bird

stencil, black bird eating something

metal utility box on a sidewalk beside a stone wall, drawing of the upper part of a man, in black line drawing.

old wood door covered with blue tag and a sticker with a red flower

these walls have eyes

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mary C

Faces painted, stenciled and pasted on Montreal walls

street art painting on a bright orange door of a man in a suit sitting cross legged with a cup and saucer of tea. red tea cup and red saucer. his tie is flipped up and his hair is weird he is Monsieur Croissant Head

$two paste ups on an old window. on the left is a black and white photo of a young woman. on the right is an abstract of a face in bright primary colours, fractured so she has 4 eyes$

a tesalation of 8 faces, 4 on the left and 4 on the right. they are stacked on top of each other, alternating a white face and goldish brown face. The column on the right is looking upwards, the column on the left is looking down, with nose on the ground.

a large brick wall in Montreal with the bottom part covered with a mural. on the right is an image of a black man in a black hat playing the harmonica. The rest is text and tag like shapes in blues and greens. RIP.

under a balcony with two sets of stairs in front of it, a mural with a blue faced girl as well as some other creatures

On a garage door, three heads, each has a cat on top. On of the cats has a mouse pulling a small red cart.

in an alley, a black silhouette of a woman's head with the words Chlo Row 1861, on a salmon coloured wall, another mural on the next wall in the lane

a mural of a young girl in many colours. A red turtlecap is on top of her shoulder

5 poster of Marilyn Monroe on a wall. The 6th poster has been covered by a poster of a man, Bill W.

A man's face in grey tones surrounded by a rainbow coloured ribbon

a multifaceted face in grey tones by omen, with a small pasteup (or painting?) of a blue owl beside the face

two rows of repeating posters. In browns, faded, with torn edges, and red paint blobs and drips on top of them. The top row is girl's head and the bottom is a young girl looking up

large black and white man's face painted by omen with a small orange face to the bottom left and bottom right - orange faces painted by kashink

two faces are part of a larger mural

fresh paint under pressure, a man is holding a spray paint can. he is old looking, bald, with glasses at the end of his nose, wearing a top with black polka dots, done in grey tones

three mens heads. in the center, a bald man in pinks. on either side of him, the identical green man looking upwards.

girls head in pinks

realistic painting of a man in a white shirt, on a purple background, mural

a quickly drawn face with wild spiky black hair. face in red. a red star to the bottom left

a red head woman, with black bra, and many arms, some are snakes, two hands on her breasts and two hands holding her hair.

black abstract faces on white background, painted in an alley

a face painted on a brown metal wall beside an exterior stair case

a paste up of a black and white photo of a young man that is torn and the bottom half is missing

line painting of a woman's head and face

painted face on a brick wall, pink and yellow

once a black and white face, now blurred into grey

two small stickers of black and white demon faces with horns, and tongues stuck out

brown street art painting of a blad man's head and face with droopy eyes partially closed and wrinkled foreheard and cheeks

cartoon character like woman with yellow hair and a red and bllue suit

a roughly drawn black skull on a green fence, with white holes for the eyes and white outline

large painting of a girl's face with bright blue eyes and purple hair

blog_montreal_face_yellow_scribble_guy

a realistic painting of a woman's head, wearing a black shawl, fingers also in the painting.

mural of a woman's face , touch of turquoise but mostly in pinks and yellows , drawn mostly with lines

a black door in an alley, 911 Ave Mont Royal that has graffiti on it, as well as a painting of a man's face

a white stencil of an older Indian (first nations) man in a feather head dress. A stereotypical picture of Indian chief from old pictures

white line drawing of two men, one short and one tall. The tall man is under a window and looks like he's holding up the window

These photos were taken in June 2015

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: sticker

abandoned site, Baldwin & Spadina

Viennese slaps and stencils

little things on Barcelona walls

these walls have eyes