Tag Archives: street art

Allentown (Buffalo) street art

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The Allentown area of Buffalo is now home to some interesting murals.   If you walk around the neighbourhood of Allen Street and College Street, this is what you might see:

below: ‘Voyage’ by Chuck Tingley, 2014.  Commissioned by MyBuffaloPride and Loop Magazine and dedicated to Buffalo’s LGBT community and its allies.  “In a world of scrutiny, we have the power to embrace our differences and use our inner light to guide us through the darkest of times.”

a mural called Voyage painted by Chuck Tingley on the side of a building in Buffalo, a large multicoloured boy is sitting in a small boat and holding on to a yellow paddle. The sky is rainbow colours.

below: The corner of Allen Street and Wadsworth Street.

intersection in Buffalo with old two storey square front storefronts. wet road, rainy day, liquor store on the corner that is now empty but the sign only half works - only half the letters in the word liquor are lit.

below: Nietzsche (German composer and philosopher) with the quote “Without music life would be a mistake”.  When I googled to make sure that that was an actual quote, I found a quote from a letter that he wrote in 1888:  “Music … frees me from myself, it sobers me up from myself, as though I survey the scene from a great distance … It is very strange. It is as though I had bathed in some natural element. Life without music is simply an error, exhausting, an exile.”  The picture is on the side of a Nietzsche Bar.

street art picture of Nietzsche head and shoulders in black and white along with a quote that says Without music life would be a mistake.

below: It’s About Time, with three red fists on the upper part of the Allen Street Hardware Cafe.  One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can.  The third fist is in the background and is holding either tools or paint brushes or markers?  Painted by the Allen Street Street Art Collective (ASSA).

a brick two storey store with a mural on the upper part in red, yellow and black, with the words It's about time. The picture in the mural is three red fists. One is holding a yellow paint roller and one is holding a yellow spray paint can. Another mural is in the background, a car parked on the wet street, a pedestrian on the sidewalk

below: ‘Tribute to Spain Rodriguez’ by Ian DeBeer.  Rodriguez was a comic artist who was born in Buffalo and the piece is largely about a fight that he got into in the bar across the street (once the Jamestown, now the Nietzsche).

long horizontal mural drawn like a comic book strip, dedicated to the memory of Spain Rodriguez and painted by Ian DeBeers in 2013, a large woman's face with bright red lips, the word 'she; painted in red, a motorcylce, a man wearing a hat,

a motorcycle, part of a larger mural

below: When this mural was first completed, the grey parts were black.  The large picture of the man that stands between the windows on the left and those in the middle, was quite distinct.  Now, you might have missed him when you first looked at the picture.

the front of a building is covered with black and white poster sized pictures of people.

below: The pink stripes in the background of the finger-like portions of this mural have also faded considerably since the mural was painted in 2013.   “The work we do is not for the faint of heart”.

a mural on the side of a building. On the left is a purple and black drawing of what looks like fingers. on the right are yellow and turquoise stripes with the words, the work we do is not for the faint of heart

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below: The last ASSA mural features an iron fireman. It’s a long horizontal mural with the words Iron and Fireman written in large letters over shapes that resemble flames.

word Iron written in large letters, part of a mural

below: Between the two words is a painting of a black ‘iron fireman’, a robot-like creature shovelling coal to feed the fire.   This was the logo for the Iron Fireman, a coal stoker first developed in the 1920’s by Thomas Harry Banfield and Cyrus Jury Parker.  A coal stoker mechanically feeds coal into a furnace or boiler – the Iron Fireman was a commercial success in the days when coal was a commonly used fuel.

picture of a black robot figure shovelling coal

word fireman written on large letters in a mural, brick buildings (apartments) behind, cars parked in front.

below: One of the other interesting things about Buffalo is how the architecture is different here, or at least different from what I am used to in Toronto.  The building with the green details on the front is the Puritan Building, built in 1893.  It has recently been renovated with the Billy Club restaurant on the ground level and three storeys of apartments above.   And yes, that is a purple house on the right.  Many of the houses in the area are painted in bright and cheerful colours.

 

mural in the middle gound, two low rise buildings in the background, one is the Puritan building with green details around the windows in the front of the building.

below: She’s almost disappeared.

very faded street art piece of crouched young girl with a pony tail - although it is faded enough that I might be wrong.

below: But he’s as vibrant as ever.

a painting of a man has been mounted in an arched window, covers the window.

a red brick building, side of a store, bottom part has been painted orange, probably to paint over graffiti, but has since been tagged twice, once in black and once in red, a parking lot is in front of the wall, with a small snowbank at the edge.

a door is covered with graffiti stickers.

graffitis animaux à paris

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Little animals, big animals.
Pasted, painted and stenciled graffiti animals.
Real animals and those just imagined.
All on the walls of Paris.

below: A very realistic tiger walks towards you.  Painted by mosko.

pasteup graffiti of a very realistic tiger drawn in oranges and black, almost life size, walking directly at the viewer

below: Another mosko creation, a leopard.

pasteup graffiti of a very realistic leopard drawn in oranges and black, almost life size, walking directly at the viewer

below: What cows order when they stop for fast food.  Human meat burger with a side of human finger nibblets.  I wonder if he’ll order his burger with meadow grass or cheese?
a poster showing a cow in a fast food restaurant ordering a human meat burger. Another cow is behind the cash register. Pictures of items on the menu are above the cashier. Done in cartoon style

below: A pink fish dreamily swims past.

big pink fish graffiti, with a half open eye and a moustache

below: There’s a zebra under the window.

stencil graffiti of a greenish coloured striped zebra

below: A very tall mural of a blue and white long-necked bird.  Un héron bleuté, painted by STEW in the Chinatown area of Paris (13th arrd.)

very large mural on the side of an apartment building of a large blue and grey bird with a long neck. either a heron or a crane

below: A close up view of the bottom of STEW’s heron mural.

part of a larger mural, a white bird in flight, with a long nexk, surrounded by blue sky with a lot of flowers in the sky . The flowers are line drawings in yellows and white

below: An elephant head, and mouton white sheep above the cordonnerie

on the side of a beige concrete wall, two pieces of graffiti, one is an elephant's head and the other is a white sheep with black face and feet.

below: A pink and blue teddy with a few bits missing.   It seems to be passing something to the window.   Amor!  A creature stands under the cross.

a pink and blue teddy bear paste up pon a wall, partially torn. He's beside a window. on the other side of the window is a small red cross with the word amor written under it.

below: A wide mouthed big teethed snake

two graffiti pieces on a wall, a blue and silver diamond shape an a green snake

below: A pink cat

stencil of a realistic grey and black cat on a pink wall

below: Two birds standing together

reddish stencil graffiti of two birds standing beside each other

below: The next two may not be animals, but they certainly aren’t human either. Two creatures just playing tunes and boarding on by.  The first is labelled Les Impressionoures.

on a metal box on the sidewalk pavement beside a street, a red creature with a band aid on its cheek rides on a skateboard while holding a ghetto blaster near its ear . The words les impressionoures is written below him
on a metal box on the sidewalk pavement beside a street, a pink squarish creature with a band aid on its cheek rides on a skateboard while holding a ghetto blaster near its ear, a spray paint can in its other hand

below: And last, a little yellow dinosaur.
stencil graffiti of a little yellow dinosaur

 

 

dancing in the glitter, Paris

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I am not sure what they’re really called, or even if they actually have names.    I saw these glittery confetti women dancing on a number of walls in Paris last spring.  They are part of a series called ‘It’s time to dance’ by French street artist SOBR.

Is she still dancing on the walls?

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a red heart on it

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing a black bra top and shorts

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing shorts with a belt, a wide bracelet. The top of her head has been ripped off. She seems to be dancing beside a window

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt

Fashion Street, Shoreditch

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The following pictures were taken in September 2016.   This was my second visit to the area and I have already blogged about my first visit in March 2016.  See ‘People of  Fashion Street’.  A few of the works from the spring still remained in September but there were also a number of changes.

below: The musculature of a man as he walks amongst the skulls and bones of other men, a pasteup by drsc0

pasteup of a man showing his musculature, like a standing body with the skin removed. He is standing in front of rows of skeletons. A pasteup street art piece by drsc0

below: A mural of a woman’s head (she lasted all summer) by Mr. Cenz

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below: A wall with graffiti as well as a painting by neoh of a ballerina whose multi-faceted face appears to be in motion.

wall with lots of street art and graffiti, paste ups and posters

below: Pirate, Jolly Roger bombs falling from the sky and a partial Poison pasteup.
If consumed, plan funeral.

street art, red bombs with black skull and crossbones wings,

below: Bill Murray keeps an eye on that marshmallow guy while Freddie Mercury sings along with the help of a collage of people and images.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste ups of actor Bill Murray's head looking upwards with the marshmallow guy from the movie Ghostbusters above it, a paper paste up of Freddie Mercury singing with his body made of a collage of other pictures and peoplr

below: Freddie Mercury again, this time with a starry eyed tiger.

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below: Another street art collection on Fashion Street.  The top pieces are the same as seen in March but there have been changes on the bottom.

a brick wall on Fashion Street in Shoreditch that is covered with a lot of paste up pieces of graffiti and street art

below: The top part of the wall above.   Still here – Stikki peaches James Dean paste up man, Rebel with a cause.  A purple beaver, pistachio shell art, and a drawing by costah complete the picture.

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below: Additions to the lower part of the wall.  Face the Strange and Endless coca cola cans with visual innuendo.   Also, someone is trying to tell us that they are well and they are happy although they look quite blue and empty.

pasteup on a wall, collage of overlapping layers of pictures, jumbled up together,

below: Face the Strange lego headed man and a partial City Kitty face

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up from face the strange of a man in suit and tie with a red lego brick as a head. little yellow lego heads in a pattern in the background. Also part of a cat head elaborately drawn and colored with the words city kitty mows 510

below: Syd’s ‘why so serious?’ Joker was there before as was the image of Liza Minnelli in the red and white top.   Unfortunately the paper has been torn from wrdsmith’s typewriter so the words can’t be read anymore.

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below: An endless woman, a dog and a man with a green tie.

three large pasteups on a brick wall, a woman in an orange skirt and jacket by endless, a large growling dog who is running - head and front part of body are complete, back part of body is just the skeleton, and last is a man with longish hair, a multicoloured suit and a green tie.

below: Under the watchful eye of a surveillance camera, a taosuz poster warning you about the harmful effects of icons.  Can you name the people?

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, a poster with black and white pictures of mens heads with the words Icons seriously harms you and others around you

below: You see things and say why?…. but I dream things and say why not?  The sunset mural is by Low Tech Designs, a group of artists who work with youth to teach them graffiti skills and to promote the positive side of graffiti.

two murals. on the left, a large white cloud with yellow eyes and three white upper teeth is spitting out a rainbow that someone has written pride on the top of . The other mural is a sunset scene with a palm tree and beach in silhouette in the foreground, purple sky and water, yelloish orange sun and reflections in the water.

below: No Banksy no cry

on a black wall, two small stencils, one is a white ghost head with big black oval eyes and the other is the words: no banksy no cry

below: A mural painted in the memory of Muhammad Ali who died June 4, 2016.

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below: The many abstract faces of Costprice.

a photo of a costprice store, an off licence beer, wine and spirits merchant, as well as food. A painting of multicoloured colourfuil abstract faces covers all surfaces.

below: Two between the doors.

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below: Gava?  Oui, gava.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing of two insects with large globe like tails, one is asking gava? and the other says oui gava

below: A soldier on horseback, and a targeted mother and kids.

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below: Black and white drawing of folded paper – a sculptural forms of a rabbit nipping at the tail of a fox.  It’s the work of Annatomix.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing in black and white that looks like folded paper rabbit nipping at the tail of a folded paper fox

below: A child in motion.

graffiti and street art on fashion street in shoreditch east london, paper paste up of a drawing

below: The last two photos were actually taken on Commercial Street but close to where Fashion Street joins it.

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below: Gold Dragonfish = endangered, and E D of London.  Both closed.

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Braithwaite Street, Shoreditch

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Most of Braithwaite Street is under railway tracks next to Shoreditch High Street station on the London Overground.   The south end of the street used to be called Wheler Street and appears as such on google maps.  Photos taken September 2016.

street art paste up of two people, man and woman, that look like inflatable dolls. The woman is holding the leash of a balloon dog.

below: Mssd Connctn, To the one who could have been everything, sorry I swiped left.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street,

below: More of the detailed grasshopper pasteups (previously seen on Grimsby Street) and an old paper pasteup of a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle…. this one full of skulls.   The perfume bottle is the work of endless.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a grasshopper paste up, an old chanel number 5 perfume bottle

below: Above the grasshoppers is a headless flying horse or pony.  The star on its backside suggests that it’s from My Little Pony.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, paste up of a flying pony with its head cut off, also a dodo bird

below: Portrait of a street artist with spray can, respirator, tattoos, and bling, by Cloakwork.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, mural of a large fat man with gas mask on and spray paint can in hand by cloak work

below: Graffiti under the bridge.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, on the curved walls of an underpass, darkish, with a couple of people walking under the bridge

below: A jumble of facial features.

an arch under a brick bridge is covered with plywood and painted blue. On it is a jumbled face in five pieces. Two people are sitting on the kerb in front of it.

below: A collection of little graffiti pieces high on a brick wall.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, three little pieces on a brick wall behind a wire fence

below: Another chanel perfume bottle by endless, this time Marymee and eau de streetart.  The cat playing card has some tiny words written on the bottom including, @hellothemushroom.  A google search reveals this to be the work of Sara Doucette.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a yellow chanel perfume bottle with MaryMee on the label as well as eau de street art. Also a playing card, ace, with cat face on it, and the words @hellothemushroom

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a woman walks past construction hoardings covered with street art

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, large mural of a woman with back to viewer, lifting up the skin on her back to reveal digital codes

below: A painting by Nathan Bowen.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting by Nathan Bowed on a man in yellow clothes (a clown?)

below: A few pasteups including one that resembles Lt. Vincent although it’s a little bearded guy in a snail shell being pulled by a large red cat.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, six or seven paste ups on a wall, including a Lt. Vincent being pulled by a cat

below: Pink, fuzzy and spread eagle on a wall – a large teddy bear.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a pink teddy bear with terry cloth body high on a wall, beside a black and white pasteup of a bomb

below: Rapid.  Mask and goggles. Street art by Someart

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting of a man's head wearing balaclava and goggles, with word bubble that says I am Rapid Some Art

below: Shoot the Bank with photos added above and “Not Art” sprayed below.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, black and white piece Shoot The Bank with a picture of a man in mask and with rifle. In red spray paint someone has written over it Not Art. 8 posters above it, with photos

below: ‘Stranger Things’ from the Netflix series.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, mural entitled strange things, man in old fashioned scuba mask waving, in turquoise background.

below: Construction hoardings on Braithwaite immediately south of the tracks around what used to be a car park.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, construction hoardings covered with street art

below: Continuation of the hoardings… the red brick building is Bedford House, at the corner of Quaker and Braithwaite streets.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, construction hoardings covered with street art

below: Another Nathan Bowen work, this time beside a strange drawing by Clancy.

street art and graffiti in Shoreditch England, on Braithwaite Street, a painting of a Buckingham palace guard with its bushy black hat and red uniform, on a union jack by Nathan Bowen and a drawing of a man sitting on a sidewalk by Clancy

 

Bacon St., Shoreditch

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As you can see, Bacon Street is E1 London.  It’s another street that runs east from Brick Lane, this time just north of the overground tracks.

London street sign, Bacon St., E.1 with its Arabic counterpart below it. Also, a PANIC sign that is supposed to look like a street sign under that.

below: Two owls, mirror images of each other; “You know the day divides the night and night divides the day.  Try 2 run, Try 2 hide, Break on through to the other side”

street art mural of two owls with text, one owl is black on white and the other is white on black. They are mirror images of each other. The text says You Know the day divides the night and night divides the day

below: A portrait, a tribute to Charlie Burns 1915-2012.  Charlie, The King of Bacon Street, was the oldest man on the street.  He used to sit in the backseat of his daughter’s car and watch the world go past on nearby Brick Lane.  The car was parked in front the family business, C.E. Burns & Sons, a second hand furniture store.

large mural portrait of Charlie Burns 1914-2012

below: A pig on Bacon Street!  How apt.  It seems to have an admirer too!

black and white paste up of a pig below a window, looks like its sleeping on the sidewalk

below:  A collection of paste ups on a wall including a life sized young woman with long flowing orange hair by Saki & B where B is for bitches.   This piece is tamer than some of their other art as seen on instagram.  The greenish woman’s portrait is by georgie, another London based artist.

pasteups on a wall, a tall life sized girl by Saki & B, with long orange hair, yellow tights, black boots and a red dress, a woman's portrait in greenish tones by georgie artist, a phoebe, and a black and white pig,

below: A cat on the phone by d7606.

top part of a paste up by Saki & B along with a dagog cat upright on two legs, holding a phone and receiver.

below: In the bottom corner, a small ‘Rebel’ Phoebe New York

phoebe from new york pasteup with rebel sticker on her

below: Did you know that a serving size is 2010 skulls?  A poster left behind by Arrex when he visited London from Portland Oregon.

poster by arrex, or rxskulls, from Portland, Poison, and the nutritional content of it, e.g. calories,

below: I am not sure who painted the long necked white birds, but the portraits on the door are by Paul (Don) Smith and they were featured in a previous blog post.

a mural of long necked white birds in foilage, around a window and beside a door. On the door are two other pieces of street art, a portrait of two different people, a woman on the top and a man below.

four or five pieces of street art beside and above a store front where there is a lot of activity going, moving items, delivering items.

Photos taken September 2016

around Bernard Shaw

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The Bernard Shaw, in a building built in 1895, is a pub on Richmond Street South in Dublin.  I had heard that there was some street art in the vicinity, so a detour was made to that part of Dublin.  The building looks like it needs a coat of paint!

an old black building, the Bernard Shaw pub, built 1895, with street art on either side of it.

below: A brightly coloured bird flies on one side of the pub

mural of a blue and dark pink bird in flight, with a long yellow beak

below: A peacock continues the bird theme on the other side of the Bernard Shaw.
Perhaps that’s him on the wall above?

a large mural of a colourful peacock onwood construction hoardings.

below:  Don’t forget to look up too.

murals on a wall and on the upper storey of a pub behind the fence, a tug boat, fowers, a woman's head

below: “Our bodies, our lives, our choice” mural.  Part of the “Repeal the 8th” campaign, an abortion rights campaign to call for a referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland.  The 8th amendment criminalizes abortion in all cases except where to continue a pregnancy would result in death of the mother.

two people walking past a mural covered with pictures of flowers and leaves and the words, in cursive writing, Our bodies our lives our choice

small street art painting of a man's face high on a wall

In the same area there was a car park…  or construction site…  or just a series of walls covered with street art and graffiti.  Not much of it was noteworthy but here are a few pictures just the same.

construction hoardings covered with street art and graffiti with cars parked beside them.

below: This one accompanies a happy birthday and I love you message written for Angela, presumably written by Caolan.

graffiti that says angela & caolan. Angela is in pink letters and caolan is in blue. the e in angela is a lock and the L in caolan is a key. The key fits into the lock.

a little black and white striped, wavy stripes, stylized face creature.

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street art of three male faces, jester like hats, in subdued tones of blue and pink and beige . Line drawings but with realistic lips and tongue

graffiti and street art on fences, with sunlight shining through

graffiti and street art on building and fence, with brick rowhouses behind, Dublin

text street art and graffiti on walls

street art man's face on a brick wall above a text graffiti tag, people wakling in the alley beside the building

small 3D circle blue with flower in the center and an orange square beside the circle. The square has a face on it with square eyes

idle tagging, Dublin

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On John Street there is a large maroon coloured building.  A couple of murals have been painted on it.

At one end of the street is this mural by Marcamix, Evolve Urban Arts.

mural on the side of a building, a Japanese looking woman, a keyboard with wings, in orange and brown.

Beside it, is this longer mural.  Unfortunately I’m not who the artist is (or artists are).

large mural on a maroon wall, titled Idle Tagging, a woman standing, a large white cat, plus other creatures,

part of a mural, a woman standing wearing blue skirt and green top and sunglasses. Also a large white sitting cat with one paw raised.

part of a mural, profile of older man, slightly abstracted

part of a mural. what looks like headless man running or walking,

#marcamix

Free Derry murals, Bogside

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Free Derry was a zone in the Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods in the city of Derry (or Londonderry) that existed from 1969 to 1972 when people barricaded streets to keep the British Army out.   To understand the reasons for Free Derry involves understanding the history of Northern Ireland, especially the story of ‘The Troubles’.   The Troubles, or the Northern Ireland Conflict as it was also known, started in the late 1960’s and largely centered around the constitutional status of Northern Ireland.   Although it may be an oversimplification,  Unionists (also called Loyalists) who were mostly Protestant and thought themselves to be British wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the UK while Irish nationalists (or Republicans)  who were mostly Catholic and considered themselves Irish wanted to leave the UK and join a united Ireland.

Three artists, Tom Kelly, William Kelly and Kevin Hasson, aka The Bogside Artists, have created a series of murals known as the Peoples Gallery in the Bogside area of Derry.  There are 12  murals and most are on the sides of houses along Rossville Street.    They tell the story of events that occurred here during The Troubles.
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below: “The Civil Rights Mural, The Beginning”. The title refers to the beginning of the struggle for democratic rights in Derry by both Protestants and Catholics. On the 5th of October 1968, a civil rights march ended in bloodshed in Duke Street when the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) beat up protesters – televised for the world to see.   Protesters responded with petrol bombs and bonfires. The march was organized with the support of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), a group that had been formed in February 1967 to fight to end discrimination against the Catholic/Nationalist minority.
Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - civil rights and anti-sectarian, pictures of people with placards who marched in a peaceful demonstration
below: “The Petrol Bomber”. This was the first mural, painted in 1994. A boy wears a gas mask to protect himself from RUC tear gas. He is holding a petrol (gasoline) bomb. It represents the ‘Battle of the Bogside’, August 1969.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - a man wears a gas mask

The problems in 1968 and then the riots in 1969 marked the beginning of the Troubles. At this time, the city of Derry became (or was?) more segregated with neighbourhoods almost entirely nationalist or unionist. In some places, residents and paramilitaries built barricades to seal off and protect their neighbourhoods from incursions by “the other side”, the security forces or both. These became known as “no go areas”. By the end of 1971, 29 barricades blocked access to Free Derry, 16 of them impassable even to British Army tanks.

 

below: Commemorating ‘Operation Motorman’. Also titled, “Summer Invasion”. On 31 July 1972 the British Army with the help of the RUC broke down the barriers that had been built in Derry, Belfast, and other Northern Ireland cities.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Operation Motorman in 1971- a British soldier breaking down a door in Derry

below: In the foreground, “The Runner”, a cautionary tale; civil conflict can be deadly. The boy in blue, running from tear gas, is Patrick Walsh. Below him are portraits of two other boys who died in the Troubles, Manus Deery and Charles Love. Deery was 15 when he died in 1972, hit by fragments of a ricochet bullet fired by a British Army sniper. Love was 16 when he died in 1990, hit by flying debris from an IRA (Irish Republican Army) bomb. The deaths of two boys, unintended victims of both sides in the conflict.
Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - two murals on the sides of two buildings, one is a soldier breaking down a door and the other is people marching in a demonstration but running away from tear gas

below: “The Death of Innocence”. A 14-year-old schoolgirl, Annette McGavigan, was killed in crossfire between the IRA and the British Army on 6 September 1971. She was the 100th victim of the Troubles. The mural was painted in 2000 but was being cleaned up and behind scaffolding when I saw it. According to the plaque beside it, “she stands against the brooding chaos of a bombed-out building, the roof beams forming a crucifix in the top right-hand corner. At the left, a downward-pointing rifle, broken in the middle, stands for the failure of violence, while the butterfly symbolizes resurrection and the hope embodied in the peace process.”

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On 30 January 1972 there was a march to protest the mass arrest of 342 people suspected of being members of the IRA a few months previous, and their subsequent imprisonment without trial.  The marchers were unarmed.  The British Army opened fire on the people, killing 14 and wounding many others.  Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded.  Two people were run down by Army vehicles.

below: Father Daly, a priest, holds a white flag as he helps a group of men carry the body of Jackie Duddy.   Duddy was the first fatality on Bloody Sunday. This mural was painted in 1997 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - a priest with his head down carries a white flag as people carry an injured man

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972

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below: In the background is the Peace Mural, a white dove on a multicoloured background.

Free Derry mural in Bogside, Derry Northern Ireland, in shades of grey, commemorating Bloody Sunday in 1972 - man with back to viewer watches a tank. Second mural in the background of a white outline of a peace dove over a chequer board design in many different colours.

 There are a number of other murals in the area.

below: Che Guevara did have a small bit of Irish ancestry. One Patrick Lynch left Galway in the mid 1700’s. After a short stay in Spain he ended up in Argentina where he married an Argentinian woman. A number of generations later, Che Guevara, eldest son of Ernesto Guevara Lynch and Celia de la Serna y Llosa, was born in Rosario Argentina in 1928. He was the 5 x great grandson of Patrick. The quote in the mural, “In my son’s veins flowed the blood of Irish Rebels” are apparently Che’s father’s words.

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below: South Africa and Ireland, side by side.  A portrait of Nelson Mandela.  “Many suffer so that some day future generations will live in justice and peace”, a quote from Bobby Sands (also pictured in the mural).   Sands was a member of the Provisional IRA and a leader of the 1981 hunger strike in Maze Prison.  He was elected as a Member of Parliament but during the strike, but he died along with nine others.

mural with Nelson Mandela

below: “The way we were” and “free Gaza”.

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a mural that says bogside, written in celtic text, with a dragon in the center, an older man on the left and a young boy on the right.

a frayed Irish flag flies on top of a post. A sign that says Brits out now IRA is also on the post
More information on the Bogside Artists and the murals that I missed.