In Toronto, running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side. The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago. Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to spray, stick, or paste graffiti.
below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.
below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on. Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.
below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers
below: Holding tight to that red rose.
Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….
below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold
below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?
below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around. Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado
below: “Tell me its all going to be okay? Not sure if I can do that buddy…..
below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten
below: Enough! Although once upon a time it said more than that…..
below: The sad grey man with the very long arms and bad posture is another creation of stenandoli. In the middle is an Australian White Ibis by tweet – I wonder what it is trying to say to the cat?
below: A foxy lady, by Susi Foxy Art, aka Susi Luard.
below: Carried away by a yellow balloon…..
below: left: “T Phobia is rooted in White Supremacy” with a purple flower. middle: “Don’t be dick”, with a yellow flower. right: He seems to be holding a fish. Seems fishy?
below: Look out everyone, there’s an angry looking Blastoise pokemon character coming your way!
below: A street in the Trastevere neighbourhood in Rome.
below: A collection of paste-ups (or wheatpastes) from a number of artists.
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.
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.
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!
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.
below: No Limits
below: Another wall, another collection.
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.
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
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.
Eyes on the Streets 