Dusseldorf, big and small

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Mary C

… a few things seen as I walked around Dusseldorf on a rainy day.

below: At the train station – not really street art? But it’s a colourful addition to a grey platform.

below: One of the original pieces of street art in Dusseldorf is this large yellow Monkey that appears to be painted by a group of smaller monkeys. It was painted in 1969 by the Majo Brothers. The title is, appropriately “Affe” which is German for monkey. You could probably call it Der Gelbe Affe, or the Yellow Monkey.

below: Joseph Beuys is memorialized in this large portrait – he was a native of Dusseldorf who was influential in the development of the city from the 1960s until his death in 1986. One of his famous phrases is, “Everyone is an artist”.

below: Complex and largely symmetrical in shades of pink and purple is one way to describe this mural by HowNosm (or How & Nosm), a partnership between brothers Raoul and Davide Perre.

below: This is a large-scale, monochrome mural realistically depicting a person’s feet as they stand. They are wearing old boots (or shoes) and you can also see the bottom of their pant legs in the image. The artist was Hendrik Beikirch (aka ECB).

below: “Meat is Murder” he says as he holds out a sausage.

rough street art painting in Dusseldorf Germany, green male figure holding a sausage in one hand, text on painting says meat is murder

below: “No more wore” written on the Ukrainian flag.

below: Floral dog on a black and white slap, image by Christin Wenga.

below: Sad face with a blotch of yellow on his forehead.

below: “Nix Gelernt?” Nothing Learned?

below: In the center, raising the flag but it has been altered from the original photograph of the American the flag being raised at Iwo Jima on 23 Feb 1945 to an Anarchist flag. In the bottom corner is a small League of Legends sticker

below: His burning inside produces enough hot air to keep him afloat. There is a word written on his T-shirt which might give some clue as to the artist who created this large paste-up but I haven’t been able to find any answers online.

below: The thirteen of hearts and a pinwheel of robotic arms.

below: mmm

below: A bright green potted barrel cactus “growing” on a concrete wall.

below: Another dusseldorf monkey, not so big this time.

below: A lot of advice packed into a small space. “Don’t Panic”, “Be Big”, as well as “Never ever on a first date”.

below: Red head.

below: Framed twice.

old brick building with boarded up windows, windows used as frames for 2 paper paste up wheatpaste graffiti pieces, on left is cartoon character in blue, on the right is bald headed person with garland of flowers around head, head only, no body

below: For aspiring photographers – here is one way to display your work. Do you think that is effective? Worth the effort?

many coloured photos mounted on large white sheets of paper or bristol board, and then mounted on plywood, displayed outside

below: I’m not sure who it is, but they have very big black and blue lace-up shoes.

below: “Love will tear us apart”

Photos taken November 2025

animals on the walls of Montreal

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Mary C

below: “Siamoises” – What looks like twin cats in red dresses is actually a row of identical kitties, but the spotlight is on those two. A mural by Mono Sourcil, aka Maxlie Martel.

mural on a red brick wall in Montreal, circle, night with moon in the sky, two identical cats standing, wearing identical red dresses

below: SBU One’s red rooster, or red chicken.

below: Designed by ANYO – squirrels with different coloured hats. I have only shown two, red and turquoise, but there are many more out there….. how many have you seen?!

graffiti sticker on metal, a squirrel wearing a red hat

below: Giraffes

below: A wish for peace and love, amor et paix, for Ukraine.

yellow and blue background, a white dove with word paix which is french for peace

yellow and blue background, three white dovess with word amor and paix which is french for love and peace

below: A small portion of a large mural by Pantonio showing two of the many birds in the mural – a large bluish black bird and a cute little purple and white bird.

part of a larger mural by Pantonio,two birds, one is small purple, and white, the other is larger a blackbird

below: “Mechanic Bird” by Dede Bandaid & Nitzan Mintz, with text: “Of my dozens of keys, the smallest one opens home”

black and white mural on side of brick building, a bird with large wings

below: This rendition of Daffy Duck is the work of Simon Beaulieu – throwup “text” says Simple.

below: Dog (wolf?) with laser eyes.

below: It’s an animal, right? The blue creature on the left. It was painted by Cryote and the whole panel was a collaboration with Labrona and Waxhead.

below: Buzzzzzz……

little yellow bee with open wings, graffiti

Photos taken September 2024

Treeftsteeg

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Mary C

There are a number of lanes and passageways that connect the canals/roads Singel and Herengracht in central Amsterdam. One of the narrowest of them is Treeftsteeg.

below: Entrance to the alley, from Herengracht.

Various messages and symbols of peace – “I Love Kherson”, a girl waving a large Ukranian flag, “Love no War” (Love not war?), a white dove with wings of blue and gold, “Love makes a house a home”. In addition (under the word Kherson) there is a portrait of George Yurri Shevelov (1908-2002). His CV is long but in general he is most known for his research proving that the Ukrainian language has a separate history from Russian.

below: The portrait of the man in the top left corner is of Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), a famous Ukrainian poet. Moving right, the woman at the top with the orange background is the former Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix. Third from the left is Ukrainian writer and feminist Lesya Ukrainka whose work spanned the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the right side there is an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy although it is not the clearest picture.

anti war, pro Ukraine graffiti in an alley

below: Commemorating the sinking of the Moskva, a Russian ship in the Black Sea near the beginning of the war.

below: arrow showing the way to Kharkiv

below: caricatures

below: The narrowness of Treeftsteeg. Along with the pro-Ukraine messages, there are a few black and white portraits.

bicycles parked and leaning against walls in a very narrow alley

below: These portraits are part of “A Paper Monument to the Paperless” is an ongoing project headed by Dutch artist Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries.

portraits, posters on an alley wall, part of A Paper Monument to the Paperless, a project by Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries

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

along Rruga Myslym Syri

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Mary C

Rruga Myslym Syri is a fairly busy street in central Tirana, lined with shops and small businesses. Either on this street or in nearby alleys and small streets there is some street art. First, two small pieces by Franko (aka Franko Dinaj), a local artist.

mural painted by franco on a wall in Tirana, of two young boys, backs to painter, one wearing a red jacket with Albanian symbol, the other wearing a blue jacket with yellow Ukranian map on it