Tag Archives: urban art

love and angels in Naples

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below: First angel seen – Sophia Loren by makergarcia

mural of Sophia Loren on a street in Naples

below: Second angel seen – Her (his?) face is covered (by her hair? by a mask?) as she leans over the globe. Is she mourning? Or protecting?

paste up graffiti of an angle with large wings as she leans on a globe, with north pole at the top

below: Keep your heart close; protect it.

stencil of a young girl carrying a large heart

below: Three shiny hearts at number 28

three very 3 D looking shiny red hearts, paper graffiti

below: A little artwork by ExitEnter, keep your heart held high – to which someone has added a whimsical kite.

graffiti by enter exit

below: Make Love! (there were quite a few of these around Naples) by the aptly named Unplatonic

paste up graffiti by unplatonic, woman's face with hearts, the word Napoli, and the words make love
paste up graffiti by unplatonic, woman's face with hearts, the word Napoli, and the words make love in red

below: “Til death do us part”

black graffiti on grey wall, a drawing of a heart with face in it so that it looks a bit like a skull, with text that says til death do us part

Photos taken February 2024

the smaller stuff too

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…in Graffiti Alley

My previous post was also about a walk down a section of Toronto’s Graffiti Alley (Spadina to Portland).   This post is from the same walk –  because there were so many  images that I wanted to share, I decided to divide the fun into two parts.  This second part takes a closer look at some of the smaller pieces.

graffiti stickers covering signs at the entrance to graffiti alley where there is lots of street art in the background

below: Peeling paper hands….  A 33wallflower33 group of three women in their dashing outfits … and a charming man with devil’s horns and red glasses.

paper paste up graffiti on a door

below: Although it’s getting more difficult to see, there’s a Poser rabbit by the door.  The door is disappearing behind a layer or two of paper and paint.

a door covered with graffiti, with more street art paint on the walls beside it

below: There is a little pink stikman on the light above the door.

pink stikman graffiti on a light over a door in an alley

below: Once upon a time this skinny little guy was pink but ooops, a layer of paint and now he’s prematurely grey.

white stikman graffiti on a white wall behind metal bars

below: In her face – another stikman

small red stikman on yellow paint with a woman's face at the bottom layer

below: Last stikman for today… sometimes you find them tucked away in hard to see places.

green and black stikman hiding behind a hook with a black strap on it

below: Party line?  Four hands phone.

old phone booth but with 4 receivers, all covered with paint and graffiti

below:  A bleeding heart, a pansy flower, and a woman with a red hat and big ear rings.

small graffiti in graffiti alley, a red painted heart, paper paste ups of a pansy flower and a person's head

below: Polly wants a cracker before she takes over the world, or at least that’s what she told me.

paper paste up graffiti, one is a green bird with text that says bird takeover

below: A young woman with blue lipstick and jagged pink make up on her cheeks.  A spiked collar is around her neck.  Make of it what you will.

graffiti, woman with blue lips and spikey black hair, beside word peace stenciled twice in paint

below: Another young woman,  this time she’s a little softer (at least in appearance) – drawn by Catchoo.

below: Multiple Sailor dudes (trp613) in two varieties hanging out with a happy little catchoo critter and its smiley daisy balloon.

lots of paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, one is a catchoo character holding a daisy shaped balloon

below: “Save me”!

paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, including a blue floppy disc with text that says save me, by catchoo

below:  It looks like catchoo has been busy.

graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: More of that wall.

lots of slaps, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Darth Vader makes an appearance too.  Who’s that man peeking through the hole?

orange skull, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley, also Darth Vader,

urban ninja squadron and others, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: One flower sprouts a bald person while the other produces a sunny orb.  That black octopus doesn’t look very happy – perhaps in this winter weather it needs more than just a woolly toque.

paint graffiti in graffiti alley, black octopus wearing a red toque

below: There are those women again!

33wallflower33 sticker of three flapper women

below: Dogma slaps standing tall in his puffy jacket and bright red mitts.

2 slaps graffiti on a wall already covered with street art paint. One is a dog, standing on two feet and dressed in human clothes - or perhaps it is a man with a dogs head

below: Riding a D7606 crayon – T-bonez always finds new adventures.

paste up graffiti high on a wall, t-bonez, from urban ninja squadron is riding a large orange crayon with D 7606 (name of another artist) on it,

collection of stickers, graffiti alley,

below: A collaboration between Tamm Shinzo and April Showers Art produced this little round piece – sitting on top of the clouds with the moon shining over her shoulder.

round paper paste up on a utility pole in Graffiti Alley,

below: Cryptid Supremacy – a rat with a very long tail

pink background with drawing of a rat sitting on a bench, long tail, words: cryptid supremacy

below: More rats, this time “the rat race is rigged”.  Also another skull (skulls are very popular!), this time by Broke Canvas (aka Colin Green) on yellow.   And third, is it a rainbow or a very sad face?  – slap by Rider Waitress (aka Frances Sousa)

graffiti on a wall, a black rat with words the rat race is rigged, a yellow square with a drawing of a skull by broke canvas, and last a rainbow with two flowers that looks like a sad face, by rider waitress

below: While we’re dealing with rats – Squee!  They are all fleeing from an NYC trash can.  Don’t litter!

a sticker on a wall in graffiti alley, mice fleeing from a trash can, squeee

below: Another small collection – Catchoo shows up on a soy sauce bottle while a Sentient Cookie (aka Cecil Tian) character gets taped to the wall… remember that banana?!   And last, in the top left corner, a Cartoon Car Slaps.

catchoo soya sauce bottle, sentient cookie paste up and a cartoon slaps slap, garffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Juice box time. By Clem Crevetz

sticker on metal pipes in graffiti alley, man sitting, with juice box in his hands

small green fish sticker beside a lock on a door

small graffiti painting, black line drawing of a face, with very pointy chin, on white background

elicser elliott painting of a woman in rabbit ears, drinking a can of pop

graffiti where is my $$

alley graffiti stickers, blepser and nervo
pasteup little character in white suit, probably marcel morceau, the mime artist

elle was here, written on sidewalk in pink

Photos taken January 2026

walking around Bari

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….. looking for (and finding!) graffiti and interesting bits of street art.

There were a few pieces by artist Blub who has used well known faces of famous figures or images from art history and placed them underwater wearing a diving mask. These are part of his series, “L’Arte Sa Nuotare” (underwater art)

below: Little angel

street art by blub, his underwater series, famous little angel with arms crossed in front of him, now blue and wearing diving mask

below: The Madonna. In some versions she is with baby Jesus who has been cut out of this image (as you can see the bubbles floating upward from his mask even though he is not in this picture)

street art by blub, his underwater series, famous woman's face now blue and wearing diving mask, virgin mary, or the madonna

blub graffiti that was a portrait wearing a diving mask, but has been torn so face is gone

Taken from Gustav Klimt’s, “The Kiss”, the kissing couple are now underwater too.

Another artist with a presence in Bari is LeDieSis and her/their Superwomen series

below: Barbie’s been shopping. She’s winking at you.

street art by LeDieSis, image of Barbie wearing blue dress with superman symbol

below: Pink and purple and another wink. Does she realize that someone is looking over her shoulder?

in pink and purple tones, street art by LeDieSis, woman with hair tied back, and superman symbol on front of t shirt

below: Another winking superwoman. I suspect that the official looking notice has been taped over her Superman symbol.

graffiti by LeDieSis, blond woman, other graffiti around her

below: The Virgin Mary is also in Bari, also winking, as she carries her baby daughter

street art by LeDieSis, Virgin Mary in white robes with blue scarf or coat over shoulders, wearing baby carrier on her front, with baby, superman symbol on baby's back

two pieces of graffiti on a wall, one is frida kahlo with superman t shirt and others is gals are strong as hell sticker

below: Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo superwoman graffiti by LeDieSis

below: “Gals are as strong as hell” by unknown artist.

sticker that says gals are strong as hell

Mopsi, by so schoen immer wieder, can be seen in many European cities including Bari. He (she?) usually has something to say.

below: Equality has no gender. The black scrawl covers the word “no” which can totally change the message if you’re not looking closely.

below: Rizek (aka Kris Rizek)

street art by Kris Rizek

I saw two small female figues by Miss Quark

below: One woman bares it all

graffiti sticker of a naked woman with back turned and arms covering breasts, bare bum,

below: And the other has flowing red hair and colourful wings.

small graffiti by Miss Quark of a fairy like female figure, nude, long red flowing hair, multi coloured wings, investigating some large flowers

There were also Gu Tang Clan posters on the walls in Bari.

gu tang gang graffti

Zooming in to highlight some of the stickers – a blue shark in pink waters, a flaming sandal, and Ind–? Jam?.

And last, a selection of work by “Unknown Artists”

There are two large paste up figures in black and white which may or may not be by the same artist. The top one is Mona Lisa is a man’s suit. She’s been leaning on this wall since at least 2019 so although she’s looking a little rough, she’s doing well for her age.

life size black and white paste up of Mona Lisa's head on a man's body wearing a suit, on a stone wall, graffiti
large paste up of a man in blue trousers, on a box on sidewalk, in front a womans clothing store
graffiti street art portrait of a woman
sticker graffiti, little blue ghost

sticker graffiti, one with 2 motorcycles and one with man in wolf mask

Photos taken February 2024

downtown Worcester

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clock tower in downtown worcester on old stone building, with newer glass skyscrapers behind it

below: Wrdsmth – “This is my palette.  A mere twenty-six deep, yet the possibilities are infinite.”  … Plus his typewriter that appears in all his graffiti and street art.  The mural also credits PowWow Worcester which was an annual arts festival (for a few years prior to 2021) that was responsible for bringing a number of murals to the city.

close up of lower right corner of large mural by wrdsmth that is the letters of the alphabet, this photo shows letters V, W, X, and Z, as well as the typewriter and text large mural by wrdsmth that is the letters of the alphabet, with a typewriter in the lower right corner, and the words: This is my palette.  A mere twenty-six deep, yet the possibilities are infinite

below: A tower of women, by Marka27, aka Victor Quinonez, 2016, a very vertical mural on the side of the parking garage at Federal Plaza.

marka27 mural of 3 women forming a tower, younger girl on bottom, older woman on topmarka27, or Victor Quinonez, mural of 3 women forming a tower, younger girl on bottom, older woman on top

below: A painting by Christina Angelina, another parking garage mural at Federal Plaza

christena angelina mural of a woman in profile, long hair, waterychristena_angelina_vertical-2

below:  Another mural that was painted during a PowWow Worcester is this cartoon-like painting by Greg Mike (2016).

mural with cartoon like characters, mouse from Tom and Jerry, the word smile, a tiger with long front teeth, an owl with big eyes

close up of mouse and word smile from greg mike mural in downtown worcester

below: Jason Eatherly’s trucks parked beside the old brick building.

old fade blue trucks, mural by Jason Eatherly on the side of a red brick buiding with exterior metal fire escape stairs

below: One of the first murals painted in Worcester is this now slightly faded creation by Caleb Neelon

caleb_neelon_trafficlights-2

below: Calligraphy type design, part of a larger mural by Imagine, aka Sneha Shresta.

part of calligraphy type mural by nepalese artist sneha shresta, in reds and oranges on blue background

below:  At the YWCA, two young girls in shades of blue on a red background.

blue portrait of young woman on red backgroundblue portrait of young woman on red background
below: Keep on smiling!

street art painting of a helium filled balloon that is yellow with big black happy face on it

Photos taken July 2024

There were also murals by Damien Mitchell (below) and Insane that I saw in downtown Worcester but they have already been featured in a prior blog post, (Insane + One)

damien mitchell mural in worcester, large portrait of white woman

*****

caleb neelon mural on wall in downtown worcester

walking along the Seine

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Graffiti and street art seen while walking along the Seine in Paris.

below: Woof woof! Yes Paris!

small black and white graffiti, simple drawing of a dog saying yes paris

below: Multi-coloured by Tremos, Peruvian artist living in France

colourful abstract painting by tremos, with hands and feet

below: At Voie sur Berge (Passerelle Léopold Sedar Senghor), in the 7ème, is this long mural by Michael Beerens titled “Plastique” – it is a comment on the state of our oceans.

large mural in blues on a wall beside the River Seine

The title is French but the word in the mural is English, “plastic”.

part of Plastique, a long blue mural by Michael Beerens along the banks of the river Seine

below: Honey bear by fnnch. There are quite a few of these around Paris and I blogged about them in June of 2022, Honey Bears.

paste up of a bear shaped container of golden coloured honey, graffiti by fnnch

Swallows in flight; swallows with little white halos.

graffiti, painting of a swallow (bird) in flight, with a small white halo over its head
graffiti, painting of a swallow (bird) in flight, with a small white halo over its head. also words that say forever child and joja

below: A “My dog sighs” sticker beside a portrait of a woman with very orange hair.

stickers and pasteups on a metal box, outside, including a painting of a woman in turquoise dress with orange hair

below: A small black and white cat by Copycat, an “anonymeows streetartist” who has painted hundreds of cats.

Paris graffiti by copycat, a cat

below: Another Copycat cat…

Paris graffiti by copycat, a cat

below: ….. and yet another, on a multi coloured background

Paris graffiti by copycat, a cat, on multi coloured background

below: Another Copycat cat… this time it has a companion, another orange headed woman. She is surrounded by an intricate design and is the work of OJA.

two paste ups, paper, on metal boxes outside. One is a loose-skinned hairless cat by copycat and the other is a woman, surrounded by intricate detailed border by o j a

below: Two faded OJA pieces

two faded portraits, turned pale blue

below: Re-using many, many can lids – beer cans, pop cans, drink cans.

3 d art, large plywood board with circle made of pop can tops which are circular

graffiti and street art covering a door

below: Are three heads better than one?

below: A sassy blue monkey with a pink heart bum.

below: Mr. Djoul is an artist who creates mosaics, especially of this little green-eyed alien creature

below: Invader mosaic? And in the lower left corner, bright red hair and words that say “My weariness in longing”

invader mosaic, graffiti in paris

below: From the description beside the photo: “Ho–[torn] made a famous photograph of a dying soldier which became anti war icon since 1930s. Later it was proven to be a staged image on which nobody really died… From Russian diaries of Krapiva Netleva”  [krapiva is the Russian word for nettle]

faded large black and white photo mounted on an outside wall

below: Four photographs on a wall

4 small colour photos, framed, on a wall

below: On a post overlooking the river.

two stickers on a pole, river seine behind, buildings on the far side of the river in the background

below: This guy gets around! Nourf, by Pimax

graffiti, stylized red head of dog with big pointy white teeth

below: More slaps and stickers. A Mohawk-type hair style with A2, Natreel (a clothing brand), Tom Azria (faded), and Venus in a witch’s hat.

graffiti slaps and stickers

below: Abstract shapes and colours. Trying to look 3-dimensional.

graffiti and street art in paris

Photos taken March 2023

Are You Dead? and others

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Are You Dead? refers to a large number of graffiti pieces around Valencia Spain with those words on it. Some are shown here (photos from March 2018) along with other street art that was in close proximity.

large street art painting in black and white, on the side of a building, as seen from across a vacant lot. Words say Decay Ruin Are you dead? Real Estate

below: Are you dead on the door, with DEIH in blue.

several pieces of street art on a wall including red words on a metal door that say are you dead

below: Are you dead on the left and a piece titled Anemia by escif.

below: As well as “are you dead?”, “It’s never too late” and some skulls, all watched over by a purple bull.

are you dead stencils on a wall in front of a vacant lot, words, skulls, black ink, also a purple bull

are you dead stencils on a wall in front of a vacant lot, words, skulls, black ink, through a chainlink fence, also a purple bull

More of his work can be seen on his instagram page.