Tag Archives: urban ninja squadron

covering a yellow door

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In Melbourne’s Baptist Place there is/was a collection of stickers and paste-ups by a very international group of artists.

below: This is the door as seen in February 2025. It may look different now!

A double door, painted pale yellow, inset into a wall that is yellow, exterior door, covered with stickers and paste ups, graffiti by many different artists

A closer look at some of the stickers and paste-ups……

below: Mama yellow rubber ducky and her four little ones with lots of balloons – and one little ducky is wearing black swim goggles. These yellow adventurers can be found in lots of places, especially in France which is the home of their creator, Canards Vagabonds aka Sylvie Gennerat.

canards, yellow duckies, mama duck with four little ones, one has a black pair of swim goggles on, 4 bunches of balloons too

below: A Wonder Woman figure by Little Meh as well as a DJ Gumba dude holding 2 black balloons. One of the balloons says “pretty cool”. On the right, is that man really carrying a very large carrot?

stickers and slaps on a door, one is DJ Gumba with two black balloons, one is a wonder woman figure by little meh, and one is a man in a plaid shirt carrying a very large carrot also a sticker with just text that reads helping animals doesn't need to be that hard

below: A grey possum with a little pink nose and a curvy tail under “Back rolls not gender roles”.

graffiti paste up of a grey possum with a pink nose and a long curved tail

below: A collection of slaps by a variety of artists. There are two Breaking Bad yellow Lego men. The skateboarder with the black and white flowery hair is the work of Drecks. At the very bottom, a Tweet cat face with blue David Bowie style lightning bolts and a droopy eyed guy by American artist The Dtore (aka Dave)

many stickers and paste ups on a door, there is no planet B, a drecks woman on a skateboard, two breaking bad lego figures in yellow, a spatula turned into a puppet head with big red lips,

below: One very pink eyed cat and a couple of red capped mushroom people. The latter is the work of My Cute Creatures (Creaturi Dragute) – Mama Mushroom and her little mushroom tyke.

two pieces of graffiti, a cat head, black and white cat with pink eyes and pink lips, another by cute creatues, mushrooms with red caps turned into human forms, mother and child,

below: Now ET can call home whenever he wants. In the bottom right corner is a tiny sticker by Vootsak aka Camille. The green eye with the tears but under a rainbow was created by Apparan. Leave no one behind.

slaps on a yellow door, ET in a hoodie holding a smart phone, a black bomb cherry bomber, a green eye with tears under a rainbow,

below: A grey cat has found a handy perch atop the head of a ginger man with beard and mustache (by Stoeyes)

a man's head, ginger beard and mustache, with blue headphones, a mask, and a grey cat sitting on his head, other stickers too, one with the word work,

below: A white bird takes flight.

slaps on a door, a white bird in flight, a pink bunny with word box with a question mark, and ET's head and phone

below: Some Australian animals – a white ibis (by Tweet) and a kangaroo with a white rabbit in its pouch. The latter is a collaboration between Maens_hh, a German artist who draws characters like the white rabbit, and Eppendorfs_finest, an artist who often draws/paints/showcases a dog called Lounis.

slaps on a door, a white bird with long legs and long curved beak, also black head, another graffiti piece that is a kangaroo with a white rabbit in its pouch

below: Another collection of slaps, stickers and paste ups including T-bonez of the urban ninja squadron, a common sight around Toronto. TRP613 Sailor Dude is wearing an Australia T-shirt but now has the Tweet cat face.

stickers and paste ups including tweet cat, urban ninja squadron, sailor dude with an australian shirt on, and others

below: Monstrous! Now Trp613 (a Canadian from Ottawa) Sailor Dude seems to have turned green but that’s okay by MIC (Maid in Cologne). Sailor Dude may be green but that woman beside him is very red! (by Zelda Bomba from France)

Sailor Dude as a greenmonster, graffiti, Zelda bomba bright red woman's head with blue hair

below: A monster party! … With bunches of sunflowers and plenty of balloons, by Tweet

monster party graffiti by tweet, frankenstein, all with balloons

slaps, stickers, and paste ups on a laneway door, wonder woman, trp 613, monster party, breaking bad, lego, green monster, drecks,

below: “Body size is morally neutral”, “Protect queer kids”, “My cat thinks you should vote yes to the voice”. “Read books and dismantle [illegible] oppression.”

stickers on a door, all with text, body size is morally neitral, protect queer kids, my cat thinks you should vote no to the voice, and a priority mail sticker with a little white cat and the words, read books and dismantle the [illegible] of oppression

below: “Think!”, “Open your mind” and “Mutual aid is an evolutionary advantage.” Cupid’s got you in his line of sight – so beware of the balloons!

cupid with a bow and arrow, yellow rubber duckies, a woman with a rainbow scarf, open your mind, mutual aid is an evolutionary advantage, all graffiti on a door,

below: “Read boos. Be kind. Stay weird.” as well as a sleeping good vibes cat and a seahorse with a bouquet of tulips and balloons. Like many of the animal graffiti created by Industrie Tarte, this seahorse, or lippocampe, comes comes ready to divide into sections – filet, plat de cotes, bavette, flanchet – which are all cuts of meat. . The exact same pasteup was seen in Paris in 2023 (trust, live, love, all on a Paris wall).

sleeping cat says good vibes, graffiti, seahorse with balloons,

below: Hey cool, it’s a balloon burger with bones…. but that dog doesn’t look too impressed by it all.

paste ups, an orange and black dog sitting, a burger with balloons in the center and sticker that says cool

below: Almost life-sized Tweet cat with a fistful of balloons.

graffiti on a door in an alley in melbourne

below: What big eyes you’ve got!

graffiti on a door in an alley in melbourne including a grey bug with big head and eye, holding a net in its hands

below: A bright rd crab with big claws beside a prickly echidna playing with balloons. And dancing figures, le petite peuple de l’ombre, with even more balloons (by Wall-Lilo)

big red crab, graffiti paste ups, balloons, floating people, and an echidna

below: Masked smoker with Batman ears?

Photos taken February 2025

around and behind Ossington

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Ossington Avenue is an interesting street to walk with it’s numerous stores, restaurants and coffee shops.  But there is another fascinating world hiding behind the main street in the numerous lanes and alleys in the area.

on Ossington Ave., older buildings that are now stores. one is painted olive green, another is white, and third is red brick. at the end, is a building with large yellow and blue vertical stripes, a bench is on the sidewalk

For this blog post, I have assembled more of the photographs that I have taken around Ossington since January of this year.  It gets a bit long because I decided not to chop it into smaller pieces, so grab a seat and let’s get started!

a bench beside a green wall in a snow covered parking lot, door beside bench has love U! written on it

below: A whimsical Uber5000 painting on a garage door.

uber 5000 mural, green biplane with 3 yellow birdies, including one standing on a bomb. dog standing on one of the airplane wings

below: Hearts on fire, burning love, and the fireman that is trying to extinguish the flames – in a mural created by D. Terra Stencils.

stencil,ural by D. Terra stencils, a crouching fireman holds a hose and shoots water upward towards a big red heart

below: One of the cutest raccoons that I have ever seen, also painted by D.Terra Stencils.

mural by D. Terra stencils, of a young raccoon, green leafy background

below: Some more cute raccoons of a different sort go camping in a mural by Emily May Rose

Emily May Rose raccoons go camping, with a grey and orange trailer, a yellow umbrella, and a folding chair too

two grey Emily May Rose raccoons play in a pile of dirt, while drinking canned drinks

below: … and some more raccoons!

Emily May Rose raccoons in a painting on a fence in an alley

below: …. and even more!

in an allley, wall and door, raccoons by Emily May Rose and text graffiti too
toronto alley near ossington with street art on fences and garages

below: Smaller black stencil graffiti on a white garage door – an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe as well as a Kung fu Panda.  The other woman gets a splash of bright red.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, portrait of Marilyn Monroe, and kung fu panda image, as well as another woman's head and face

below: A trumpet player and a gun fight.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, a man playing a trumpet, also two men in a gun fight with one standing over the other who is lying on the ground.

below: Bikes on the stairs with a colourful bird keeping a watchful eye.

in an alley, exterior stairs to a small balcony, bike parked on stairs, mural of a bird painted on wall beside the stairs

Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

below: An old square brick building, garages and fences with graffiti, old trees, and a row of houses at the end of the lane – this captures the look of a typical Toronto lane.

looking down an alley, garages with graffiti on the right, fence on the left, at the end, a semi divided house that is different on either side, also at end of alley, on right, a larger red brick building (old)

below: Home patio, outdoor living urban style.

exterior of building, concrete block painted a dark yellow,, white door, and black window, with 2 small chairs and a table, and a stool, immediately outside the building

below: “Stop and enjoy”.  I like how the poster below the stop sign says “mediocrity” which makes the overall message, “Stop and enjoy mediocrity”.  A bit snarky.

stop sign on a pole in an alley, beside a garage door with street art on it. text graffiti on the stop sign so that it says stop and enjoy

in a laneway with street art murals on all the garage doors

part of a larger mural, a face in the sun, eyes closed, some vines are growing over the face

older drawing on garage, man's face, coconut tree with palm leaves,

below: The tail end of a fishy mural.

a small alley near Ossington, cars parked in alley, one side has building with mural on it, the other is a house with grey siding cladding

below: This aquatic themed mural dates from 2016 when a group of artists painted many murals in the area, all with the Great Lakes as their theme. They were part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans project. Some artworks have survived better than others. Love letters in paint is a post (off site, in my Toronto blog) from 2016 that show most of them in their original form.

fish mural by shalak attack

below: The Swiss army knife was also a Pangeaseed mural

street art mural with a big red swiss army knife in the center

below: Where possible, Jimmy’s Coffee shops have exterior walls painted with images of famous Jimmys including the one on Ossington. Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson Gonzo and Elmo

images of famous Jimmys on the side of Jimmys coffee shop on Ossington, Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson gonzo and elmo

black and white image of Jimmy Hendrix singing and playing guitar, pink background, mural

below: A Jimmy of a different kind, a fantastic cacaphony of colours and shapes in a mural by Jimmy Chiale

mural of abstract shapes and colours by j. chiale

below: Close up of part of a mural, a young man wearing a black mask over his eyes.

close up of a street art painting, a young man in a black mask over his eyes

photo taken in a snowy parking lot, of the backs of some houses, fences, backyards,

below: Rowell Soller

rowell soller mural on a garage door

below: Two paintings on two different garages that look like they were done by the same artist.  The signature appears to be Soul R. and the top painting is from 2017.

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in light shades of brown, blue garage

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in a wall in an alley, with a pile of empty boxes and containers on the ground in front of it

below: 2022 Christina Mazzulla, for the Golden Turtle Restaurant.

mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

on the side wall of a house in an alley, mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

below: “You are stroger than you think”

a house being renovated, plywood over downstairs window with graffiti on it

below: Nick Sweetman has used shades of blue and purple to create this wonderful northern scene with a bear and moose combo.

a large bear and a moose, in a mural on a garage door in an alley, painted by bruno smoky or shalak attack

below: Totally blue.   The other colours have faded?  Or were never there in the first place?

gate in alley, double wide, at the end of a driveway, all in blue

below: More garage doors painted by D.Terra Stencils

alley near Ossington with lots of garage doors covered with murals, street art, urban art

below: On a bright yellow background, an image of Jean Michel Basquiat, one of the original creators present-day street art.

garage door painted yellow, then a portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat often considered the founder of street art

below: .. and beside Basquiat, a levitating woman

mural on an alley garage door by D.TErra stencils, a levitating woman, lying on her back up in the air, long hair hanging down.

below: Written in Portuguese is “Nem às paredes confesso” which translates to “I don’t even confess to the walls”.

mural on red background, musicians, one singer and one instrument player

below: Portuguese words, and nearby a Portuguese flag

street art painting of the Portuguese (Portugal) flag

mural, portrait of a man on a purple background

below: Boxers – Muhammad Ali and an opponent

boxing mural

below: The last D. Terra Stencils is this rendition of Ren and Stimpy

ren and stimpy from Nickelodeon TV in the 1990s, in a mural

trimming trees in an alley, man in lift above the lane, truck, some garages with graffiti and street art

little bits of metal on a wood utility pole

exterior door in an alley, covered with street art

part of a larger painting, a small character peaks its head out from the middle of a puffy orange letter O

below: The next four images are of the same mural in a snowy laneway parking lot…  starting with DAM DOG ketchup bottle

parking lot, in winter, box with street art on it beside a wall with more painting

parrt of a mural, smiling skull with a chain through one eye socket, and slightly yellow bottom teeth,

below: Parking for Animals

from a larger mural, young man in multi colour sunglasses, with a can of spray paint in his hand

close up of part of a mural, finger on the top of a spray paint can

below: These little ceramic animals have been walking in this alley for at least ten years.

little flat ceramic animal shapes, a turtle a small dinosaur, glued to a wall in an alley, beige with green and pink dots,

below: T-bonez stands alone, maybe waiting for the light to turn green?

t bonex sticker on a yellow box (for crossing signal). urban ninja squadron, visual noise,

T bonez sticker from visual noise and urban ninja squadron

close up of an old turquoise section of street art on wood fence, with red spray paint circle and double cross

on a wall painted very deep but bright red, outside in an alley, torn bits of paper remain where posters have been partially torn off

box on a wall, covered with stickers that are mostly in black and white, with red spray paint tag on top of it all.

below: And what’s this? Even more raccoons?! Toronto’s “beloved” trash pandas are everywhere!

raccoons in an alley mural, one sitting on a trash can, drinking, raccoons are trash pandas

part of a mural, painted by Emily May Rose, of a greenish grey raccoon, or trash panda, sitting of the top of a metal garbage can, holding a bottle with an XXX label.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in this alley directly behind Ossington (on the east side) dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west
street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.
weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

below: A tribute mural celebrating Canadian Black designers.

mural in an ossington alley, black background, text that says Designers of Canada, with three portraits, on the lower level of a three storey red brick building

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece
alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti
garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

below: And lastly…  Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

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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.

alley, long low building on right hand side, painted blue, with windows,

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.

stencil on a wall in an alley, a fist holding a 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…..

graffiti on a black garage, white drawing of a person with fingers in peace sign, with text Tell me it's all going to be okay?

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

murals on a fence in an alley including one by hello kirsten, design patterns, also a woman in purple,

murals in an alley, a garage painted all orange, paintings on fence, face and cacti painted in side a car port under an apartment

motorcycle parked in front of blue fence, beside a garage in a lane, near Queen Street West and Lansdowne

mini cooper car parked in an alley beside a garage with street art and graffiti on it

green spray paint and black drippy paint graffiti on red brick wall

alley views

below: Enough!  Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

close up of painting on a wood fence, abstract shapes and colours, with texture

panda, dragon, and a foxy lady

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Baptist Place, Melbourne
One small section of a yellow wall.

a section of yellow wall in an alley with a number of different paste up graffiti pieces

below: him: I’ve waited a long time to carry you over the threshold, her: Finally a tent of our own!

cartoon like drawing of a blond young man carrying a woman in pink skirt and purple top,

below: It doesn’t take many lines to make a compelling portrait.

fine drawing of woman's portrait, woman with long hair, on white paper, pasted on yellow wall,

below: Two simple but cute puppies selling their wares.

graffiti paste up, black drawing on white, bicycle food cart

below: Two Marilyns

paste up pf Marilyn Munroe wearing a t shirt with a large face of marilyn manson on it

below: upper: “Without leaving my House I know the whole universe.” Panda Philosophy.  lower: T-bonez rides with trp613 (aka Ty Pro), Visual Noise & Urban Ninja Squadron.

two slaps, a panda bear paste up and a graffiti piece featuring t bonez of urban ninja squadron riding on motorcycle of

below: A little dragon creature, by stenandoli

graffiti, little gragon-like character with big orange head, little wings as arms that are red and blue striped, big yellow eyes, by stenandoli

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?

three paste ups on a yellow wall, a cat, a bird that is an australian white ibis, and a sad grey man character by stenandoli

below: A foxy lady, by Susi Foxy Art, aka Susi Luard.

graffiti poster, by susi foxy art, woman with fox fur including tail, corset in orange and black, fox coloured hair, fishnet stockings,

below: Carried away by a yellow balloon…..

little painting on old paper with chinese characters, a pink shoe being carried upward 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?

3 paste ups on an alley wall, a man holding a big fish, text says don't be a dick, and third also with text that says trans phobia is rooted in white supremacy

below: Look out everyone, there’s an angry looking Blastoise pokemon character coming your way!

two slaps on an alley wall, one is a blaistoise pokemon character in blue, the other is a drawing of little animals in a greenhouse, a house made of glass

black and white graffiti, small, of a woman turning to look at viewer.

below: Think!

sticker says think in decorated capital letters, sticker is a style wars sticker, someone has written in ink, sounds like capitalism

Photos taken February 2025

First 2025 visit to Graffiti Alley, Toronto

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My previous post, skateboard portraits was from a walk down Graffiti Alley in Toronto the other day.   This post contains more photos that I took that snowy afternoon… so, let’s take a look!

below: Uber 5000’s yellow bird is still walking his dog and singing a song on this side of this red brick building.  It’s at least 10 years old?  The black and grey portrait on the right is much newer.

Graffiti Alley street art paintings, many, including uber 5000 walking dog and singing,

below: Profile portrait by TheHalfDecent

Graffiti Alley street art painting, profile portrait of woman in black and purple, car parked in front of it

below: “Let them drink beer”, a stencil from D. Terra featuring Ontario Premier Doug Ford whose biggest “win” in the province is bringing alcohol sales to convenience stores and gas stations…. at a massive cost.

below:  A 33wallflower33 pasteup in the foreground, with a corner of one of Nick Sweetman’s bird murals in the background.

pasteup by 33wallflower33, a black and white vintage photo of a woman, cut to oval shape, on a red surface. graffiti alley, a mural by nick sweetman is in the background, a blue bird in flight

below: A collaboration between Nick Sweetman and Shanehuss produced this drippy, melting jaw portrait.

street art mural, calligraphy in grey tones is the background, man's portrait with red skin, purple hat, metal frame glasses, the bottom part of the face is either washing away or melting.

below: The top portion of ” RIP King Reign & Son of Soul” remains.  This tribute mural was painted by Elicser Elliott and Omen514.  I am not sure who is responsible for the newer painting on the bottom, the one in yellows and blues.  That’s probably a ‘signature’ in the bottom left but I don’t recognize it.

Graffiti Alley street art painting, 2 men wearing caps, King Reign and Son of Soul tribute mural, also a uber5000 little yellow bird with a tea cup in his hand

part of King Reign and Son of Soul tribute mural by Elicser Elliott and Omen 514, with newer abstract mural covering the bottom part

below: Graffiti Alley in the snow.

graffiti alley in the snow

below: Sun of Aquarius (aka Andre Mandela Lopez) painted this naked figure with brown wings and bird mask

in an alley, exterior stairs to upper level balcony in alcove with two sides painted with murals, including one by sun of aquarius

below: A pole covered with knit squares while T-bonez is shushing you.

Graffiti Alley street art painting, on wall, pole in front of wall that is covered with knit squares, also a pasteup of urban ninja squadron, t bonez

below: A pointy nosed, long snouted dog by Mr. Myl, aka Luis Casas, who was originally from Havana Cuba.

mr myl street art painting in graffiti alley, on bright pink background, an orange and yellow dog with log snout and orange teeth, small ears, sitting position

below: Another Mr. Myl dog, this one with its blue eyes popping out.   I don’t think that it’s because of the woman next to him.  “Para mi Tita” is Spanish for “For my aunt”.

mr myl street art painting in graffiti alley, on bright pink background, an orange and yellow dog with log snout and orange teeth, small ears, sitting position, beside a portrait of a woman holding a large calla lily, with text

below: Blue haired woman by April Showers

below: And another blue haired woman…..

below: … and a third.  I think that I see a trend.  Methinks April Showers likes blue hair.

grey car parked in parking lot at end of alley, murals painted on the walls, stickers cover the signs

below: An anti-camera, anti-photographer image, “Gimmy a break, clik, clik, clik” featuring uber 5000’s yellow bird and blue cat, with the Pink Panther is a supporting role.   Love the red specs!

street art on a wall by stairs, pink panther, uber 5000 yellow bird, tags, also uber 5000 complaints about photographers

below:  Poser bunny in red

street art, red poser bunny

below: He (she?) seems puzzled by the snow?!

a young person with short dark hair, and a yellow t shirt, mural in graffiti alley

below: Is it a man or is it a chicken?  A red headed cigarette smoking, spray painting character by Tuffytats

street art painting by tuffytats

below: This one looks more like a chicken should look, so fowl.

below: An environmental message – “Got mercury?” from a non-profit group trying to raise awareness of the impact of mercury poisoning on indigenous communities.

graffiti on a wall, yellow bird from uber5000, red and turquoise character with devil horns and furry hair

graffiti alley in the winter, snowing, some snow on the ground

below: Good Luck!

street art painting, green background, a red apple sitting on 2 books, an arrow runs through the apple

graffiti alley mural, guitar player, red guitar, also an elicser elliott piece of a person wearing a rabbit hat

below: Another 33wallflower33 vintage woman.

graffiti on a wall including woman in bikini by 33 wallflower 33.

below: Chubby purple cheeks gives a thumbs up

street art painting of a large purple monster face

below: Still reaching out and trying to touch someone…..

old telephone booth in graffiti alley

street art mural, asian woman with purple hair tied up on top of her head with glowing lantern

graffiti on a wall including a red heart with J + J written in the middle

Photos taken January 2025

abandoned site, Baldwin & Spadina

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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.

graffiti on old hoardings at baldwin and spadina, a sign that says the last laugh, words written in red capital letters on black background

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.

pasteups on plywood hoardingsbelow: WOW! He is not dead yet.  Live!  Let Live!

three drawings on a fence, one red, one white, one blue, lines, face, and words, he is not dead yeat, ugly, beauty

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

graffiti by Bao Pham, Trans Quebec, Beatles as storm troopers in a shield shape

below: “Fab Four Troopers” Quebec highway sign

graffiti by Bao Pham, Trans Quebec, Beatles as storm troopers in a shield shape

below: “Return of the Boom Bap Trooper”

graffiti street art by Bao Pham, storm trooper from Star Wars movies holding a ghetto blaster on his shoulder, wearing rapper jewellery

below: A woman’s portrait among the advertisements.

posters on hoardings, some advertising television programs, some HIV education website and in the middle is a graffiti street art picture of a woman with flowers in her hair

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

graffiti picture of a woman (photograph) with flowers in her hair and a cigarette in her hand

below: A green catchoo looking atch youcatchoo green rectangular face paste up

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

visual noise, and urban ninja squadron black and white paste up on a pole

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

Graffiti Alley – spring 2024

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As you might know, every once in a while I walk down Graffiti Alley in Toronto to see if there is anything new that might be of interest.  This blog post is a result of last week’s walk….

below: Orange hair with attitude – “You don’t look smart because you have a beard!” by NYC based City Kitty. In the upper right corner all the way from the UK, a D7606 old style telephone featuring David Bowie… call a friend.

graffiti on a wall, pasteup of man with three eyes and a lot of orange hair and facial hair. Also a paste up by D76060 of a blue old fashioned rotary phone with an image of musician David Bowie in the center.

below: Havana to Toronto and of course, 2 + 2 always = 5.

two images side by side on a wall in graffiti alley

below: A diverse group of faces

below: Many more faces but mostly a frowny face man.  Every time I look at this picture I think of Poilievre but that opinion might get me into trouble!

stickers, graffiti, on a pole, a painting of a scowling frowning man on the wall beside the pole

below: Purple with green wings and a golden halo – horus and tuffytats (aka Trevor Goodwin) be dreaming again?

tuffytats painting on a wall in graffiti alley, female figure in purple with wings and a halo

below: “Tell them louder”

below: Yarn squares crocheted and attached to a pole with Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-bonez looking on.

yarn squares, knit and or crocheted, and attached to a utility pole in alley, a large urban ninja squadron paste up is beside it

below: No Dumping stickers

black and yellow city street sign saying no dumping,with many graffiti stickers on it

below: Playing on his knees.  That’s quite the instrument.  Cuba on his shoulder.

below: And a similar man with curly hair and beard, but this time in pink.

pink portrait of a man with curly hair, curly beard, and a mustache, his eyes are closed

below: A blue legless and armless robot along with a conehead type creature with a big mouth, both at 733.

below: FPmonkey – a young woman with long purple hair tied up with green flowers.   A single red tear drop on her cheek.

below: Uber5000’s marine life is still a colourful fixture in the alley.

below: Nearby, his Toronto/Canada themed mural has not lasted as well.  A couple of yellow birdies are still visible.

defaced uber5000 mural, with tags and graffiti over it, some yellow birdies still visible

below: Spiderman and the Spiderverse – some of the mural remains untouched but much of it has been tagged over

part of a mural about spiderman and the spiderverse but some of it has been tagged over

below: En masse has a number of pieces in the area including three metal boxes on the sidewalk – this is part of one of those boxes.  Almost all of their work is in black and white.

part of a black and white desiden by en masse on a metal box on the sidewalk

below: The tears of a clown when there’s no one around….

part of a mural, a clown with large white collar, white hat with red hearts on it, and a lot of white face make up is crying big tears, flower in his hat, big red mouth,

below: She’s green.

below: Tiny finds on a blue wall.  Princess Lays Chicken (Princess Laya Chicken?)

below: remnants of Black Lives Matter, and a new purple flower on the door.

below: A scrawny cat scribbled on yellow paint.  In case it is difficult to see, the sticker (or paste up) on the pole is an old television set with text near the bottom that says, “HAHA”.  Interpret it as you wish (as usual).

below: Rubbish in the lane (maybe just a spring clean up needed? … not that the alley is usually clean LOL)


Photos taken March 2024
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog

Trastevere slaps – another wall

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below: A street in the Trastevere neighbourhood in Rome.

below: A collection of paste-ups (or wheatpastes) from a number of artists.

an exterior wall on a street in trastevere section of rome with many pasteup graffiti pieces on it, in Roma, arte urbano

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.

graffiti on a wall in Rome by Farfimi and the Chosen Few

below: A pink thing by Tzing

large pink figure in graffiti on a wall by Tzing, also a little fish swimming past is another paste up

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).

paste ups on a wall by Tacim collective, also a drawing of 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.

graffiti on a rome wall, by tv clan and black heart boy of the chosen few

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!

urban ninja squadron t bonez paste up along with some other graffiti on a trastevere wall

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.

black and white Marilyn Monroe with other pieces of graffiti and the text vivi di gusto

below: No Limits

black and white graffiti of Marilyn Monroe, a man's head, and many hands

below: Another wall, another collection.

a wall with graffiti paper paste ups on it

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. 

paste ups by streetartee on a wall in rome

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…..

drawing, and paste up, by spun 29 a ka a alessandro spun, of a woman lying across a cauliflower that has been cut in half.

Photos taken December 2019

If you are interested, there is a previous blog post from a couple of years ago with more Trastevere slaps

Catchoo and friends

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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.

three stickers on a pole, catchoo, and others

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.

sticker on a pole, catchoo along with at priority, man on red inflatable on top of desk, pointing to picture of heart framed and hanging on a wall

Last, feelings boi joins the fun.  Is it a sword? or an umbrella?  Whatever it is, there are smiles all round.

visual noise tbonez urban ninja squadron sticker with umbrella, joined by feelings boi character with long curly hair

Photos taken Sept 2023

This blog post also appears in As I Walk Toronto

wheat paste anti gallery

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Take a few abandoned downtown Hamilton buildings and add large size artworks by a diverse group of artists and you have the makings of the Wheat Paste Anti Gallery. No artist’s statements, no words on the wall. This is the project has been brought to life by jumblefacefoto, aka Jeremy Lynch (including the producing, printing, and pasting of all the images in the installation).

In this blog post I want to show you the artists whose work now on display “in” Hamilton’s first Anti Gallery (in no particular order). First, Invasive Animal has taken over the front of the Oakwood Place building at 1067 Barton Street East where a sign says “Hop Canadian”. Once upon a time it said, “Save our jobs, shop Canadian”. Also once upon a time, this was a restaurant/bar. Now the animals have taken over.

front of an empty and boarded up grey two storey building in downtown Hamilton that now has many wheat paste images of animals

Some of the animals:

wheatpaste images of animals printed on paper, on exterior of grey abandoned building, a parrot, a beaver, and a bear

image of a bear, wheatpaste street art

wheatpaste images of four animals printed on paper, on exterior of grey abandoned building, rhino, mountain goat, ram, and another sheep like one

Next door to the Oakwood was a Shoe King store. The “king” is gone and plywood covers its windows and doors; now it is a gallery wall for crkshnk (pronounced crookshank), an artist from New York City. All the images across the storefront are his work.

exterior of old shoe king store in Hamilton, large sign is broken, store front covered with plywood, now many wheat paste paper street art artworks on the exterior walls

black and white paper wheatpaste on exterior wall, by crookshank, baby crawling, covered with flowers with lots of large petals, many bees flying around and some landing on the flowers, flower power baby

black and white paper wheatpaste on exterior wall, by crookshank, female form made of car parts including hot wheels logo

black and white paper wheatpaste on exterior wall, by crookshank, female form made of car parts

colored, in orange tones, paper wheatpaste on exterior wall, by crookshank crkshnk

Another artist on display here is 33wallflower33. Her (and I am assuming that!) women and children evoke a previous age and often have a message to deliver.

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, two people

My body, my choice.

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, two women with text that says my body my choice

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, two children on a horse, plus a women dressed in 1920s clothing

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, woman in vintage clothing

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, woman in long black dress

Next, Brazilian artist antype (aka Luciano Costa) and Stephen Conner (from London England) share space on a building at John and Main.

below: A sample of antype’s black and white distorted portrait-like images.

Circles…..

black and white paper wheatpaste on wall, by antype a ka a Luciano Costa, faces and partial faces

… floppy circles, planetary circles, and planetary hats.

black and white paper wheatpaste on wall, by artist who goes by name of antype

Stephen Conner’s images are also portrait-like but they are darker.

Installed in May 2023, gone by September 2023….. Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-bonez character livened up a stretch of blank wall at James and Wilson.

old abandoned building, with ground floor level covered with images by urban ninja squadron, hamilton ontario, james and wilson
Urbannija squadron, visual noise, street art images

two urban ninja squadron images, one is t-bonez in pinkish red with fingers in ears

Last, but definitely not least, a series of images, or firegrams, by Danielle Goshay pasted onto the facade of the old Colonial Hotel building.

exterior of old abandoned Colonial building in hamilton, with wheat paste street art images on it by_danielle_goshay

exterior of old abandoned Colonial building in hamilton, with wheat paste street art images on it

firegram by Danielle Goshay displayed on plywood
two posters, both firegrams in browns and blacks, by Danielle Goshay, on plywood that is covering doors and windows of Colonial

As mentioned above, all works were produced, printed, and pasted by jumblefacefoto

hanging wheat paste artwork outside, wheat paste anti gallery installation

wheat paste anti gallery installation, may 2023, t-bonez character and urban ninja squadron
pasting up wheat paste images of animals on a wall in Hamilton

shadow play, while pasting firegrams by Danielle Goshay on the exterior of an abandoned and boarded up building

For more pictures and information, see the Wheat Paste Anti Gallery website

Photos taken between April and September 2023 by Danielle Goshay (Many Thanks for sharing them !!!)

installing wheat paste posters on outside walls

wheatpaste paper street art image by 33wallflower33, woman in a window holding a cat

black and white image, wheatpaste, paper, design by crkshnk

close up view of part of black and white image, wheatpaste, paper, design by crkshnk, showing a shoe with word bye on it