on the funeral home wall

In the Byward Market area of Ottawa, you can find a collection of large mural as you look across a parking lot on Dalhousie Street.  They stretch along the wall of a funeral home on  St. Patrick Street.

below: The darker end of the murals is signed by three.  They are Juan Carlos Noria, The Laporte Brothers (Phil and Dom Laporte) and the Higher Ups.

car parked in front of a large mural on the side of a funeral home, two storey brick building, on left side of mural is man in uniform cap hands to mouth as if calling, over one of the double garage doors are two men's faces side by side, one pink and one black, on far right is the start of another mural with birds
close up view of mural, man with hands by mouth as he is calling, paint peeling on the concrete and wood

below: Apples and currants in the corner

mural on an exterior wall, blue background, two large red apples with two bunches of yellow currants,

below: The other part of the wall is for the birds so to speak.  The blackbird (raven?) on the left was painted by DRPN (Drippin’ Soul)

mural on side of beige brick wall, painted by two people, on the left is realistic raven head, on right side is a bird with many feathers in yellows, pinks, and blues,

below: This is a closer look at the head of the bird on the righthand side. It is the work of Mique Michelle, an artist who work often features feathery birds (or other animals)

Close up pf head of bird in mural by Mique Michelle, many feathers,

street art on Dalhousie street in Byward market of Ottawa, on the side of funeral home, a man looking like a train conductor calling out with hand beside mouth, two faces close together, one pink and one black.   Also a Drippin' soul black bird head with beak pointing upward, some triangles in the background

Barreiro train station vicinity

Although it is a city in its own right, Barreiro seems like a suburb of Lisbon.  It is most easily accessed by a short ferry ride across the Tagus River from central Lisbon. The Barreiro  train station is next to the ferry dock.  There are now numerous murals in Barreiro in part because of a project called Art in Town run by the City Council and ADAO.

The building in the middle is ADAO Headquarters (Associação Desenvolvimento Artes e Ofícios, translation: Assoc for the Development of Arts and Crafts)

view from bridge, ADAO headquarters, an old industrial site, with street art murals on it

below: A hole in the concrete wall provides a short cut across the tracks as well as a different view of the murals painted by Gonçalo Mar (aka Gonçalo Ribeiro) and Odheit

concrete fence with part removed for a walkway, building with murals in the background

below: On the fence, a owl keeps a watchful eye on passers-by

on a concrete block wall, a street art painting of an owl's face

graffiti on a small metal box beside the railway tracks, line drawing of a man's face, frowning or scowling

black stencil on old concrete wall, portrait of a man with a mustache

below: A closer view of the ADAO Headquarters mural . The fish-like figures swimming on the walls appear frequently in Mar’s work.

mural by Mar on A D A O building by the train station in Barreiro Portugal.  Hands.  Fish like creatures, a big pink flower, an adult habd reaching out and touching fingers of a small child's hand, grey hexagons

below: A head with long flowing grey and turquoise hair emerges from the hexagons.

mural of the head of a grey faced older woman with eyes closed, flowing grey hair, emerging from grey and turquoise hexagons

below: Backyard view

back of an old industrial building with a small fenced in yard, old plastic chairs, graffiti on walls,

below: Punk red feathers

street art painting in a yard, a brown skinned man with red feathers in his hair and orange paint marks on his face

below: Two street art portraits; the woman on the right was painted by Pedro Pinhal

two portraits, street art, on the left in black and white, an older wrinkled faced man while on the right in colour, a younger brown woman with a metal head band and necklace
a black and white street art portrait of a man with bald forehead but long hair at the back, hoop ear rings and necklaces

below: A mermaid, octopus, paper sailboat, and fish bones

mural in shades of grey, marine theme, a paper sailboat sails above a topless mermaid and an octopus

street art mural, large fish showing just the bones

below: Ursa’s laptop and old flip phone has begun to sprout.

mural of an old flip phone and open laptop that have begun to sprout new growth

below: Old School Futuristes

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below: Each one teach one

text that says each one teach one in  a mural, surrounded by tag text calligraphy in a mural

below: Rays of sunshine above with sharp angles of concrete below.

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below: Back to the front of the ADAO Headquarters ….

view of front of A D A O building in Barreiro, covered with murals

below: …. where this beauty stands by the entrance.

view of part of mural by Mar, including a naked overweight figure

Three women and a wolf

Or maybe a dog……

On Carrer de Blesa (Poble Sec), on the window shutters of Azoka Taberna, there are 4 brightly painted murals including Picasso-like “Azoka Modern Girl” by Pres Fusion.

street art mural on metal shutters over windows of Akoda Taberna on Carrer de Blesa, painting of a woman, very abstract like a Picasso

below: Berol377 portrait of a young woman in pinks and blues. 

street art mural on metal shutters over windows of Akoda Taberna on Carrer de Blesa, painting of a woman's portrait in blues and purples, wearing dark blue sunglasses, by Berol377

below: This cubist painting of a pink woman with yellow and black hair is another work by of Pres Fusion.

street art mural on metal shutters over windows of Akoda Taberna on Carrer de Blesa, painting of a woman

below: Half and half – one side more realistic and the other more abstract. A collaboration between Berol377 and Pres Fusion.

street art mural on metal shutters over windows of Akoda Taberna on Carrer de Blesa, painting of a wolf or dog head, split down the middle, half painted by Berol377 and the other half by Dan Art Fusion

Photos taken March 2023

folklore on a mannequin

There is a large mural by Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani covering the side of a building on Nadeem Al Mallah street in Amman.  It was painted in 2016 from a mannequin wearing a folklore type costume.

large black and white and grey mural of a woman in a traditional costume, on the side of bulding, beside a window with pink curtains and a broken pane of glass

Like a lot of Halwani’s work, the design relies on calligraphy & Arabic writing.  It is meant as a statement about the mix of Jordanian and Lebanese cultures.

close up of face in mural of woman by Yazan halwani,

 

Black & White Power

In Rome there is a long line of murals by Italian artists Sten and Lex that line both sides of the same street, Via dei Magazzini Generali. On one side, on an orange wall, are portraits of famous people.

long orange wall with large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

On the opposite side of the street is a shorter blue wall with pictures of common people.

large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: A Pope

pope and others, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The portraits were made with a combination of stencils and painting.

girl, middle aged man, woman, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

three people, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

woman in hard hat giving peace symbol with hand, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Barak Obama

Barak Obama, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

elderly woman with glasses and yellow sweater, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Elvis & others

Elvis Presley and a rapper, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The one different picture is the panther, a symbol of power, with a woman’s face superimposed on it.

a large panther head in profile, with mouth wide open and teeth showing, a woman superimposed onto the side of the face of the panther, mural by sten and lex called black and white power

 

Baptist Lane, Melbourne

Graffiti and street art seen in Baptist Lane, CBD

below: looking down the lane.  On the immediate right is an old mural of the Last Supper which has been scrawled over almost to the point of making the mural indecipherable.

graffiti and street art in an alley, pale yellow walls

once it was a sepia toned painting of the last supper (religious) but it has had a lot of graffiti written on top of it

below: A blank eyed bride with her flowers

black and white pasteup of a bride in veil, with 5 black stars encircling her head, holding a large bouquet of flowers

below: Two faced and holding up a jacket.

two black and white pasteups on a wall. on the right is a pair of white hands holding up an open jacket and on the left is a woman's head with two pairs of eyes, and a pair of hands below the head

below: Red brick wall and a window box

two windows in a small building in a lane, surrounding the windows is street art like a window box, awning, and then the wall space between the windows is decorated too

street art beside a window

below: I’m against all authority except my mother (close enough translation anyhow).

words on top and below a headless figure holding the head of a woman in its hands, words say contro toda autoridad excepto mi mama which is Spanish for I defy all authority except my mother below: Studying the hole in the fence

black and white pasteup of a person in a hoodie standing behind a chain link fence with a hole in it.

below: Two little catstwo black and white cats on a pasteup in a lane

striped klones

Klone Yourself mural, from the 2016 Montreal MuralFest, features two black and white striped upside down human-like figures

below: The hand on the sidewalk that supports the figures.

part of a larger mural, a black and white striped hand in on the ground, supporting two upside down figures

below: The figures take up the whole of the side of the house (4 storeys?) and are marvelously placed.  Their feet are against the roof and the windows of the building are their faces.  One figure is resting a hand on the corner of a window.

two large humanoid figures upside down, striped black and white, windows of the buildings are the faces of the creatures in the mural

Klone Yourself is a Ukrainian artist who lives in Tel Aviv Israel.

street art in Havana

Back in June 2015 I spent a week in Havana.   The street art that I saw there ranged from scribbles on walls to elaborate murals and pictures.  The following photographs cover almost all the street art that I saw.

mural on a wall of a group of people, stylized slightly, obviously cuban

below: A young boy by 5 Stars

a painting by 5 stars of a young boy seated, in a sleeveless white top, black curly hair

street art, large eyes staring straight ahead

below: A variation on a slogan, “just do it”

blog_havana_graffiti_just_do_it

below: yellow faces, holding up a portrait

a small person with a yellow head holds up a large yellow square which in turn is a yellow head

below: Charlie Chaplin and the kid

black and white street art piece of Charlie Chaplin looking around the edge of a door - the door is real. A young boy is with Charlie Chaplin

below: A fish out of water, swimming down the street

blog_fish_street_art_wall

While I was in Havana, the Duodecima Bienal de La Habana was also on and some of what I saw on the streets, including the photo below, probably belonged to that.  The Bienal De La Habana is an art festival that occurs every three years (yes, three years even though bienal means every two years!).  The next festival will be in November 2018.

below: The little blue signs says “Gabinete del imaginario” which translates to Cabinet of the Imaginary.

a rough wooden cover covers a window, a wall used to be orange and blue but most of the paint has peeled off. On the wall a picture has been mounted. It is a beach scene, two people sitting on an orange beach with orange sky and blue water.

below: Oops I did it again, scribbles on the wall.

scribbled graffiti on a wall, a silly drawing of a boy with the words oops I did it again, some exclamation marks

below: Black and white portraits overlooking the street

a man and a woman talking on a street corner. Beside them is a wall with three black and white murals painted on it. A middle ages woman with a head band and hands on her hips, an older man's head in a white hat and looking upward and last, a man in a white uniform holding a box under his arm.

below: “…no quiero mas el queso” or, I don’t want more cheese.   It is signed as Cuba Ecuador 2015 as well as Ratador.  So far I haven’t been able to find any information on this artist.

two street art pieces, one is a large rat with a piece of cheese and the words No quiero mas el queso. On the right is a black and white image of a man's head with a number below him. N I 8908202623.

below: “A las almas”  To the souls, on one side of the door while a woman rides her bike on top of the world on the other side of the door.

an old green wood door on a building. on one side is a red poster with a black silhouette of the upper part of a man with one arm reaching to the clouds as well as the words a las almas, on the other side of the door is a painting in pinks and bieges of a winged woman on bike riding on top of the globe

below: An eye over number 156

blog_eye_above_door_colours

below: Waves of hair, waves of water

a street art picture of a young woman's head and face, she is looking slightly back over her shoulder. Blue abstract beside her

below: Calling Seth

the word Seth in a word bubble, with the top part of a man's head as he pokes his head around a wall.

face of a man drawn in black, with dabs of yellow, green, and red added to the picture

 

a wooden cart in poor shape is parked next to a mural of a woman lying on her side. It looks like she is lying on the sidewalk. She is topless.

photos on the wall

There are also a number of political pieces.  I suspect that some state are sponsored and some are not.

below: CDR #8 refers to Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Spanish: Comités de Defensa de la Revolución) which is a network of neighbourhood committees across Cuba.  Their purpose depends on what side of the fence you are on.  They promote social welfare and report on counter-revolutionary activity or they are a secret police organization.  Take your pick.

mural cdr number, portraits of three men wearing green, Che Guevera, Castro and

below: This is the symbol of the Young Communist League in Cuba.  In Spanish it’s  Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas or UJC. Estudio, Trabajo, Fusil = Study, Work, Rifle.   The symbol shows the faces of Julio Antonio Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevera.  Mella was a founder of the Cuban Communist Party while Cienfuegos and Guevera were major figures in the Cuban Revolution.

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below: A UJC mural, “fieles a nuestra historia ” or Faithful to our History.
blog_havana_che_historia

below: Che Guevera on his own.

a black stencil of Che Guevera's head

many poster of Che Guevera

The next three pictures are of a mural on Callejon de Hamel (callejon is a lane)

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba

below: A woman looks out the window above the mural.  The words on the beige part say “Puedo esperar mas que tu, porque soy el tiempo.” This translates to, “I can wait more than you because I am time. ”   On the red section the words are “Salvador 26 to 95”.

colouful mural on a blue building in havana cuba - a woman looks out from a window above the mural

below: And last, a picture that was definitely a part of the Bienal.  ‘Identidad ‘ by Julio Cesar Garcia  It is part of a series of photos called Resistencia.  The words that accompany it are given below along with a translation – not the best but with my beginner Spanish and the limitations of google translate, you get what you get!

a black and white photo of a man's head and shoulders, wearing a white hat, older man, large picture, on a wall outside

Identidad da inicio a una serie titulada Resistencia.  Apelando al uso del lenguaje y el concepto de arte callejero, la serie esta compuesta por retratos de gran formato ubicados, a largo plazo, en varias ciudades del pais.   La intention es intervenir muros, edificos, aceras y calles de la ciudad con gigantografias concebidas en forma de mosaico sobre cartulina cromada.  Las obras, en relaction directa con todo tipo de publico desede el proceso mismo de su instalacion, tendran un caracter efimero.  Resistencia sera una consigna, una actitud, un modo de vida y de hacer el arte.

 

Identidad is the first in a series titled Resistencia.  Appealing to the use of language and the concept of street art, the series is composed of large format portraits located, in the long term, in several cities of the country.   The intention is to intervene on walls, buildings, sidewalks and streets of the city with large photos made in the form of mosaics on chrome paperboard. The works [In direct relation with all types of public from the process itself of its installation]  will have an ephemeral character.  Resistance will be a slogan, an attitude, a way of life and making art.