Tag Archives: woman

street art in Havana

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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”

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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

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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

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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.
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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.

dancing in the glitter, Paris

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I am not sure what they’re really called, or even if they actually have names.    I saw these glittery confetti women dancing on a number of walls in Paris last spring.  They are part of a series called ‘It’s time to dance’ by French street artist SOBR.

Is she still dancing on the walls?

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a red heart on it

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing a black bra top and shorts

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing shorts with a belt, a wide bracelet. The top of her head has been ripped off. She seems to be dancing beside a window

large size paper paste up of a young woman, standing, with a lot of small glittery pieces of paper scattered around her - wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt

Bacon St., Shoreditch

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As you can see, Bacon Street is E1 London.  It’s another street that runs east from Brick Lane, this time just north of the overground tracks.

London street sign, Bacon St., E.1 with its Arabic counterpart below it. Also, a PANIC sign that is supposed to look like a street sign under that.

below: Two owls, mirror images of each other; “You know the day divides the night and night divides the day.  Try 2 run, Try 2 hide, Break on through to the other side”

street art mural of two owls with text, one owl is black on white and the other is white on black. They are mirror images of each other. The text says You Know the day divides the night and night divides the day

below: A portrait, a tribute to Charlie Burns 1915-2012.  Charlie, The King of Bacon Street, was the oldest man on the street.  He used to sit in the backseat of his daughter’s car and watch the world go past on nearby Brick Lane.  The car was parked in front the family business, C.E. Burns & Sons, a second hand furniture store.

large mural portrait of Charlie Burns 1914-2012

below: A pig on Bacon Street!  How apt.  It seems to have an admirer too!

black and white paste up of a pig below a window, looks like its sleeping on the sidewalk

below:  A collection of paste ups on a wall including a life sized young woman with long flowing orange hair by Saki & B where B is for bitches.   This piece is tamer than some of their other art as seen on instagram.  The greenish woman’s portrait is by georgie, another London based artist.

pasteups on a wall, a tall life sized girl by Saki & B, with long orange hair, yellow tights, black boots and a red dress, a woman's portrait in greenish tones by georgie artist, a phoebe, and a black and white pig,

below: A cat on the phone by d7606.

top part of a paste up by Saki & B along with a dagog cat upright on two legs, holding a phone and receiver.

below: In the bottom corner, a small ‘Rebel’ Phoebe New York

phoebe from new york pasteup with rebel sticker on her

below: Did you know that a serving size is 2010 skulls?  A poster left behind by Arrex when he visited London from Portland Oregon.

poster by arrex, or rxskulls, from Portland, Poison, and the nutritional content of it, e.g. calories,

below: I am not sure who painted the long necked white birds, but the portraits on the door are by Paul (Don) Smith and they were featured in a previous blog post.

a mural of long necked white birds in foilage, around a window and beside a door. On the door are two other pieces of street art, a portrait of two different people, a woman on the top and a man below.

four or five pieces of street art beside and above a store front where there is a lot of activity going, moving items, delivering items.

Photos taken September 2016

Belfast street art

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Belfast is home to more than 250 murals.  Most of them are political or historical in nature and concern the recent “Troubles” in Northern Ireland’s past.  But there are other murals in this city, and other street art.  This post features some of the apolitical murals that I saw late in September of 2016.

below: A large mural by Smug One on High Court Street  (One of his murals previously seen in Melbourne – Smug on Wood Street)

very marge mural of a man with moustache and small beard and wearing a chef's shirt is holding a large lobster

below: Keep Her Lit, keep the furnace in your heart burning, keep the fire alive.

a mural of an anatomical painting of a heart with the center being a furnace, steam puffs coming out of the vessels at the top, words at the top of the mural are Keep Her Lit

below:  These fingers are pointing at you in a mural by EMIC.  3D glasses are available in Sunflower, which is a store across the street.  It’s difficult to take a photo in 3D!

Mural of two hands with fingers pointing outwards, The mural is painted to look 3D if you have the right glasses on. Words at the top of the mural say 3D glasses available at Sunflower (which is store across the street)

below: This blue woman looms over one of the smaller streets in downtown Belfast.

very large mural of a woman's upper body and head, done is shades of blue, shoulder length hair, looking at the viewer

below: Fighting with swords while a dead (or injured) dog lies on the floor.   Surreal?

Grey tones, black and white, monochrome, painting of a fencing scene, indoors, in historical clothing, chandelier on the table, black man watching the fencing, dead dog on the floor

below: The vertical painting in browns is done by KVLR

two murals on a building, one is a very realistic painting of an old man and the other is a vertical painting in brown tones by KVLR

two murals on two sides of a corner. One is a realistic painting of an old man and the other is also a man's head but it is done in red, white and black shapes.

below: A mural by Kashink  who is an artist  from Paris.  She has painted in many cities around the world and some of her work can be seen in Montreal.

mural by Kashink of person with green face, four eyes and long bushy reddish orange hair. Words say and fun--damental rights. Person is smoking (green hands)

on the side of a two storey building, a large woman in profile, head and shoulders, in a multicoloured cloud, with her hands together in prayer, eyes open and looking slightly upwards

below: A colourful dog by Verz, a local artist.

mural on black wall of a dog's head and neck in oranges, red, and pinks,

below: A mural showing streets at night, lights and reflections, by Dan Kitchener

large mural of streets and car traffic at night with lights shining on wet streets, two white cars parked in front.

below: One of the hazards of taking pictures of street art is the usual presence of parked cars.  They get in the way.  A lot.  Sometimes you just have to make them part of the composition.

two red cars are parked against a wall on which a mural of a young woman's face is painted. white skin, black hair, grey eyes,

below: And then there are the times when the cars are just in the way and there’s no way around it.  This black bird was painted by Spanish artist Sabek.   It would be nice to think that the arrow is aimed right at the car roof and that it missed the bird.

mural by sabek of a black bird caught up in a white ribbon as it tries to fly

below: Continuing the bird and arrow theme is this mural titled “The son of Protagoras” by MTO (French born, now Berlin based).  The mural is located in the yard of Northern Ireland War Memorial.  Note the markings on the arrows.   Protagoras (about 490 – 420 BC) was a Greek philosopher; he was either an agnostic or an atheist.

mural of a red headed young man squatting and holding a dead bird in his hands. The bird has two arrows through it, with red ends on the arrows. The mural looks to be on top of a fence and there are cars parked in front of the fence

below: This snake and arrow mural was painted in 2015 as part of  the ‘Hit the North’ event when 30 murals were painted in Belfast.   Some of the other murals in this blog post were painted then.  If you watch this video on youtube you might recognize them!

a rusty red fence and a green hedge is in front of a mural of a large black and yellow snake wrapped loosely around a long red arrow.

below: A fantastical dragon creature in purple and orange walks along the pavement.

horizontal mural of a long purple and orange dragon

horizontal mural of a long purple and orange dragon

below: A cockatoo by Dan Leo sits high on a wall, brightening up the side of a building.

simple mural of a grey toned cockatoo with a pink patch on its face, on a turquise background

below: On the fence beneath the cockatoo is this mural.  It seems to be a deer hunt?  The woman and her dog are chasing the deer?  Or running with the deer?

a blue dog is on a leash held by a woman, pink deer silhouettes jumping in the forest in the background

below: A Faigy mural, The owl doll Millies

owl doll millies mural

below:  A wonderful portrait of a man by DREPH.  I saw a few slices of bread with feet… The signature on the side of the bread seems to say Artista.  The himbad signature on the left goes with the cat in the picture below
a street art painting of a slice of bread with green feet is above a street art painting by deph of a black man with a beard and a brown cap

below: Himbad cat, wide open mouth and many sharp teeth!

large cat face with sharp teeth, street art by himbad

a happy face stick figure person made with paint that has dripped from a piece of street art, on a sidewalk (pavement)

below: Now it’s Puinsai Hawaii at any time.

altered sign, now says puinsai Hawaii anytime. yellow sign on a post with barbed sire on either side. Also An 'I love you" sticker on the pole beneath the sign.

below: On the Restore Charity Shop, a woman by Emic.

mural by emic, head and face of a young woman looking to the right, in grey tones (black and white) on a bright red background.

storefronts on a streeet in Belfast, brick building, but metal awnings/screens covering the shops because they are closed. Young Savage vintage clothing and Arts Lab, both have street art paintings on the screens. One is a young woman with long blue hair that forms a circle around her.

below: ‘LOST’, a man with harp antlers and a pink nose, two lonely whiskers and a grille over his mouth.  My apologies for the fact that the quality of the photo is such that the smaller words are illegible.  I think that what is lost is dip-py but could be dup-py.

three posters on a black wall. One is a skull with a spring for a neck and two antenae coming out of the top, one is labeled 1 and the other is 2 . The other posters are the two the same, withthe word lost written above a man's head, with harps for ears and a small muzzle over the mouth, words in the bottom corner,

below: More pasteups.  A Citizen Nobody poster is surrounded by other pasteups in various states. “The will to consume terrorises you.”

a few paste ups in black and white. In the middle is a poster by citizen nobdy that is only words that read The will to consume terrorises you.

below: Ireland is not full of leprechauns.  There is one on this wall but I didn’t see too many others, real or otherwise!  There were no pots of gold either.   I saw a few nuns though including this one by David Creative.

two murals on a corner of a building. One one sideis a head and shoulders of a nun in a yellow habit with black head wear. On the other corner is a leprechaun and some sunflowers.

The front of a house, upper storeys, covered with a painting that looks a bit like an imaginative version of the stars at night. The universe and beyond.

a collection of street art pieces on the side of a greybuilding, painted in purple, yellow and turquoise mostly. Abstract shapes

below: Pull up a mattress and make yourself comfortable.

a mattress is rolled up and lying against a wall that has a mural on it.

below: A mural or an ad?

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idle tagging, Dublin

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On John Street there is a large maroon coloured building.  A couple of murals have been painted on it.

At one end of the street is this mural by Marcamix, Evolve Urban Arts.

mural on the side of a building, a Japanese looking woman, a keyboard with wings, in orange and brown.

Beside it, is this longer mural.  Unfortunately I’m not who the artist is (or artists are).

large mural on a maroon wall, titled Idle Tagging, a woman standing, a large white cat, plus other creatures,

part of a mural, a woman standing wearing blue skirt and green top and sunglasses. Also a large white sitting cat with one paw raised.

part of a mural, profile of older man, slightly abstracted

part of a mural. what looks like headless man running or walking,

#marcamix

Yeats poem, Sligo

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On a wall in Sligo Ireland, written large, is a poem by William Butler Yeats.   It is called “When You are Old” and it goes like this:

a mural covers the side of a multistorey building, a woman's head and lines of poetry, When you are old by William Butler Yeats.

 

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

below: A mural that is a portrait of the poet, William Butler Yeats on the side of house undergoing renovations.

city streets in Sligo Ireland with houses, pedestrians and road. A crane is being used to demolish the top part of a house. On the side of that house, exterior, is a large mural that is a portrait of the poet William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats)

from Balaclava to the beach

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This is a selection of the street art that I saw back in February when I walked from Balaclava station to the beach (Melbourne, Australia).

below: I can see parts of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in this mural by MTS, 2014

a mural featuring parts of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse including a white glove, part of a bow, a bowtie

the head of a bird with lots of tall feathers on its head, whitish bird on greenish turquoise background, on a wall beside a building with a massage sign hanging above the door.

people wearing backpacks walking down a paved footpath past a building with street art on the side of it.

below: Painted wall on Hot Bargains at the corner of Woodstock Street.

hot bargain store on Woodstock st., with its painted corner

below: Flying eyeballs and one eyed little green guys wearing glasses adorn the wall of an optometrist’s building along with a scientifically correct (and labelled) cross section of the eye.  A great way to advertise your business!

mural on the exterior wall of an optometrist's shop showing the parts of the eye in comic form.

below: Two men merged into one. It looks like the original painting was of a man in grey tones. Then someone came along and added their own version in such a way that original eyes now look through glasses and a moustache obscures the mouth.   He also seems to be wearing a space helmet, or some sort of headwear with antennae.

a man on a door,

below: Monk robes

a street art painting of an old bald man with glasses and reddish monk robes

below: Green man with no hair but with a very long arm

street art, upper part of the body of a green man with his arm outstretched horizontally, on a red brick wall

below: Mike left his mark on Surace’s wall

on the side of Surace's store in Balaclava Melbourne, a large graffiti text of the name Mike in fat letters

below: A woman and a bird? by Vexia

a street art painting of a woman in a multicoloured background circle

text street art on the rear of 133, purples and blues

a tree trunk is in front of a mural that features a grey face encircled by a green hoodie

large abstract and text street art on a brick wall, pale blue background

one side of man's face in black and white with red splotches in it, under the face are the words I am the Danger.

little things in Bologna

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Bologna Italy, March 2016

pasteup on a salmon coloured door with a green wall on one side and a grey metal shutter on the other. The pasteup is of two women, one is upside down.

below: Sneakers by K2m

street art paste up of white high top rinning shoes with K2m written on the side in large red letters. The shoes are covered with what looks like drawings of yarn and balls of yarn

bluish grey graffiti paingint on a wall of a child (head and shoulders) wearing a leopard costume, but with the mask lifted up so child's face shows, on a door

graffiti on an old stone building with burgundy coloured window shades, blue tag, other words written on the wall include

black stencil of Robin Williams on a wall, graffiti

paste up of yellow crown on a young man's head. The graffiti has been placed above a metal feature on a concrete wall so the eyes look like they are peering over it. Someone has written the words Casa Lucio with an arrow pointing upwards above the crown.

black stencil of a woman's head in profile, long hair, wearing a hat, words coming out of her mouth, shape of words is a megaphone. Words say " Chi si loda s'imbroda"

black stencil of the pope's head and shoulders on a brown wood wall. The words "dici a me" are stenciled on too.

paste-up of a man's head and neck, with a red outline painted around his head. glasses and a beard.

stencil in black on a concrete wall that is not in good shape, a man, from the waist up wearing a black jacket and a necklace. One hand is raised to shoulder level, showing palm. Over one shoulder are two red lip marks

a grey tone graffiti on a pinkish wall, a small furry animal with a fez on its head and eyes that resemble nuclear symbols, sits atop a man's head. he has two sets of eyes and a large mouth with teeth

a paste up of a person with short black hair, a blue hat and blue eyes, holding a black cat. On the person's arm, written in blue are the words "Pieces were stolen from me"

a paste up with slightly curled edges, graffiti on a concrete wall, a black picture of a man like creature with stylized features is pointing a large knife at its chest.
black drawing on white, paper paste up street art, man's head and neck in profile, no skin, shows the muscles of the face and neck. with part of the skull removed to reveal the brain. By SNEM
A silhouette shape of a rabbit's head and ears made of paper that has fern leaves on it. Pasted on a metal piece on a wall.

below: Two pieces by kocore

a street art piece in orange by kocore of the head of a Soviet cosmonaut with his helmet on.

street art piece of a skull made up of lots of grey lines The word Kocore is beside the skull

stencil of a woman sticking out the top of a long limo, black on concrete.

below: Make peace or dead, by exitenter

Small painting of a stick figure with its hands on its hips. Its face is a flower, looks like a red daisy with 6 petals. The words " make peace or dead are written above

graffiti on a beige wall, a stick drawing of a person stands on the upper right part of a red heart. The word exit is written above the left side of the heart

below: The fox and the grapes, by exitenter, probably a reference to Aesops fable. When the fox couldn’t reach the grapes, it pretended that the grapes were sour.  The “lesson” from the fable being that there are many people who pretend to despise and belittle things that are beyond their reach.graffiti on a concrete wall, an orange fox reaches for a bunch of yellow grapes that are higher on the wall

black stencil on grey concrete wall, man reaching out from inside a TV to turn the TV off, by Skene Two small stencils on a wall, a green hand grenade and a black handgun,

white stencil on black of leaf from marijuana plant with the words my lucky star23 written aroud it. On black background