Archive for the ‘graffiti and street art’ Category

Hope Wall

Posted: April 11, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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large painting of a face, street art, yellowish skin, small moustache and beard, glasses, eyes looking straight ahead

Hope Wall on Spadina Ave., near Kensington Market.

wall, plywood hoardings, covered with paint and graffiti as a Hope Wall, in memory of Andre Alexander who was killed when hit by a car. painting of his face, plus large space for people to write messages, on Spadina near Kensington Market,

below: Messages written on the wall for Andre Alexander, aka Hip Pop Art who died in October 2018.

messages written on a wall

a man sleeping on the sidewalk in front of a wall covered with street art, graffiti and art in memory of Andre Alexander who was an artist who worked in Kensington

wall and doorway painted purple, a black man's face in greys on one side of the entranceway, other graffiti too

 

Mt Dennis pollinators

Posted: April 2, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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large mural on the side of a building, bus shelter and stop to the side with people waiting. Mural is by Nick Sweetman and features many bees and flowers, very large bees

On the southwest corner of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue West, on the side of Supercoffee, is another large, colourful Nick Sweetman pollinators mural.  It features 6 different types of bees commonly found in Toronto.

below: Honey bee (apis mellifera)

part of a nick sweetman pollinators mural, a bee

below: Bumble bee (bombus affinis)

part of a nick sweetman pollinators mural, a bee on top of a purple coneflower

below: Mason bee (osmia conjuncta)

part of a nick sweetman pollinators mural, a blue bee

below: Carpenter bee (xylocopa virginica)

part of a nick sweetman pollinators mural, a bee on a purple flower

part of a nick sweetman pollinators mural, corner of supercoffee building, several bees and many flowers

below: Green Sweat bee (augochloropsis metallica)

in a mural of bees, a small green bee, a sweat bee,

below: Leafcutter bee (megachile latimanus)

large painting of a bee on a flower, part of a mural, leaf cutter bee

The mural was commissioned by the Mount Dennis BIA with help from the City of Toronto’s Mural Street Art Program as well as Metrolinx.

a sign that describes Nick Sweetman's mural of bees and pollinators in Mt Dennis

“This mural features an urban skyscape beneath which a vibrant world of bees feeding on pollen comes to life. It explores the intersection between human-made spaces and natural forces, and encourages consideration of our relationship with the planet and its non-human inhabitants. Toronto is one of the most biodiverse area in the world for bees, with over 300 species found in the city and surrounding area. River corridors like the Humber River and Black Creek flourish with wild flowers and native plants – important habitat for native pollinators. Plants are catalysts for the energy all animals depend on and bees are crucial to all flowering plants’ reproduction. “

Graffiti Alley, February

Posted: March 4, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A winter walk down Graffiti Alley and Rush Lane

a lone beige running shoe on the ground beside a pile of snow in Graffiti alley

people taking pictures in graffiti alley

below: Posing with a blue mask (you can also see them in the photo above).

a young woman in a blue mask poses in front of an Uber5000 mural

below: A little red dress with flair

little graffiti stencil, a red dress on a white background

below: TBJ, Toronto blue jay

street art mural of a blue jacy, in stylized geometric shapes, shades of blue

Graffiti Alley in winter

below: A large rose by Josh Creighton

a large stylized rose in a mural in a lane

below: Yin and yang

close up of a spray paint artwork in alley, a yin yang symbol in black and white with red drips of paint running through it

below: Rust, grime, and the remnants of stickers on an old window.

an old window with stickers on it and rusted bars in front of it, graffiti all around it

below: Horst

a text graffiti by horst, yellows and pale pinks

looking down Rush Lane on a winter afternoon, snow and ice on the ground, some people walking

2 young men looking at street art in a lane, a large mural with two black and white mens faces in the foreground

below: This blog post would have been finished a day or two earlier but I fell behind because of this photo. I fell down the rabbit hole when researching these condos. I have since decided that rather than getting bogged down now discussing this development, I would leave it for a later date.  The red face sums it all up.

a sign advertising new Rush condos has been defaced, it is against a wall with street art and graffiti on it

Feel Good Lane

Posted: February 27, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I’m still playing catch up as I go through photos that I took back in the fall. Late in October I went west on St. Clair to visit Feel Good Lane. The lane was officially named in 2016 in memory of Barry Lukensberg. He was a rapper, part of the 512 Crew, who was born and raised in the neighbourhood. He went by the name FeelGood. In 2014 he died in a motorcycle accident in Vietnam.

Just prior to my walk down Feel Good Lane, it had been the canvas for more than 30 street artists. This is what I saw that day. … Back before the snow!

below: The title mural, by SPUDBomb

street art on a brick wall in a lane, text, cursive that says Fell Good Lane, painted in blues, white and pink by Spud bomb .

below: by monicaonthemoon

monica on the moon mural painted on a garage door. Bright colour flash of paint with stencils of girls leap frogging over objects

colourful abstract mural of three birds

below: by Oriah Scott

mural on a garage door in Feel Good Lane by Oriah Scott

behind trees, in the autumn, murals on the sides of garages, TTC streetcar, orange flower, green abstract,

below: This is the front of the same garage in the above photo (with the streetcar). Both were painted Elly Dowson

colourful mural covering all of the front of a building that is a garage, abstract sun in top right corner, blue sky, green hill,

below: Dog mural by @Dr_Roameo

alley with murals painted on garages and on the sides of walls, large grey dog painted on a wall, trash cans and recycling bins in the alley too

below: Raccoons all over the place! A mural by Emily May Rose and Rage Williams.

mural on a garage in an alley, Feel Good Lane, by Emily May Rose and of a white van with lots of green raccoons around it, on top of it, and in the drivers seat

below: The blue landscape is a painting by Leyland Adams

3 murals in Feel Good Lane, one abstract rectangles and bars of colour, one a realistic painting,

below: by Bomi (Bomino San Grantes)

bars, dots, and stripes of colour on a black background, mural in a lane

below: by Cruz1

stylized painting of a womans head, blue skin, white hair, pink background

below: Butterfly face and curly hair – Frannie Potts

painting by Frannie Potts, a street art face on a garage, woman, with large curly afro style hair in pale colours, with a butterfly painted covering her eyes and cheeks.

below: Another Cruz1 creation with a small painting by Bkez (aka Bareket) in the background

gnarly monster face painted on the side of a small wall, bllue, with big yellow teeth and small red eyes

below: by Mska

mural of a deer with birch trees painted on a garage

below: A mural for the 512 Crew,

red and white mural of a man (cartoon like) beside a TTC 512 St. Clair street car, in Feel Good Lane

below: In the back, a mural by Odinamaad (turningwind). In the foreground is the work of Desko Zima

two murals on garage doors in Feel Good Lane, one a green halloween-like scene with silhouettes of bats the other is a marine scene

below: A face in blue and orange by Anya Mielniczek

a mural of a woman's face by Anya Mielniczek

below: On the right, a small piece by Andrew Castro

two murals in Feel Good Lane, face, lines

below: A fox head by Ed Hamer

street art painting of a fox head in profile by Ed Hamer, realistic

below: Three pieces. Chris Perez mural on the left (blocked by a parked car), in the middle and one of a few swirls painted by Flip

murals in Feel Good Lane, including one by Chris Perez in which a car is parked in front of.

below: The white chair is in front of a jellyfish and heart by Psyblimation

white plastic chair outside in alley in front of a mural of a jellyfish and a heart

The project was organized by Julian Back and Kim Lesperance with the help of Team SPUDBomb. Financial support was provided by
StreetARToronto (StART). In addition, $5000 was raised from the community to help finance the project.

30th street mural

Posted: February 9, 2019 in graffiti and street art
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Back in November, before I went away, a friend and I ventured out to Long Branch because we had heard that there was a new Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street. Just north of Lakeshore Blvd., 30th street passes under the railway tracks.  This is where the new mural is.  It’s a collaboration with fellow artist Phil Cote and it’s nearly 500 feet long.

below: North of the railway tracks

a large section of the mural by Nick Sweetman on 30th street as it passes under the railway tracks

Photos of the mural, in no particular order:

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, close up of the face of a creature with white whickers and a blue nose

a butterfly

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, large butterfly

some turtles

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a large turtle and a smaller turtle, by the railing along side the sidewalk

two birds in flight – all of a redwing blackbird and part of a cardinal

a red wing black bird in flight and the back part of a cardinal, part of a mural

a bee on two orange flowers

a bee, on two large orange flowers, Nick Sweetman mural

some fish

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a yellowish fish with blue fins

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a purple fish with yellow speckles and fins

a fox, a duck with duckling, and a purple owl

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a fox, a duck with yellow duckling and a purple owl

a cute furry animal

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a small furry animal bside a plant with pink flowers, as well as a person standing on the sidewalk and taking a picture of the mural

… and hiding under the tracks in a place where it’s difficult to take a picture is this large moose (elk?).

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street, a moose or elk with large antlers

part of a Nick Sweetman mural on 30th street - plants, with a real tree growing in front of it

 

meandering near Bloor and Dundas

Posted: November 9, 2018 in general Toronto, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, nature, old buildings
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Presenting an eclectic compilation of images so

Have a seat!

below:  But maybe not here, even if they are two comfy sofas!  Comfy but wet.

two burgundy sofas on the sidewalk

Meandering on a day early in November

while the trees were still showing their last hurrah of colour.

colourful leaves, red and yellow leaves on trees in a residential neighbourhood, Neepawa Street

This mural is on Roncesvalles is partially obscured but is still a welcome splash of colour and vibrance.

a man walks by a mural on a fence, a peacock feather and a pink flower

   I love the raccoons!  Pink raccoons

test graffiti on a garage in an alley, also with a pink raccoon painted above the garage door

and blue raccoons on street art that I haven’t seen before.

street art on a garage door in an alley, large heart shaped face with big eyes and red lips, also raccoons,

Crooked lines,

garage doors and fences in an alley, autumn, trees with gold and yellow leaves, as well as leaves on the ground

tight spaces,

small walkway between two light purple buildings that leads to the entrance to another residence

and old glass.  All kinds of alterations.

sign on an old house, now a commercial property, that says Alteration Fast & Best All Kinds Of

old red brick building on Dundas West, sign that says Downtown Rental

 Peeling paint on diamonds  (once red?)

paint peeling on wood, three layers of wood with upper two layers cut in diamond shapes

and water drops on leaves (definitely red).

red leaves of a plant, wet from the rain, in front of a bright turquoise wall

One very pink car.  Whiskey for Whiskers.

pink car in parking lot

Uber 5000’s yellow birdies and friends are still on the side of Tommy’s Gift & Variety.

Uber5000 mural on the side of Tommys

And next door you Coffee and breakfast at Tina’s while your tax returns are prepared.

restaurant and store, rainy day, wet sidewalk and street in front of it, Tina Coffee and Breakfast restaurant, and Tommys Gift & Variety, pink door between the two, two storeys, lots of windows in the storey above Tina's.

 Semi neighbours

two attached houses in the Junction, one painted red brick with dark blue roof and the other light brown with dark red roof and bright red trim, small white picket fence in front of the red house, metal fence in front of the brown house (beige actually)

at the edges of gentrification.

building on the corner of Perth Ave and Bloor West, pale purple paint, a bright yellow happy face graffiti, a sign advertising Drake Commissary

Lights over the train tracks

looking across the train tracks to an old building with street art on the lower level, lights on metal posts over the tracks, tight mesh fence beside the railway as well

and graffiti beside.

graffiti on the concrete bridge supports, Dundas St West over the railway tracks, taken from the West Toronto Railpath

A fine and dandy tractor

a red toy tractor, old fashioned, in the window of fine and dandy on Dundas Street, white back drop behind the tractor, the building is dark grey

and a great idea

words painted on a garage door that say gratitude goes viral

She’s gone green but she’s got the blues.

a paper paste up of woman's face in green and blue (green skin and blue hair) on a very black wall and door

and Ontario’s now orange.

row of stores on Dundas Street, one on the end has a map of Canada painted on the exterior wall, with orange background.

A family outing

an adult bike locked to a ring, two kids bikes and a toddlers push car locked to a second ring, on a sidewalk on Dundas West, cars and buildings in the background.

below: The building with the giraffe pattern on top, at Bloor and Dundas West, is still there.

giraffe building at Bloor and Dundas West, with traffic and pedestrians in front
giraffe pattern brown and gold wall on top and brown below, movie posters and a bike

below: The murals painted by Wallnoize are still there. They were painted in the spring of 2015 and I posted a lot of photos of them shortly after that.

people walking on a sidewalk that passes by a long mural painted by wallnoize, many small murals joined together, apartment buildings with large trees with yellow autumn leaves in the background, Bloor West,

below: The murals run under the Bloor Street underpass (railway tracks overhead), on both sides of the street.

a woman walks along a wet sidewalk under a train bridge, railling on one side, street art on the wall on the other side.

below: The new MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) is now open on Sterling Road. The renovations to the old Tower Automotive building aren’t totally complete; most of the area is a construction site. But the museum opened earlier this year. Access from the West Toronto Railpath is available.

chainlink fence along a path leading from West Toronto Railpath to Sterling Road, with new MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in the background, what used to be the Tower Automotive Building

But hey! Why stop here?…. more about the new MOCA follows ……

between Euclid and Palmerston

Posted: October 31, 2018 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Lightup the Laneway Project

below: The largest mural was a collaboration between three artists.  In the middle, Bacon works with blue.

Nick Sweetman painting a mural in a laneway, alley mural

below: Christina Mazzulla working on her ghost fish.

spray painting a mural of a fish swimming in the water

below: And the last artist working on this mural is Nick Sweetman whose narwhal is on the west end.

Nick Sweetman works on a mural of a narwhal

below: Toucan by @ghazaraza (aka Ghazaleh)

mural of a toucan on a garage door

below: Working on her mural, Anya Mielniczek

Anya painting a mural of a woman with wavy white and black hair, yellow face, yellow eyes, she's standing on a ladder

old building in an alley with murals being painted on two sides

below: Completed mural with stencils of elephants around the bottom as well as a note about the precarious state of elephants in Botswana

completed mural by anya mielniczek, woman with yellow skina dn eyes and black and white wavy hair,

below: Spraying on the orange hair in a mural by mck_studio (aka Meaghan Kehoe)

green and ornage mural on a garage door of a large face with frizzy hair, hand is holding a spray paint can and praying towards hair, orange paint orange hair.

below: Autumn painting leaves, a mural by Erin McCluskey

orange woman lying on the ground, holding a paint brush, mural on a garage door
a woman painting a mural on a garage door in an alley

below: Natashia Faustino and her pink cat (tiger?) on “Into the Wild”

painting a mural

below: Melo was the artist who created these organic looking blobs and swirls

mural on a garage door of white, orange, and purple blobs and squiggles

below: Raoul working on his mural

using a long handled brush to paint a mural of a woman's face on a garage door

finished mural of a woman's face, with her eyes closed

below: Making straight edges on his mural, Andre Kan.

spray painting a mural

below:  Flowers surrounding a peaceful woman in blue, a mural by Gosia Komorski

blue lady in profile, head only, with long hair ties up on head in a large braid, surrounded by stylized flowers in a mural in pinks and blues

close up of stylized flowers in a mural in pinks and blues

below: White squirrels on yellows and oranges by Karen Roberts

artist sitting on the ground while painting a mural on a garage door in a lane

below: Al Runt puts some finishing touches on his mural

Runt, street artist, painting a mural

below: The finished mural

mural by Al Runt, coloured creatures. a patchwork dog plays a piano that has walking legs

below: Near/Far by Henry Tyminski

mural that says Near Far

below: More words, this time “It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood.”  A quote from the TV show, ‘Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood’ along with a picture of Daniel Striped Tiger, a hand puppet from the same show.

white garage door with blue words that say It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, also a picture of a hand puppet,

 

below: Shafia Shaik working on her mural.  The word GLOW has been cut off.  The finished work was signed as  EWOK project standing for Equity for Women of (K)olour.

spray painting the eye on a mural

rise and shine mural by C. Scaife, looks like neon signs that would be in a restaurant, eggs cooking, hot coffee, bacon and the words rise and shine in cursive writing

below: A mural by muisca.  The finished mural has green leaves and vines on both sides of the face.

mural by muisca on garage door, bright colours, aztec face and head dress

below: Bright lines by Bomi (aka Rodrigo)

painting a mural

Andre Castro painting a mural of multicoloured whale on a garage door in a lane

below: Finished whale by Andre Castro

finished mural of a multicoloured whale on black background

a pink kids' bike parked beside a garage door with a mural, no seat on the bike

below: A second whale, this one is the creation of CTR (aka Christian)

large mural of a many coloured whale swimming on a white garage door in an alley

parrot head on a garage door, mural, done in triangles and other straight edged shapes

below: Cruz1 mural in the foreground

garage doors being painted with street art murals, laneway

mural by cruz 1, green angry face

close up of ugly red face in mural by cruz 1, big blue eye and green mouth with large crooked teeth

below: Slightly abstracted flowers by Chris Perez

Chris Perez mural of red and blue flowers, slightly abstract, on a garage door

below: A wonderful, larger than life loon swims towards the sunset, by Cameron Chalmers.

mural on a garage door of a loon swimming into the sunset

blog: Wild and crazy colours and shapes in a mural by Diana and Ted

a wild mural with bright colours, shapes from nature, watery, and a black background by Ted and Diana

below: Lines and angles all over the place, by Kenny Alexander

lines all over the place, abstract picture, mural

below: Lemon Drop man is waving at you.  Mural by Jieun June Kim

lemon drop character on a pink and purple house with green trees, a mural by Jieun June Kim

below: Choose Kindness and a heart with four eyes!  A mural by monica on the moon (aka Monica Wickeler)

pink heart that is sort of anatomically correct, with words choose kindness around it, mural

below: A mural by Soul partially completed

partially completed mural by artist soul,

below: And, last but not least, two murals by Nixo

mural by nixo on garage door, straight horizontal lines

graphic looking design painted on a garage door in black and yellow with grey lines, by nixo

This project was supported by StreetARToronto

past under present

Posted: September 29, 2018 in graffiti and street art, intersections
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From the monochrome past to the coloured present – there’s a new mural on the corner of St. Clair West and Spring Grove painted by Christiano De Araujo.    Old black and white photos of the area and its people provide the background for a group of ten very modern and diverse people.

looking diagonally across the intersection of St. Clair West and Spring Grove Rd to a new mural that has just been finished on the side a building, painted by Christiano De Araujo.

painting of two young women, one blond and one withshort curly bright red hair, on top of painting of black and white vintage photos

painting of a black and white photo from 1930 of a woman holding a baby

below: The top photo is 1732 St. Clair West in 1911.

painting, in colour, of a group of people standing in front of paintings of some old monochrome historical pictures of the St. Clair area

below: On the top, very left corner, the black and white photo is a street scene – It’s St Clair Ave looking east from Prescott Avenue, under the railway bridge and beyond.  The bridge was built in 1931 and the photo was taken shortly after that.

new mural on the side of a 2 storey building, a series of vintage black and white photos of the area and people, with paintings of 8 modern people in colour

This is a StART (StreetARToronto) project

roses and more – St. Clair Gardens

Posted: September 28, 2018 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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The Gardens of St. Clair is a mural project in an alley behind St. Clair West between Prescott and Blackthorn Avenues, just west of the railway tracks.  There are lots of roses and other flowers as well as butterflies and birds.

the side of a building covered with a mural of flowers and the words St. Clair Gardens

below: A purple pansy and a luminescent insect with a shiny blue body.  The dark green vine motif runs throughout the project.

garage door and sides covered with a mural, a purple pansy, an insect with shiny blue body and narrow wings,

a painting of a rose, very realistic, at the top corner of the side of a building, hydro poles and wires in the background

below: Flowers inside the door too.

green door with window, painting in the window too, surrounded by a mural,

an alley with buildings covered with street art murals, the Gardens of St. Clair project

below: Wunder three times over.

a wall with three large text throw-ups that all say Wunder, as a tribute to Mike Kennedy. Also a bird and a flower, a yellow star

part of a mural, a bird coming into land, wings back, feet forward, body almost upright

large mural in an alley, the head of a blue heron appears above abstract painting and text street art

backs of buildings in laneway with murals on them, one is a large pink flower,

cracking cement on a wall covered with a mural of a pinkish rose, on green background

The plaque on the wall says:
The Gardens of St. Clair
Concept by Mike (Wunder) Kennedy, 1973-2017.
Featuring work by: Bacon, Kane, Rony, Wales, Kwest, Baler, Tensoe2, Flown, Vinse, Whysper, Adore, Miles, Sight, Elwal, Emes, and Nick Sweetman

they rise above

Posted: September 25, 2018 in graffiti and street art, intersections, public art
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Art on construction hoardings.

below: Looking northwest at the intersection of Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West where seven large collages by Daniel Mazzone dominate the corner.

intersection of St. Clair and Yonge, looking northwest, construction hoardings, people crossing the street

below: On the right, James Dean.  It’s difficult to see in this photo, but there are some pink letters on either side of his face.  On the left it says “Dream as if you’ll live forever”.  On the right is says, “Live as if you will die today”.

a man stands at a bus shelter on St. Clair Ave, two large paintings on construction hoardings, by Daniel Mazzone, are behind him

below: She repeats.  This woman is at the two ends.  As far as I can tell, the only difference is the colour of the pattern in the background.   On St. Clair it’s purple while it’s red on Yonge.   Superman is on her forehead and, in fact, most of the pieces that are used in this artwork are from Superman comics.

large maural by Daniel Mazzone, on construction hoardings, a woman's face and head, created by a collage of smaller images

below: Charlie Chaplin above the bus shelter.  Many of the images used to create the face are also pictures of Charlie Chaplin.

a man sits on a bench at a bus shelter on St. Clair, with a large collage picture of Charlie Chaplin behind him, created by Daniel Mazzone

below: Love sees no colour, with Michael Jackson above Yonge Street.

two murals by Daniel Mazzone, one of which is Michael Jackson in his red Thriller jacket, and the other is a woman in a cap blowing dandelions white puffy stuff, other flowers and butterflies too along with the words Love Sees No Colours.

below: “Looking for Beauty” by Daniel Mazzone.  Does she see any?  There are a few Supermans here too, especially in her face.  “Splow” is written in green on her neck.

mural above the sidewalk, as people walk by, Yonge Street street sign, traffic,

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