Archive for the ‘graffiti and street art’ Category

community and history, St. Clair West

Posted: April 24, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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There is a railway bridge, just west of Caledonia Rd where the GO line to Aurora passes over St. Clair West.
On the north side of the underpass is a mural in black, white and grey tones.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - the words St. Clair West in large letters

The theme of the mural is “Ontario’s first railway” as this railway line has been in operation since 1853 when the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron railway was built here.

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a photo of the mural from across the street, with its three parts, the words St. Clair West on the left, the locomotive in the middle and the railway workers on the right
The first locomotive built in Canada was a steam powered engine built by the Toronto Locomotive Works, a company founded by James Good.  Named “Toronto”, it was finished in April 1853 and in mid-May 1853 it pulled a short (4 cars) train from downtown Toronto 30 miles north to Machells Corners (now Aurora).   Service on the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron line had begun!

below: “From one age to another.  The locomotive was the machine of the future.”
mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - a painting of an old locomotive with the words 'Ontario's First Railway' on the top of the mural and the words: "from one age to another. The locomotive was the machine of the future. " at the bottom

mural in black, white, and grey about the first railway in Ontario, 1853, that was built here, and where the railway still runs as the GO line to Aurora - three railway workers in jackets and caps

The mural was painted in September 2012 by Marcelo Pinero, Aelwynn Swanson, and Pia Ferrari from the Davenport Arts Community.

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There is also a mural on the south side of the underpass; it has a soccer theme.

mural on a railway bridge underpass that has a soccer theme. Flags of different countries, soccer players, words,

It too was painted by Davenport Arts Community.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

part of a mural with a soccer theme with words that say Football Fever St. Clair 1982. also with pictures of football players and flags from different countries.

below: Silverthorn Sunrise mural painted late in 2012 by Marcelo Pinero and Aelwynn Swanson.  It is painted on the side of Whiteside Pharmacy which is on the NE corner of St. Clair and Silverthorn.   Silverthorn was also the name of this neighbourhood prior to 1998 when it was amalgamated into the City of Toronto.

Silverthorn Sunrise mural by the Davenport Arts Community, with the word Silverthorn, a sun rising over a bridge while a new TTC streetcar passes under the bridge, the words "shop St. Clair". The mural is on the side of a red brick building, beside a pharmacy.

And last, a mural that is actually on the side of business, West York Motors, which is located on St. Clair West between Ford and Osler streets.
It was painted by Splash Murals.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a view of the mural from across the almost empty parking lot.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West near Osler - south end of the mural showing cars parked in front of a garagethe backs of two houses are also in the picture,

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - looking down the length of the mural including the narrow chimney on which the CN TOwer is painted.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - the part of the mural with the words "West York since 1945" also an old convertible with its door open and top down.

mural on the side of West York motors on St. Clair West - a yellow sports car is painted on the wall near the entrance to the building

more information about the Davenport Arts Community

the latest word on the street

Posted: April 10, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Anyone with a marker and a bit of gumption can leave their mark almost anywhere but most of us don’t.  What makes some people write?  The stupid and/or juvenile scrawls I can do without but I like encountering words that make me smile or make me think.  Below is a small collection that I have seen in the past week.  Some are stupid and some are witty, but all are the result of someone’s thoughts and actions.

below: Keep it civil; keep it underground.

an orange diamond shaped construction ahead sign

below: “MyFace  – I vote for a date with you!  Currently searching for my 2017 Valentine.”
Brought to you (maybe) by someone called James and seen around Ryerson University.

a poster taped to a pole on a street with the heading "MyFace", a picture of a young man pointing at the camera. Words on the bottom say:

below: What is more tempting than a blank wall?  If a sign requests you not to paint on the wall and you draw on it with marker, have you disobeyed the request?

An off white coloured wall on which someone has printed the words "Please do not paint wall". In answer someone else has drawn a picture (very faint so it's hard to see)

below: These posters on the wood hoardings have been up for many months now.  Someone has written “communist garbage” on one of the posters.  I’m not sure of the ideology, but if you believe in the freedom of movement are you really a communist?  The Soviet government certainly didn’t allow it.

posters that have been on wood hoardings for quite a while and they are starting to fray at the edges.

below: Let’s call this photo ‘Garage Heavy Metal in the Bike Lane’.
I’m not sure if this is a list of good things?  or bad things?  Or maybe some sort of poetry?
What does Elizabeth May have in common with Lucy DeCoutere?  Or the TD CEO with Desmond Cole?

a list of things and people written in capital letters, in different colours on a light blue garage door

below: “Do not place any materials here”…..  just a lot of words instead.
A few words about someone called Sarah.

A yellow sign in an alley that says "So not place any materials here" on which someone has written in black sharpie

below: “Drink coca-cola get fat”.  Probably not what Coke intended!?

A large poster coca-cola ad. In the red circle with the coke logo, has been written in black, drink and get fat, such that the sign now says, drink coca-cola, get fat.

below: “I use stickers because I’m too afraid of getting caught to spray”, wabishabby

A very small hand printed sticker that has been stuck to a sign on a wall, top part of sticker is picture of a cat, bottom half of sticker are the words: "

Sackville Street murals

Posted: April 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Sackville Street, just south of Dundas, is right in the midst of the Regent Park renewal project.  It is also the site of two murals.  First, there is bright and colourful mural which is painted on the side of a new apartment building.

mural painted by Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky in Regent park Toronto, showing a brightly coloured woman;s face, with a flower in her hair and her body (from the shoulders up) made of buildings in a jumble as well as a blue owl (large bird) in flight, passing in front of the sun that is represented by circles of orange and red radiating out from the bright yellow center. A green hand is reaching up towards the sun

A man with a dog an a leash is walking by a mural of a brightly coloured woman;s face, with a flower in her hair and her body (from the shoulders up) made of buildings in a jumble. Painted by Shalak Attack in Regent Park

close up of a mural by Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky of a blue owl (large bird) in flight, passing in front of the sun that is represented by circles of orange and red radiating out from the bright yellow center. A green hand is reaching up towards the sun

The other mural is a painting by elicser on hoardings around a building under construction.

a long mural by elicser painted on hoardings around a building under construction. People flying past in the mural

below: With the ubiquitous Timmie’s cup on the ground.

the end of a mural, a man is sideways, arm above his head, painted on a mural, a large orange concrete block is in front of the wall, an empty Tim Hortons cup (Timmies cup) is on the ground.
part of a mural of flying people by elicser, a woman in a light purple dress and head scarf as well s a boy in beige Tshirt and blue shorts

Two people painted flying sideways on a mural, a brown man with no shirt on and a much smaller person below him with a yellow T-shirt. An orange concrete block is on the sidewalk in front of the mural along with an orange and white traffic cone

people flying sideways on a mural by elicser, including a girl in a pink dress

people flying sideways on a mural by elicser, including a woman in a blue dress and a man with a red hat.

flying people mural by elicser

the words Regent Park are written in pink paint on a light blue background, painted on wooden hoardings around a construction site.

April flurries

Posted: April 5, 2016 in graffiti and street art, nature
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April showers bring May flowers, or so they say.

painted on a garage door, bright green background with black roses with red leaves and white daisies, also with black leaves, a red butterfly and a blue butterfly

BUT, wait just a minute!  You know it always snows in Toronto in April.  Always.

young man's face painted in pink with white features (stylized, not realistic) with orange hair and orange shirt. beside him is the word no written in large pink letters with an exclamation point after it.

And this year is no exception.

drawing of two eyes and a mouth on a grey wall. There is fear in the eyes and the mouth seems to be screaming. Beside the drawing is a window with green metal bars and a small leafless tree growing in front of the window. Snow on the ground.

It’s cold enough that even the poles are wearing scarves.

an old scruffy yellow metal pole in an alley has a black knitted scarf tied around it. There is a bit of snow on the scarf.

But why should that stop us?  There’s always a silver lining and there’s always lemonade to be made.
In this case, it is the opportunity for one last look at the city in winter (we hope!)

backyard, entrance off alley, little red car parked on snow covered parking lot. blue sky, backs of two storey houses

looking through a backless garage where the garage door is open. The garage is empty. you can see the backyard, covered in snow as well as snow covered steps leading up the second storey

looking down a narrow lane to a large two stroey red brick house across the street, a woman is riding past on a bicycle.. winter scene

eyes open, watching for spring

Posted: April 3, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Faces in the alley, Graffiti Alley

As March turns into April and winter sort of turns into spring.

blog_girl_window_streetart_painting

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below: Looks like someone has already started his spring cleaning.

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below: He says, “See you in hell”.
She thinks, “I’m already there. You should try living beside this smelly thing.”

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below: Jarus has painted a young man

blog_jarus_man_streetart_painting

below: It seems that even Lovebot needs to eat…  Not sure about the purple hamburger bun though!

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P.K., a newcomer to the alley?

Posted: April 2, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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I took a short walk through the graffiti alleys behind Queen St. West yesterday.  I found four new face/skull paintings by artist P.K. (which is short for?) all close together on Rush Lane, and all near 530 Richmond St. West.

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - intricate black line drawing of skull and facial features on teal background

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - black outlines of top of skull, eyes, nose holes, and sort of teeth, on red background

below: A turtlecaps paste-up from last year is still on the wall.

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - black spray paint outlines of features on multicoloured background - on a brick wall between two windows, small turtlecaps paste up also in the picture

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - red and yellow drippy blobs on a black background

2016, a new year

Posted: January 1, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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2016, a new year just begun, and with it a new country and a new blog.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging about Toronto as I do a bit of traveling once again.  I have started another blog as a home for the street art that I see.  It will include the pages of non-Toronto street art that I have on some pages in this blog (some have already been moved) as well as any street art that I see on this trip.

New blog: Eyes on the streets

 

 

 

under bridge, under school

Posted: December 25, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks
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Playing hookey, spray paint cans in hand, under the bridge.

 

steps behind a school

long wooden staircase going downhill in autumn with lots of dead leaves on the ground

On the Bayview Extension, a black car drives under the Bloor Viaduct, past concrete supports with graffiti on them.

graffiti on concrete bridge supports, block letters

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature in yellow and orange with the words: One love to [heart] and for my best friend Gracie

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead, as well as a pink and black geometric street art painting

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - with words totally busted oren

stencils on concrete, in red, words that say: Police Chiefs are Freemasons

stencil, on concrete, in red, words that sat: Don't steal it's the gov't's job

graffiti under a bridge, light blue character

graffiti under a bridge, black deveilish face with horns, beard and teeth, black face, white details, red around it

line drawing of a skinny man wearing a top hat beside head of a caricature of Queen Elizewbth in green and yellow. The words, Crack Kills

graffiti in the corner of a bridge support, concrete,

 

hand written sign duct taped to a chain link fence that reads: Apologies to the graffiti art people. It's that time of year again that city makes us clean up. But... clean slate 101. Peace.
below: On two sides, back and front, of the same post.

Two sides of the same pole. One side has a stencil in red that says Objects in Space. The other side has the same stencil, but in reverse.

graffiti under a raised parking lot

looking up at the metal cross bar supports for the wire fence along the Bloor Viaduct

Toronto Historical commission sign about the history of the Prince Edward Viaduct, a bronze plaque posted on the brick wall, interior, of Castle Frank subway station.

 

transcription of the plaque:

The Prince Edward Viaduct
Designed by Edmund Burke architect, and Thomas Taylor, construction engineer, the Price Edward Viaduct was opened on 18 October 1918. The Viaduct joined Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue from Sherbourne Street to Broadview Avenue, to provide easy access to the rapidly expanding suburbs east of the Do River. The Bloor section, carried on an earthen embankment, stretched eastward from Sherbourne to Parliament Streets. The Don section supported by a bridge 494 metres long, extends westward from Broadview Avenue. The Rosedale section, with a bridge span of 177 metres, forms a connecting link between them. On the recommendation of Jacob and Davies, consulting engineers, provision for a lower second deck was incorporated into the viaduct to carry subway trains. This foresight proved to be of inestimable value in building the Bloor-Danforth subway line 50 years later.
Toronto Historical Board, Toronto Transit Commission, 1981

Sorauren Park

Posted: December 19, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Graffiti and street art on walls and garage doors in the alleys surrounding Sorauren Park.

below: If you are walking eastward along Dundas West, this is the first mural that you see.

Uber5000 mural on the side of Tommys Gift and Variety store on Dundas WEst. Uber birdie with a white coffee cup, cat listening to a giant CD player

below:  A friendly fuzzy blackburn animal playing in the park

mural by blackburn of a raccoon, or similar creature, playing with a yellow toy truck, painted on the side of a building in a park

below: Dog (wolf?) by Aaron Li-Hill

very realistic painting of a wolf (or a dog) on a garage door in a lane.

below: The guy in the blue shorts is saying: “You don’t need a mirror to look good, you’re beautiful on the inside, like you’re brain and stuff.”

garage door in an alley painted with a mural, light blue backgrouns and some cartoon-like characters, a little green guy with a square head, a yellow dog-like creature on two legs, and a blue guy

garage door painted with a large red and white danger due to sign as street art. A hand is writing in black marker on the sign, rondor

CBS mediah geometric spray paint pience on a garage door.

creative monsters mural on the side of a white building beside Sorauren Park

close up of creative monsters mural on the side of a white building beside Sorauren Park

garage door with street art on it, half of a large man plus green and blue tag around the letter E

man-like shaped rocket on a wall, red wings outstretched, cat skull motif on the front

A blue motorcycle is parked in front of a street art painting of three spacemen creatures

line of garages in an alley. The garage door in the foreground has a bent tulip painted on it.

below: Spudbomb mural

spudbomb mural on a garage door.

D loe tag graffiti on a wood garage door, green letters on orange background

below: by elicser, I was on cloud nine for a long time.

part of an elicser piece on a garage door but a car and a truck are parked in front of the rest. A man in a brown hat is blowing against a door, streams of wind coming from his mouth and clouds are around him, words say I was on cloud nine for a long time.

black line drawing on a white garage door in an alley. Round moon shape witha face in the moon.

Garage door covered with a mural by traziv. Rabbit like creature standing on a grass mound eating a carrot. buildings around hime, blue sky and a fluffy cloud too.

Two sides of a small building, each side with a mural on it. One side is a TTC subway with Kipling as its destination, the other is of two kids, one boy is flying on an open book and a girl is on a scooter and wearing a helmet. The words between the two kids say Ready Let's Rock

old garage door painted light grey with triangles in blue, yellow and red
side of a small building covered with a mural of a green bird-like character, playground and houses in the background

street art on garage doors in a lane
street art painting on a laneway garage door, pink and grey swirls and blobs, plant-like shapes.

graffiti on a corrugated metal garage.

below: by elicser, It’s almost dark.  One more wave, then we go in.

woman in a red bikini sitting on a long board in the water, painted on a garage door, car parked in front partially obscuring it.

old friends

Posted: December 15, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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In the world of graffiti and street art, change is usually inevitable and sometimes interesting.  One exception seems to be the alley that you can see from subway between Keele and Dundas West stations.  The building on the corner of Bloor West and Indian Road is new, but otherwise little is changed.  Even though most of the street art is the same as before, I don’t think that I have posted it in the past.  Here is documentation of most of it.

below: King Midas still looks over the TTC parking lot at Keele station.  Well, I’ve always assumed that it was King Midas although he was the guy whose touch turned everything to gold, not grey.

mural of older man in grey tones, with open book on his lap, beside him is the Midas logo (auto repair).

below: And this monkey is still asking what the noise is all about.

mural on an exterior wall, a monkey in old fashioned aviator's helmet and pink scarf is shouting "What's all the noise about"

below: ‘Sink or Swim’ by elicser

graffiti street art in an alley - a mural by elicser called sink or swim. A large man with a red toque and a red plaid shirt.

below: A lovebot shares wall space with an Uber5000 birdie….

graffiti street art in an alley - a lovebot wheatpaste on a wll beside a Uber5000 yellow bird holding a Canadian flag

below: … because Everybody’s a Winner

graffiti street art in an alley - a mural by Uber5000 titled Everyone's a WInner. Yellow birdies sitting around a table. There is also a lovebot wheatpaste on the wall.

below: Laser, not loser.   Now with laser vision.

graffiti street art in an alley - a Uber5000 mural of a man with reg glasses and red flashes coming from his eyes. A little birdie is sitting on top of a ghetto blaster

graffiti street art in an alley - a large salt shaker with the words Salt o' the Earth written below it. A garbage bin is beside it.

  below:  Ghostbusters in a hard to reach place

A ghostbuster logo painted on the side of a building in an alley

below:  Zooks is still on her wall.

street art on a wall in a laneway. Blue background, naked woman with long brown hair, standing between two tags

below: This turtle has seen better days

A green turtle character painted on a wall in a lane. Wearing glasses, standing up. The paint in the lower part of the piece is peeling badly.

grey and light blue tag street art on a multi coloured background, two butterflies as well, one pink butterfly and one blue butterfly

mural on the side of building in an alley, TTC streetcar, buildings, people, subway, with another building in the foreground
mural on the side of building in an alley, TTC streetcar, buildings, people, subway,

below:  Guard dog at the bottom of the stairs

painting of a large black dog on a door at the bottom of an exterior stair case. Graffiti dog, street art dog. It looks like he is sitting in front of the door looking at people as they walk towards the door.

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below: She seems to turn when the door opens, a mural by EGR art

 

a large mural of a woman with wings that takes up the entire back of a two storey building in a laneway. There is also a metal staircase with a small porch. The door at the top is open so part of the woman in the mural opens up too. The mural is by EGR art.

large mural of a young man's face in grey tones. Small moustache, head only,

below:  He (she?) still keeps goal on the back porch.

painting of a hockey goalie in full pads and helmet painted on a blue door by a small porch in a laneway.

looking down a laneway towards a large brick apartment building. The side of a truck has some graffiti on it - the truck is backed into a parking spot in the lane. The buildings in the lane have graffiti on them.

part of a mural with a lot of heads, a man, a green character, amongst others, high on a wall

rabid raccoon in blues, street art

street art in an alley, a white skull with a black baseball cap. Cap says Big Dirt on it. Words above the skull are Mary Recka Pantilo (could be Mozy not Mary)

below:  This mural also has a painting of Marilyn Monroe in it along with Bruce Lee and Alfred Hitchcock.  There were too many cars parked in front of it when I walked past the other day.

part of a larger mural, Alfred Hitchcock holding a sign for the filming of Psycho, Bruce Lee is also in the picture, a car is parked in front of the wall, in an alley

below: King Kong dominates this wall.

Grey toned mural of King Kong holding a woman over a tall building as he walks through a large city, and towers over it.

street art painting of a grimacing big fat yellow male face with eyes closed and big white teeth showing

below: We Rise Up

large mural of upreached open hands releasing a red butterfly
below: War and Peace

mural of police in riot gear confronting a person with both hands giving a peace sign

A green four eyed blov with a peace sign shaped nostrils, and a necklace with a gold H on it.

Someone has scrawled Your life is a lie in black over a piece of street art. Someone else has changed lie to life by adding an f

graffiti street art in an alley - an angry bird bird with the words Rainy Days

graffiti street art in an alley - Two black and white hearts, one with a face drawn on it. The words cloud + glare = [heart]

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