Archive for the ‘graffiti and street art’ Category

walking down McCaul Street

Posted: October 21, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
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This post is the result of a search for street art while walking south of OCADU on McCaul Street past Grange Road and Stephanie Street on the way to Queen St West.

below: Part of a painting by Uber5000 on the ramp to Above Ground Art Supplies, OCADU on McCaul at Grange.

part of a mural by Uber5000 with birdie in paiter's beret holding a paint palette and painting a portrait of another bird who is posing on a table beside him.

below: On the SW corner of Grange and McCaul is this woman.  The building is 60 McCaul St., the Brinks Express Company of Canada building.

A picture of a woman in profile, with one knee raised, wearing a yellow and white striped top, picture on a wall. An older woman is walking on the sidewalk, approaching the camera.

below: On the south wall of the Brinks building is a mural.  It was painted in 2014 by Julia Dickens, Tara Dorey, Alexandra Mackenzie, Lido Pimienta, Peter Rahul and Diana Vander Meulen.
UPDATE: As of 4th Nov 2015 the lower right part of this mural has been tagged over unfortunately.

mural on the side of low building, beside w parking lot with one white car parked there.

below:  This building has a City of Toronto Development Proposal sign on it.  This sign says: “40-60 McCaul Street and 10 Stephanie Street.  An application has been filed to amend the Zoning By-law to permit a 14 storey residential building with 184 units and a below grade parking garage as well as a 3 storey building proposed to a private art gallery.  Statutory Public Meeting:  Information will be posted once meeting is scheduled.”

corner of a red brick building with a mural on one side and a standard city of Toronto black and white development proposal sign on the other.

below: The next building south on McCaul Street is 52 McCaul.  Dasic Fernandez and Uber5000 contributed this street art to the northwest corner of the building.   It is across the parking lot from the mural pictured above.

street art piece of a woman's face with eyes closed and a vague shape of a heart behind her, done in purples and yellows, by Dasic Fernandez, on the side of brick building, with a pay machine for a parking lot in front of it. Just above her is an UBER5000 birdie with a ghetto blaster

yellowish brown brick wall with a wheatpaste of a girl with long hair and eyes closed. Above her is a paper lace doillie in a heart shape. Part of a grey metal door is also in the picture

below: On the back of 52 McCaul (west side) is:

street art on the back of brick building. A male face is above an old door and an arm on either side of the door.

close up a street art face on a wall

wheatpaste of a girl holdinging something, with poppies behind her, on a brick wall, with decorative metal grilles on either side of her

below: There is a large mural on the south side of 52 McCaul.  It was painted by Francisco Rodrigues da Silva, a Brazilian street artist who goes by the name Nunca, in 2009 as part of that year’s Manifesto Festival.

large mural on an exterior wall beside a parking lot. A man is swimming away from hands holding booze and dice and towards hands holding flowers. There are a few fish in the water with him. Painted by street artist Nunca on a bulding on McCaul Street in Toronto

close up of bottom left of a mural showing 7 hands of different shades of brown and beige. One is holding a pair of dice (two sixes), one is holding a green bottle, presumably with alcohol in it, the other fingers are pointing to the right, towards the main part of the mural.

street art mural, close up of part of it, showing a man swimming in wavy water, he has short black hair, a shiny round ear ring, and his tongue is sticking out. his arms are at his side.

two big round grey fish with open mouths and big yellow eyes, part of a larger mural

part of a mural by Nunca, four hands of differing shades of brown and beige are pointing or holding a large orange flower

below:  A few little things spotted along the way.

on a rusty metal pole beside a brick wall, close up of a flower in a flower pot line drawing in white on brown paper with the word moter in white above it with an arrow pointing to the flower

street signs covered with stickers and slaps in front of OCAD University

More info on the two large murals pictured above.

wildlife on St. Helens

Posted: October 19, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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A number of street artists have collaborated to paint an animal themed mural on a wall
that separates St. Helens Ave from a Value Village store and parking lot (near Bloor and Lansdowne).

street art painting by braesoner of a tiger poking its head out from behind a tag

street art mural on a wall beside a sidewalk, with leaves on the ground and two small trees in the picture as well

street art painting of a toucan with a colourful beak, sitting on large green leaves with a sunset in the background.

 

street art painting of a yellow spray paint can with a big happy face on it.

side view of a street art mural on a wall beside a sidewalk, the closest part of the mural is a picture of two giant beetles by Nick Sweetman with a painting of a spray paint can farther down the fence.

street art mural by Nick Sweetman of two large beetles and a pink flower, on a wall, St. Helens Ave in Toronto

street art painting of letters that spall fathom

street art mural by EGR of a lion beside a tree

street art painting on a wall by cruz1

street art painting of a brown monkey

street art painting by cbs

street art mural on a wall, by Nick Sweetman, of a snake head in blue, purple and green, with a long pink tongue and an orange eye

street art painting on a wall by spud1, #spud1

street art mural painting by EGR of a probably naked woman crouching in the long grass with a spear in her hand.

peace, love and a chevy van

Posted: October 17, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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“I said, get some sleep and dream of rock and roll.”

below:  War is not the answer, and Let it Be.

Front panel of a white chevy van that is covered with stickers, a pink hand giving a peace sign, daisies, anti-war stickers

below: A bit dirty and faded but still smiling.

old and faded and dirty yellow fabric flower with a happy face on it.

back windows of a chevy van covered with stickers

door panel of a chevy van covered with stickers, ganja, tinker bell, rolling stones tongue,

Drivers side of white chevy panel van, covered with stickers.

 

October edition

Posted: October 15, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Another month, another walk through Graffiti Alley.
As usual, there were some new things that I noticed and here is a sample. 

below: This big guy sits where Batman was just a few weeks ago.

Street art painting of a large rodent like creature sitting Brown, furry, little paws, small feature on face,

below:  Little town scene by Peru with a poser bunny beside.

Street art piece by Peru of the word Peru written in block letters but also used as the backbone of a city scene of stylized little houses with red roofs. The painting has a little truck in front of the houses with the word waistoid on it. Street art Poser bunny to the left.

below: The flu hating rapper

A character in a white lab coat and with spikey grey hair, street art painting. He's hold a microphone to his mouth. The words say Flu Hating Rapper

A street art painting of a man wearing a cap, he's painted standing between two windows with metal grilles over them.

below: Shanghai Toronto 2015

Bright red street art wavy and curly lines on blue and purple toned background.

below:  Lovebot is on the move

large wheatpaste lovebot on a wall that's been painted sky blue. 3D lovebot looks like he's running or jumping.

Street art, tag like painting in white with green and blue and black in the background. On a wall in an alley PHLS ATC

below: Stikman in green and grey

Stickman on a wall with green and grey spray paint on top of him and around him

The corner of a two storey building in Graffiti Alley, photo taken so that both sides of the building are visible. On one side is a group of poser bunnies in brown and white with red background on the lower flooor and a blck lovebot with red heart on the upper floor. On the other side of the corner is a Uber5000 bird above and something that's been tagged over on the bottom.

street art painting of a man with a fat cigar in his mouth, wearing a hat, carrying a briefcase, wearing a suit jacket and tie. Words written in cursive beside him say Love Smelling Daisies.

below:  Any idea what she might be holding in her hands?

Stencil graffiti, black paint on grey wall, of a seated woman holding something in her hands. At first I thought she was holding a camera close to her face but I'm not sure.

Narrow street art painting of a smoking gun sticking out of a hole in a wall.

at Fairbank station

Posted: September 28, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Fairbank station is not really a station, at least not any more; it’s the access point to the York Beltline trail at Fairbank Street.   The York Beltline trail is the western portion of the beltline trail.  It is a few blocks north of Eglinton Avenue and it runs from Times Road (west of Marlee Ave) westward to the railway tracks that run parallel to Caledonia Road.   Up until the 1990s this was a spur rail line used to service industries in the area.  There are still some small industrial buildings close to the Beltline, including some at Fairbank Street which is where I found these:

below:  Three anser faces on the far wall and a whoisrandom James Dean up close with sunglasses.

the sides of a couple of buildings covered with street art including the head and shoulders of James Dean wearing sunglasses with a beachscene, a green animal head and three anser faces.

below: Green fur and sharp teeth, a creature by blackburn

On the side of a building, a large street art painting of the head of a green animal. Open mouth, big fangs. Small ears and eyes. Bear? or maybe large bobcat?

below: by braes, or braesoner

A street art by braes of a boy in a red and white baseball hat and red shirt. The bat signal is beamed onto the wall beside him, black bat symbol in a yellow oval. The boy has a backpack full of tools.

below: by mska (left side) and paula prezende (right side)

two women painted on a purple dumpster. The one on the left is by mska and the woman has a skull mask on. The other is by paula prezende and is a woman with long red hair but with a big hole in her chest.

below: by deadboy (note raccoon on mud flap)

on the back of a truck, two white skulls with wide open mouths in profile, a raccoon and all signed by deadboy.

below: by poser and ABM Crew

Poser bunny in blue on pink and black background, painted on the back of an old truck container. Weeds growing in front and a tree to the left.

below: by Nick Sweetman

What looks to be a multicoloured underside of a very large beetle or similar creature with tiny legs, segmented body and numerous antenae. Painted by Nick Sweetman.

very bright coloured geometric street art on a garage door

graffiti on the side of an old truck container on wheels that is parked where the weeds are growing up around it. There is a large rose painted in grey tones as well as a black and white piece by The Crew
A crocdile swimming in the water with a little orange birdie sitting on his head - a street art painting on the side of concrete block wall. The croc is swimming in the water, with his mouth open wide and showing his teeth

below: By brunosmoky

a street art painting of a makeshift boat with stove pipe smoke stack, painted to look like boat is made of boards haphazardly nailed together. On the the side of a building, but with weeds growing up in front of it.

 

a row of stickers all with faces on them on a vertical pole beside a garage door that has also been painted in many bright colours.

a stenciled sign that says Citied Feed Zombies

random pieces

Posted: September 26, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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This is a collection of things that I’ve seen recently that haven’t fit in with any other blog posts.

below: He hangs out on Queen St. West.

A partial painting of a red head man, life size or close to it, on a white wall that people have added stickers to. The stickers cover all of his torso

below: A legless stikman behind bars on Palmerston

Stickman behind a wrought iron fence. He is missing the lower half of his body

A lovebot sticker, lovebot is holding up a sign that says I am a toy. It is on a sign for a store that says Since 1914

below: Malibu rum and Corona beer exposed by demolition on Peter Street.

A construction site. A wall has been exposed that has two large wall paintings, one is an ad for Malibu rum and the other is an ad for Corona beer.

below: Argh.  He understands our frustration.  The Dufferin bus didn’t stop even though there were two of us waiting here!

On a TTC temporary bus stop sign, someone has put a sticker of a person on it, the sticker fits perfectly into the vertical part of the letter T in S T O P

below: Death is the conduit of rebirth.  Life, death and everything in between.

A street art painting of a large skull with the eyes painted as people's heads. Beside it are the words, Death is the conduit to rebirth

below: False can’t hide behind the pipes, Kensington

Behind two yellow pipes on the exterior of a building, a painting of a person's torso with a large heart painted on his shirt. In it's hands is a white sign with the word false written on it.

below: Love the hearts, especially now that blue crowns have started appearing with them.

a yellow happy face lovey heart on a telephone pole, with a blue crown on top of it as well as a stencilled sign that reads Honesty of the best poetry, Gregory Alan Elliott

below:  Panda with guns.  This image was originally a Banksy and it came with the words ‘Destroy Racism.  Be a panda. He’s black.  He’s white.  He’s Asian. ‘

A painting of a panda standing upright, painted on an old wood fence. The panda has a gun in each hand and they are pointed upwards

below:  Seen on hoardings on Eglinton Avenue near Bathurst.  My apologies to the artist, Alice Choi for accidentally cutting off her name from the bottom when I took the picture.

A painting of a person sitting on a chair with only a red cloth draped over their body. The head is a light bulb. A calculator, smartphone and computer monitor and some fish are floating around the person.

below: This stikman is embedded in the pavement.  He’s been run over many times.

A stikman painted onto the pavement of a street

below: Remnants of people and such

The remains of many black and white stickers or wheatpastes on a wall

A small sticker of a girl with a large head and big eyes

below: There will always be haters I guess.

A sticker with a red heart and the words Love Everyone that someone has scrawled on in black marker, shut up

Harbord at Bathurst

Posted: September 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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If you walk along Harbord Street, just east of Bathurst Street, you can’t miss the colourful paintings at the entrance to James Hales Lane.  Most of them were painted by street artists Shalak and Smoky.

large street art painting of a snail with a tiny house on the back of its shell. The piece is signed by Smoky

Looking down along a wall in an alley on which there is a large crocodile and a bear's head painted on the wall. Multicoloured. Bright colours.

Intricate street art painting of a crocodile or alligator on a wall in an alley. Alley animal.

Close up of some new growth, new leaves, on the stump of a small tree. The stump has been covered with spray paint, because it against a wall on which a street art painting was done

below: This bear is painted on the west side of Bampot Bohemian House of Tea & Board Games which explains the floating tea cup above his head.

The face of a bear, perhaps panda bear, but in purples and greens. It is in water up to its nose. A steaming tea cup floats above its head.

below: This peacock is on the other side of the tea house. Signed by MXP, 2004.

street art painting of a peacock. The feathers make a circle shape and are made of houses and trees.

below: This tiger is also on Harbord.  It faces the peacock.  Parts of the picture are washed out because of the angle of the afternoon sun on the day I saw this mural.

A shalak painting of a large tiger head with mouth open and teeth showing. Multicoloured, painted on a wall in an alley. The sun is shining directly on part of it so its a bit washed out in places.

James Hales Lane is short and it is a dead end.  There isn’t much more graffiti or street art in the lane.

A shite garage door in an alley, on the concrete block wall beside the garage door is a line drawing of a rose that is as high as the garage door.

Renfrew Place

Posted: September 23, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Renfrew Place, near Queen Street West and University Avenue.

Another alley, another collection of graffiti and street art.

below: Lovebot strides over speed bump warnings.

A yellow sign warning of speed bumps in the lane has a big lovebot sticker in the middle of it. Buildings in the background.

Street art on an alley garage that covers the whole of the front including garage door and entranceway. On the entrance door is a greenish horned three eyed, big teeth monster

rasr tag on the upper story of a building in an alley . another tag under it that also covers a door.

door in an alley is covered with a street art piece in golds, reds and white

back of a building in an alley, beside a parked car, is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

back of a building in an alley is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

Two signs on a wall covered in street art in pinks, yellows and oranges. One sign is a Tow Zone sign, i.e. no parking. The other sign has an arrow pointing to Queen mother bar garden.

below: The Korean Grill House restaurant is at the corner of Queen West and McCaul.

The back of the Korean Grill House restaurant, and the alley that its in. There is lots of street art on it. Two red garbage bins are also in the picture and they too have graffiti on them.

below:  This mural by elicsr is on the corner of Renfrew Place and John Street.

a mural by artist elicsr on the side of a convenience store. The side of the building faces an alley. A large man and woman are in the mural and they are wearing red crowns. The woman has a young girl sitting in her arms. There is another man in the mural, he covers the back entrance to the building.

two pictures, both part of a mural by elicsr. On the left is a man in a brown and olive green adidas jacket. He is wearing a brown baseball cap with the letters ELX on it. On the right is a picture of a woman with her arm wrapped around a young girl. She is writing a letter.

A painting of Frida Kahlo on a wall. Larger than life size. She has a purple shawl around her shoulders.

line drawing of a dinosaur on a wall beside a door.

A street art piece in grey tones with some black and white, by gino.graffiti (that is how he has signed it). Done in 2015. In an alley beside a black metal door.

The back of a couple of buildings in an alley, covered with graffit, mostly tags. One says Herbs and another says Near. A beige car is parked there too.

A street art painting is wearing away revealing the red brick underneath. A pink bunny is still partly visible. The word gwap is written above the rabbit's ears.

the demolition of a building has made it easier to see some street art and signs on the upper part of the side of a building. One is the word Alveno (or maybe Alvend) written in large block letters. Another is a colourful geometric design.

Reggae Lane

Posted: September 22, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Toronto’s newest street sign

A blue and white Toronto street sign that says Reggae Lane. Some stores and a tree are in the background.

Reggae Lane is a small lane on the south side of Eglinton West, between Marlee and Oakwood.
It is home to a new mural that celebrates the many reggae musicians from Toronto.

below: A Heritage Toronto plaque marks the spot.  It tells the story of Jamaican immigration and the reggae music they brought to Canada with them.   A transcription of the plaque appears at the bottom of this post.

plaque with the title "Toronto's Reggae Roots" with three photos as well as a story of Jamaican immigrants to Toronto and the story of reggae music in Toronto

 

The mural was painted over the course of three weeks by Adrian Hayles with the help of some young painters.

below:  Appearing in the mural: Reggae musicians from Toronto – Pluggy Satchmo, Bernie Pitters, Leroy Sibbles, Lord Tanamo, Jay Douglas, Stranger Cole, Johnny Osbourne, Jojo Bennett, Nana McLean, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Brown, Otis Gayle, Joe Isaacs, and Carol Brown.   Bob Marley is also in the mural as are the Skatalites, one of the groups that started it all; they began recording ska music in the mid 1960s.

View of a 1200 square foot mural by Adrian Hayles that depicts many different reggae musicians. This photo was taken from the second floor of the building next door so the camera is looking down across the parking lot towards the mural. Eglinton Avenue is seen behind the mural.

below: “Reggae, The King’s Music” is a reference to Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) who was born Tafari Makonnen.   Before becoming emperor, he was known as Ras Tafari where Ras means Duke or Prince (depending on the translation).  Hence the name Rastafari.   The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica after the coronation of Haile Selassie.  To them, Selassie was not just a black king, he was the messiah.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians -

Although it didn’t become a musical genre until the 1960s, reggae also has it’s roots in Jamaica. Reggae and Rasta have become closely linked.   Reggae has spread the Rasta message and Rastafari musicians like Bob Marley have popularized reggae music.

below: The radio station CFRB once had a Sunday evening reggae program.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A large hand with a finger pointing to the right with the letters C F R B above it. Two musicians are also in the picture.

below: The Lion of Juda is a Rastafarian symbol.  It comes from the fact that as Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sealssie’s full title was “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah”.  The lion also appears in the middle of the Ethiopian flag.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - a black man in a green hat, a lion's face and the words, Adrian Hayles production

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A man wearing headphones and a baseball cap is playing a guitar.

plaque: “Toronto’s Reggae Roots

In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 100,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Canada. Many settled in Toronto on Eglinton Avenue West, between Oakwood Avenue and Allen Road, in “Little Jamaica”, which became the centre of one of the largest Jamaican expatriate communities in the world.
Among these immigrants were popular reggae artists who brought their music to Toronto. Reggae record stores and recording studios began opening up in this neighbourhood. Leroy Sibbles (the influential bass guitar player and lead vocalist of The Heptones), Jackie Mittoo, The Cougars, Ernie Smith, Johnny Osborne, and Stranger Cole all performed and recorded in Toronto during this period. Despite the rich talent in and around Little Jamaica, early Canadian reggae struggled to find mass appeal. However, later generations of Toronto reggae artists achieved mainstream success, including Juno Award winners Lillian Allen, Messenjah, and the Sattalites.”

 

The project was funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto program, with support from Metrolinx, Councillor Josh Colle’s office, the Macaulay Centre for Child and Youth Development, the Toronto Parking Authority and the York-Eglinton BIA.  It was also supported by the STEPS Initiative.

cross border shooting

Posted: September 21, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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I returned to Rochester New York this weekend to see, and shoot, more of their murals.   The resulting pictures have been added to the collection of photos that I took earlier this year.

 

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