wandering again

Posted: June 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I wandered away again.

This time I went to Rochester New York where I discovered a lot of great murals!
You can find more on their own page.

 

mural of a woman, very realistic looking, lying on her side with her eyes closed. It covers two garage doors.

medicine wheel

Posted: June 26, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Medecine Wheel is painted on the north side of the June Callwood Center for Women, Parliament Street.

It faces a vacant lot that is surrounded on the three other sides by chain link fence.
Locked gate.  No entry.

large mural on the side of a building, green weeds growing in front of it, a large man's face is the ceter piece of the mural.

large mural on the side of a building, green weeds growing in front of it, a large man's face is the ceter piece of the mural.

sign painted on a mural with its title "medecine wheel' and the names of the people involved in the painting of the mural

lovebot goes to Montreal, and so do I

Posted: June 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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MuralFest 2015 in Montreal – a few wonderful sunny days walking around Montreal.  Lots to see and do!  I spotted a few lovebots while I was there including this one:

a black lovebot sticker on a black pole with a bike parked against that pole and a pink and purple mural of faces behind in the background

More lovebot in Montreal pics on this site.

More Montreal (mostly street art and MuralFest) pics, also this site.

magical garden

Posted: June 12, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Magical Garden, by Broadview Community Youth Group and Wallnoise

sign on a painted fence in a park that says 'The Magical Garden by Broadview Community Youth Group'

in a park just north of the Danforth between Ferrier and Logan.

street art painting of a bright green and yellow mouse head

One wall features four murals created by members of the youth group.

mural of a marine life scene with mostly jellyfish, octopus and fish
On a fence in a park - a mural, or collage, abstract flowers made of circles and squares in many bright colours.

Close up of part of a mural, or collage, abstract flowers made of circles and squares in many bright colours.

Mural done by a youth group of birds in the branches of a large tree

Mural done by a youth group of many different kinds of animals

giraffe and two butterflies

 Local street artists have decorated the other fences in the park as well as a couple of garage doors in the lane adjacent to the park.

park fence with house behind, fence is painted with street art

in the foreground is a garage with two pieces of street art, a little green monster on a red background, and half a butterfly

Graffiti street art mural on the side of a garage, a pair of wolves howling at the sunset on the left, and a large light blue dog head on the right

mural of a butterfly on the corner of a garage, one half of the butterfly is on the front of the garage and the other half of the graffiti butterfly is on the side of the garage

Fat round fish with big eyes and sharp teeth - looks a bit like a monster, swimming on a blue garage door in a lane.

Street art painting of a pink cat head on a fence with a cutout brown and black cat above it.

 

Hurricane Hazel under St. Phillips

Posted: June 12, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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More art under another bridge over the Humber Recreational Trail, this time as the trail passes under St. Phillips Road (near Weston Rd and the 401).

Painted by Gabriel Specter and Dan Bergeron, it represents the energy of a hurricane.  Sixty years ago Hurricane Hazel was responsible for flooding of the Humber River that killed people and destroyed many homes.

below:  A purple graphic representation of a cyclone beside swirling water is the backdrop for the red slinky-like spiraling energy of the hurricane.

Mural of swirling water and a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurrican rising from the eye of the storm upwards to the underside of the road

This spiral crosses under the road and connects the two side murals.

Mural on a concrete support of a bridge over a trail. rocks on blue, with a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurricane rising from the rocks (or ending at the rocks) and passing upwards to the under side of the road above.

part of a mural under a bridge - a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurrican rising from the eye of the storm upwards to the underside of the road

Fourteen murals are planned along the route of the Pan Am Path, a trail that will connect Brampton to Pickering running south along the Humber River and then east along Lake Ontario.

signs along the HUmber Recreational trail indicating the name of the trail, the cycle path number that it is, the fact that it is also the Pan Am Path, and lastly a sign that says dogs must be on a leash.

billboards at Spadina and Front

Posted: June 8, 2015 in general Toronto
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Part of CONTACT photography festival,
billboard “art” on the NE corner of Spadina and Front streets.

All the billboards are in a parking lot in what was a junky looking space to begin with.

below:  Yellow rubber gloves with the fingers tucked back in…
to look like they’ve just been taken off a pair of hands?

a billboard above a parking lot, condos in the background. A pair of yellow rubber gloves with the openings turned into a cuff are all that in the image on the board

below: The body of the handbag is a loaf of bread.

a small billboard in front and a larger, higher one in the background. In the background is a woman's hand holding what looks like a handbag but the bag part is made of a loaf of bread. In the foreground, yellow background with household objects arranged in a face like shape.

below: Clusters of sponges.  At first I thought they were candies.

billboard art - three clusters of colourful sponges on a black background

three billboards with art images instead of advertisements
Supported by Pattison Outdoor Advertising and Nikon Canada.

a billboard with a large picture of clear bottles filled with coloured liquids in reds and oranges.

“Challenging how people perceive and interact with images in public spaces”

“Each of the artists destabilizes the conventions of advertising and the cultural codes associated with consumer lifestyles.”

Me?  I’ll call them dull and underwhelming clutter.  Too harsh?  Perhaps.
I’ll leave the verdict up to you.

an old Mimico bridge

Posted: June 8, 2015 in locations, public art
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This railway bridge is on Royal York Rd, south of Evans Ave. and close to the Mimico GO station.  The mural that is there was painted in 2005 and is now showing signs of age.  A lot of the paint is peeling badly.

A man checks his phone while walking past a mural under a bridge

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a group of young people standing in front of some tall buildings as well as some head shapes with words on them.

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a multiracial group of 5 young men also two fists coming together in the forground, one dark brown and one light brown. The word respect is written on one of the arms.

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - railway workers including a close up of a person's head - wearing a railway cap

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a railway locomotive with a workman beside it.
colourful street art on the side of a bridge

Project of Lamp Community Health Center,
funded by City of Toronto Graffiti Transformation Project,
with thanks to Mimico Residents Association, United Way, and Toronto Community Housing.

color me rad

Posted: May 31, 2015 in events, people
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Color Me Rad, 5 km walk/run
Downsview Park, Saturday 30 May 2015,
in aid of Big Brothers and Big Sisters
15,000 participants of all ages

shoes covered with orange powder, and socks and legs

color me rad run near the start of the race when everyone is still clean

color me rad run, runners running under three inflatable orange banners

women wearing tutus in color me rad run

A man wearing a red baseball cap is running through a haze of purple powder - color me rad run

color me rad run through Downsview Park, on the path, past newly planted young trees, some runners are on the path running towards the camera while others are on another path running in the opposite direction

Two young men get hit with orange powder bomb, one of them gets it in the face

Young women wearing sunglasses, color me rad run

running through clouds of orange powder, color me rad run

running through clouds of orange powder, color me rad run - a woman in blue is throwing orange powder at a group of runners who are wearing white. Two of the women are wearing white shorts with big letters spelling RAD on the back

Four runners running past a direction sign on the color me rad run

A child holds its mother's hand, color me rad run

color me rad runners

man with arms raised as a woman throws purple powder at him.

A child hold its father's hand, color me rad run

Two women wait with orange powder bombs in their hands, as a group of runners approach them, color me rad run

running through clouds of orange powder, color me rad run - three kids, the boy in front is clutching his arms to his chest and he is smiling. A girl is beside him and smiling as he gets covered with orange powder

A young girl with a pink flower on her hair band, and wearing pink sunglasses is running through a cloud of orange powder, a couple of men are in the haze behind her

A young woman in pink shorts is jumping as she goes past those who are colour bombing in the color me rad run. Her hair is standing on end.

One woman throws purple powder at another woman whose arms are raised above her head.

A woman with a lot of yellow and orange powder in her hair raises her arms as another woman throws purple powder at her.

Three color covered people are lying on the grass, heads together in a triangle, while a man takes their picture from above.

running through clouds of orange powder, color me rad run , a woman with 'Northern' written on her Tshirt is getting hit with orange powder.

running through clouds of orange powder, color me rad run - a group of runners

The orange powder station from a distance in the color me rad run. Many runners are heading towards it.

One woman is throwing purple powder at another woman

Three women are walking through a cloud of purple powder, color me rad run

A man in yellow sunglasses who is covered in orange and red powder is throwing purple powder at his girlfriend

A woman runs out of a cloud of purple powder, her arms raised, many people behind her in the haze, color me rad run Toronto May 2015

A young girl in a frilly tutu and blue sunglasses is holding a spray can of colour and she is spraying the people around her.

sunglasses splattered with orange powder on the face of a smiling woman

color me rad run finish line with a few people crossing over it at the end of the race. People are standing behind blow metal fences to watch the finishers.

A man is on stage and a lot of people are standing in front with the arms raised waiting for him to throw packets of coloured powder their way

where the 401 passes over the Humber River

Posted: May 29, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Highway 401 passes over the Humber River just west of Weston Road. Beside the river is the Humber Recreational Trail that follows the river.  Just south of the 401 there is a break in the trail because of the train tracks so a short detour via Weston Road is needed if  you want to continue walking.  Otherwise, the trail runs south to Lake Ontario and north to the city limits at Steeles Ave.

Just north of the 401 is Pine Point park and that is where I went to access the bridge under the 401.   It is a big bridge with a lot of concrete surfaces.  In other words, it is a large canvas for street art.

The most eastern wall of concrete has been painted with a mural by Shalak, Smoky and Fiya as part of the the Pan Am Path.  The path is a “legacy” from the Pan Am games and will result in a trail the goes from Brampton to Pickering.   Most of this path will incorporate existing trails but new sections are also being built.   Anyhow, the mural consists of two women lying on a bed of flowers, one at each end of the bridge.  Both are holding a white mask.  In the middle is a heart and a pair of lovebirds on the branch of a tree.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the length of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, an anatomical painting of a heart that looks #D, surrounded by a yellow circle

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, two green lovebirds on a tree branch, with a background of multicoloured diamond shapes arranged concentrically

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand is holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the south end of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

 Facing the above wall, and on the other side of the trail, is a wall that has recently been painted by a group of street artists.  A picture is better than my attempts at translation!

graffiti signatures, tags, on a wall beside a large red and black tag. Smoky, Shalak, Own, HEC, Ren, Mska, ctr, wey, wisper are some of the ones that I can read.

 The following photos are from that wall.

large grominator street art painting, along with a small lovebot

a little lovebot in the mouth of a large grominator, a close up of details of a larger painting.

street art picture of a poser bunny with an outstretched skinny arm pointing to the left. He's on a large intricate tag.

part of a mural under a bridge - lovebot, a giant light blue lovebot swirls on a wall

part of a mural under a bridge - a wacky white face with open mouth. One hand of the creature is holding a sign that says 69 and the other hand has one finger pointed upwards

part of a mural under a bridge - large mantishrimp creature with long antennae (tentacles?) emerging from behind a tag

part of a mural under a bridge - two paintings. On the right is a very realistic growling wild cat (bobcat) wearing a blue and white baseball cap. On the left is a large spray paint can with a picture of a seated person on it. A large red dragon is behind that person, although the head of the dragon is coming forward above the person's head

part of a mural under a bridge - a tag in oranges blues and purples

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a very large rooster in profile with its tail feathers reaching to the top right of the picture

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a human like figure, with South American influences, lying on its side, the word WASTOID written across its belt

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a large toucan head with a pink beak and yellow and orange head plume

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, tag like painting with a white hand, an eye and a small pyramid

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head that is in the process of being painted. A woman is positioning a ladder so that she can paint the upper parts of the piece.

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head

There are at least four more walls in this underpass.  Running parallel to the trail (all the photos above) is a tunnel like part of the underpass to the west.  There is no trail or river in this section, just dirt and rocks.   There is some older graffiti on the walls here as well as the beginnings of newer paintings.  I think that the plan is to complete these walls too.  In the meantime, this is a sample of what’s there now.

graffiti painting - Lovecat and a Japanese girl in pink kimono hiding her face behind a blue fan. A cute little blue bunny is in the bottom right.

lovebot genie painting on a concrete wall.

mural painting on a wall, looks like a green zombie head coming out of the ground. photo taken from a low angle

street art - a memorial in greys, a man with a tear on his cheek is holding a skull

a yellow grominator street art painting, bulging veiny eyes and many crooked sharp teeth

 And lastly, along the river edge

street art on a concrete bridge support, reflected in the river beside it is a yellow lovebot as well as some large tag letters

part picture, part ?

Posted: May 28, 2015 in galleries
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Part Picture,
an exhibit at MOCCA,
part of CONTACT Photography Festival

Like the introduction of film photography once usurped the role of painters and engravers, the introduction of digital photography has supplanted the photographer of old.  We are all photographers now.  A smartphone.  A little bit of software.  And presto, you have a picture.   Many, many bazillions of pictures.  Photography excels at visually telling stories, documenting events or capturing a moment in time either with a single image or in a series of photos.  The expression ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ comes to mind.  Even a blurry selfie says something.

Photography has always had an uneasy relationship with art (with the fine art, visual artsy stuff in particular).  This art, while also visual, often has a slightly different focus.  It too aims to elicit emotions and reactions but no one expects an artwork to document or to tell a story albeit some do.  But art too is in flux (and probably has been for a while).   What hasn’t already been done?  What rules are left to break?

So what’s a photographer to do?

 

pictures on a gallery wall. the picture in the foreground has 4 coloured wires protruding from it, 2 yellow and 2 red.

Part of the description of this exhibit states: “placing photography in conversation with other artistic mediums – particularly painting and sculpture – to create hybrid works that are only part picture”.

pictures on an art gallery wall. In the middle of the room is a large roll of photographic paper that has been developed with streaks of colour. It hangs from the ceiling and lays on the floor.

Experiments with chemicals on photographic paper; experiments with photoshop artifacts as part of the image;  experiments with how one frames or hangs a picture.  What is photography anyhow?

two pictures on a wall of a gallery. The one on the right is of pink flowers and is in a metal frame. The one on the left is an abstract of white and black that looks like cracks in a white surface

Four pictures on an art gallery wall, all abstract. One of them protrudes from the wall at a 90 degree angle.

below: close up of part of the picture from above, the one that is hung perpendicular to the wall.

close up of what looks like a collage

Just because something is different doesn’t mean that it’s good just as not all experiments are a success but  kudos to those who try.  I will leave it to you to decide which category (good/bad) these pictures fall into.

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