Nassau Street that is, just south of College and just west of Spadina. There is an alley that runs north from Nassau directly behind Spadina. A dead end lane runs perpendicular to it, behind the houses on Nassau Street. Like most alleys in Toronto, there is street art there. Some old, some new, and unfortunately some scribbled over. All in all, this lane is looking a little worn.
below: Only the eye remains from a previous painting
below: Two photos from the south side of Nassau street
Walking around the block, sort of, near Ossington and Queen.
North from Queen Street, west side of the alley
East side of the alley
Turning, now behind Queen Street West
Where the alley meets Brookfield Street
On Brookfield Street at Queen Street West
below: The red line marks the alleys in which the above photos were taken.
There is a lane that runs parallel, and just to the west of, Ossington Ave.
It’s only one block long, running north from Queen St. West to Humbert Street.
In the summer of 2012 this lane was the site for “Brighten the Corners For the Love of Art” mural project. The project involved a number of local community groups such as ProAction Cops and Kids as well as the Academy of Lions (a gym on Ossington Ave). Twenty artists painted many of the garage doors and fences in the alley. Some of the paintings remain, some have been defaced, and others have been painted over entirely since then. This is what the alley looked like last week.
The creatures on the garage door above always remind me of ‘scrubbing bubbles’ from the cleaning products of the same name.
I was sorting through older photos recently when I discovered some of street art and graffiti that I saw in an alley near Trinity Bellwoods Park. The photos were taken in February so there is lots of snow in them. I thought that it would be silly to write a blog post in August using cold and snowy photos so I went back the other day to retake the pictures.
The alley is at the north end of Trinity Bellwoods Park, running behind Dundas West between Montrose and Grace. The east end of the alley turns north to exit at Dundas West.
below: This guy, and his chess issues, is at the corner where the alley meets Dundas West.
below: close up of the dog from the painting above, taken in February
below: There was one garage that had been painted between February when I first saw it and early August when I went back. The two photos below show the garage ‘before’ and ‘after’.
below: This Anser face was on the doors of the above garage back in February.
It has since been painted over.
below: Blaze Works has painted this where the Anser face was. Always remember.
other garage doors
Mural of the Forbidden City
A while ago I posted pictures of a large mural of The Great Wall of China in an alley off Dundas St. West. A new mural has been painted on the other side of this alley, a mural depicting the Forbidden City which is now in the center of Beijing China. The Forbidden City was an imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties (about 1420 to 1912). One could only enter the complex with the permission of the Emperor, hence the name Forbidden.
A pair of Chinese Guardian Lions, one at each end, stand over the Forbidden City.
The mural was painted by Blinc Studio artists,
Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Jesse McCuaig and Elaine Teguibon
A few days ago I posted a series of photos of some of the graffiti and street art that I saw in Graffiti Alley between Portland and Spadina. This post is a continuation of that one as it consists of the photos that I took on the same day but in a different section of the alley, between Portland and Niagara streets.
Another walk down Graffiti Alley between Portland and Spadina.
Some new and some not so new.
below: Catching a glimpse of what goes on in it’s head
below: Batman descends on the city
below: This photo was taken about 2 weeks before. The graffiti KURST and the lettering below it have been painted over. Batman has taken its place.
below: Dazed and confused
below: Insane portrait of a woman
below: Another portrait of a woman, this one by Kairo
below: Making lemonade
below: This takes the place of the mural that had “I love sandwiches” that was there for quite a while (a couple of years?). The frame with the little figures cut into it remains.
below: Poser bunnies on a garage door
There is a gorgeous new mural on both side of a small lane on the west side of the Lula Lounge, Dundas Street West. Painting by Fiya, Shalak Atack, Essencia, Smoky, Sweetman, and Sapiens.
at the end of the alley
#losclandestinos
Repainting a wall in Graffiti Alley
Borden Street becomes an alley south of College Street. It runs along the east side of Kensington Community School, then makes a turn and runs part way along the south side of the school. All of the garage doors have been painted with pictures and murals.
below: The most northerly garage door has a sign that indicates that the murals were a gift to the children of Kensington Community School from the Kensington Market Action Committee. They were painted by a number of different artists.
North end of the alley, looking towards College Street.
below: Hey and Hello, by J. Stanton
below: A painting by lexr in 2012, Hey Markusiel.
The sign on the gate refers to the Yinka Dene Alliance, a coalition of six First Nations groups from northern British Columbia who organized to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline being built through their territory.
below: Street art piece by Cam Novak
below: Max and the Wild Things by ACS Murals (Annex Creative Services Murals)
below: Another ACS mural
below: The next four pictures are from a mural that covers a couple of garages. From left to right.
as I walk Toronto 