Posts Tagged ‘crocodile’

Ashbridges wallnoize wall

Posted: October 31, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There is a large construction project underway adjacent to the Ashbridges Bay water treatment facility between Lakeshore Blvd and Eastern Ave. The whole site is surrounded by plywood hoardings.  In mid-September, Wallnoize 2020 took over the area and painted water themed murals on a large portion of the hoardings.   More than ninety artists participated in this project, all coordinated by Cruz1.

signs at the entrance to the construction site for the new ashbirdge's bay water treatment facility on Eastern Avenue.

Let’s take a walk around the site, starting by walking east on Eastern Avenue towards Coxwell, south across the park, and then back along Lakeshore.  I suggest that you’re sitting down since I tried to cover all the murals and it might take a while!

below: Painted by Danielle Hyde

mural of large brown hands holding water

below: Trina Moyan‘s horse has a mane like many brightly coloured feathers.  “‘Water Spirit Horse’ – Nehiyaw Mistatim (Plains Cree horse).“

a brown horse with mane that lookslike coloured feathers, face painted in primary colours, mural

below: Portrait of a street artist in pink and white by Keitha Keeshig Tobias

mural in pink and white, a face wearing a gas mask, breathing apparatus for spray painting

below: by Siezswift

a tree in front of a text throw up mural in blues

autumn trees in front of hoardings covered with murals, wallnoize, leaves on the ground,

below: ‘Nibi Manitous’ by Cedareve. The water spirits are are shapeshifting between human and animal.

mural by cedar eve on blue hoardings, fish like creature with human heads

mural with two fish making a circle with a deer in betwee, some trees on both sides, multi coloured background

autumn trees in front of hoardings covered with murals, wallnoize, leaves on the ground,

below: “You are Loved” in a heart dripping with water in the center of a mural that is the product of the combined efforts of Shawna Howe and Monique Aura.   Rainbows and dancing stars.

mural on the hoardings around the ashbridge bay water treatment facility expansion construction site. the words you are loved are in a heart shaped space in the middle, brown hands holding a shallow brown bowl fromwhich a rainbow is pouring out into the smaller cupped hands of another person

below:  A head in the water by Shina

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, brown profile in water near yellow and orange shore

below: Bird and flowers by Jennifer, her first solo piece

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project, indigenous art style bird facing upwards with flowers on both sides

below: This picture of a bald man snorkeling was painted by still_hungry

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project, head of bald man with diving mask and snorkel, in the water,

below:  He looks like he’s made of water and he looks like he’s on a skateboard.  Painted by 3tr_t

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, blues wildstyle with man that looks like he's made of water, on a skateboard

below: Floating away, floating with the fish in a pink bathing suit.  Painted by Ghazaleh

hoardings around a construction site, beside vehicle entrance, a mural of a woman in a pink bathing suit floating on her back in a pool

below: by Francis Pratt, the poolboy cares apparently

the letters s o r b ae, with different fonts and different backgrounds

below: Branislav Dordevic‘s mural suggests keeping an eye on the water and ice, warm and cold.

mural, a large eye at top center, ice bergs, lake, ice and snow by onesketchyguy

below: Water being poured into three tall clear glasses because we’re all thirsty for clean water, a mural by Julia Antohi

three tall glasses of water, each with a different amount, with the words thirsty for clean water, in a turquoise box, a mural

below: A green god with his trident – either Neptune the Roman god of the sea or Poseidon his Greek counterpart, by tongbokes

a small tree in front of murals on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: After the green god, is a more somber toned mural with the words, 1752, Mi’kmaq Nation, Take care of the water.

looking uphill at murals on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: A mermaid in a jar by Yasaman Mehrsa. Has she been captured?  Is she in a protective bubble?  Do mermaids live in glass houses?

mermaid in a jar in the water, a mural

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: Surfer dude by broguymanz and a green throw-up on purple by Lukas Byra

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

truck and vehicle entrance to construction site, orange cones, wire fence, hoardings,

below: “Be Like Water” by Adrian Hayles and  what could be blue sea serpent, or a blue Chinese dragon, by Avril Wu

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, by an entrance to the site, a mural of a man

below: A mermaid of another sort, with skulls and burning candles, brought to life by Oriah Scott.

mural, long haired woman with nose ring, topless, upper body covered with tattoos, with scarves over her arms, halo on head, skulls beside her and a burning candle in each hand

below: Bomi (aka bomitosangrantes) painted the lines and white dots that cover this corner

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, cranes behind the fence, murals at the corner

below: It’s not that easy to see, but the grey letters that look like stones in water along a rocky shore were painted by Getso.  In the foreground is what looks like a mountain of flowing water (by bareket)

long line of murals on blue hoardings zround water treatment facitily upgrades construction site, with yellow water pipe running along beside, green grass,
below: This pink striped octopus with stars in its eyes is the work of Jieun June Kim.  Did you know that October 8th was World Octopus Day?

a mural of a pink striped octopus sitting in the water with head above water and some tentacles sticking up above the water, by Jeun June Kim

below: Like the words say, Kizmet the original Toronto raccoon, Radcliff is his name.  I don’t think he’s going after the cranes even though that’s what it looks like.  Swimming away from Radcliff is a Sedna, a curving woman by Angela Aulia.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a kizmet raccoon and a person swimming

below: A KERZ throw-up to the left of the BUBZ wildstyle  with the tam-wearing duck with a bottle of water on top

 

a duck character looks over the top of two text based graffiti murals one says kerz and the other is by bubzart

below: A “Clew” throw-up by Clewin77

throw-up style graffiti on mural in light blue and olive green

below: Three colourful fish swimming in the waves by Poonam Sharma

mural of stylized fish swimming in the water with the sun shining down from above

below: Blackbird flying along with the moon in different phases is the work of Natalie Very B.   On the right, the wildstyle text-based mural was painted by spud1

2 murals on hoardings, a stylized blackbird flying with the moon in different phases around it. on the right is a wildstyle

below: A watery wildstyle by Trevor Goodwin (aka Horus)

wildstyle mural on blue hoardings, pine tree beside

black and white wildstyle mural on blue hoardings, pine tree beside

below: The white eyes are a bit disconcerting – awake? asleep?-  but otherwise she’s colourful.  Kizmet32 again.

water treatment facility construction hoardings, mural, by kizmet 32, a woman's face in green, blue and red, on top of a textual

pine tree beside hoardings around a construction site that have been painted by wallnoize, a group of street artists who have each painted a mural on a section of the wall

below: Burner on the left and Poser on the right

two text murals on hoardings, on the right is poser, and on the left is one with two eel heads poking up on top

below: The happy grinning lobster with a fish on each arm is Gentle Giant aka big_doz261.   The other mural is by onerzeus

a cartoonlike character red lobster grinning with a female fish on either of two arms, one at each side

below: A little fish nears the blue head at the end of the CRUZ tag in this Cruz1 mural.

mural by Cruz 1 on hoardings around a construction site near Ashbridges, a blue face and lots of colours around word that says Cruz, plus a tiny fish in top right

blue text

below: by Rusty (aka gutter_crew_guru),  If anyone would like to attempt an interpretation, I’d love to hear from you.  There’s a lot of detail in the mural that is fascinating yet creepy. Happy Halloween!

bright orange background like fire

below: A collaborative effort between Rowell Soller and @tenneshaskyers

portrait of a black man in the middle surrounded by calligraphy in black and white

on blue hoardings, a row of text graffiti

below: A very realistic looking creature in the water painted by Cesar Ar.

very realistic painting of a water dragon or monster in the water

below: Mural by Julie Amlin

Julie Amlin mural on Ashbridge water treatment construction hoardings, curves and curvy shapes in different colours

Jipik'am mural of a snake with tongue out, first nations symbols, words that say land back

hoardings around a construction site that have been painted by wallnoize, a group of street artists who have each painted a mural on a section of the wall with city of Toronto water tower behind

below: The work of invader.zima

green text, with a machine

below: Horizontal stripes of fish and water in a basket, or woven onto fabric, by Dakota Brant beside a Octo-Godess-Sea-Witch Lady by Katrina Canendo

two murals

below: A vintage scuba diver among the weeds, by silestyle161

below: Two whales swimming in the ocean, an orca on the left by Ren Lonechild of Red Urban Nation. The whale on the right was painted by Camila Wong and she describes it on instagram as “Inspired from the Great Hokusai artwork, expressive waves with colourful brushstrokes and whale represent overcoming challenges in your life“.

2 murals, one is a whale and the other is a dolphin, swimming in the water

below: Three Nick Sweetman green moray eels looking at SADAR‘s (aka blazeworks) mechanical octopus.

two murals. one is 3 large eel heads in yellos by Nick Sweetman, the other is a mechanical looking octopus

below: Two murals made with text.  FATHOM on the left and the creative efforts of RUN (Red Urban Nation) Artist Collective

two textual paintings on a wall, one with hashtag red urban nation and the other says fathom

below: Ashbridges water treatment facility with the wall.

round Ashbridges water treatment tower with lots of green grass in front, a blue hoardings wall around the construction of new parts of water treatment plant, with lots of street art murals painted on the hoardings

below: Looking in the other direction.

city of toronto concrete water tower behind blue hoardings with street art murals on them

below: Calligraphy by Kreecha (right) and a painting by Art Child (left)

two murals on hoardsing with crane behind.

below: Two figures nose to nose with their reflections in the moonlight, by Julii McMillan. The nail polish matches the blues of the water.

mural by Julii McMillan of two identical heads nose to nose in the water up to their noses, reflections of the two. hands beside heads so they reflect too. water, dark, moonlight

below: Victoria Day painted the very pink woman with grey hair who is surrounded by lily pads and little green dinosaurs? eels?   To the right is Clean Water text by SKAM

two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges, on the left a very pink faced lady with grey curly hair in the water with little green dragons and lily pads. on the right, text painting that says clean water H 2 O

below: A lovely orange octopus by Spyone beside a man partially submerged in the water, Rise Up by James (aka mistersoy)

two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges, an orange octopus and a man in a red and white striped T shirt with words rise up

A white boat with many portholes sails past, while on the right, by Andrea Rodriguez (aka Andrea Cataro) a pink dolphin and a grey walrus swimming underwater.

a dog and cat head in front of a large white boat in one of the two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges. other mural is a pink dolphin and a blue narwhal playing in the water

below: Abstract and sort of geometric, in teal and purple, by David Baron

abstract geometric mural by forge fury in teal, purple, and black

mural, an old woman's face in the middle, stylized brown trees, lines for earth and sky

below: A wonderful woman with turquoise dreadlocks in a turquoise sea under a pink octopus wearing a tophat.  This mural was painted by Désiré Betty

mural on hoardings, a woman with long braided turquoise hair under a pink octopus wearing a black top hat, mural by dbetty13, Desire Betty

below: A blue, purple, and white sea monster  by Andre Castro looks towards red and purple text by mr_tensoe2 

two murals side by side on blue hoardings, on the left is a blue monster by andre castro and on the right is an orange and red text graffiti

looking along a wall of murals on blue hoardings

below: By dat_dude_stu

text street art in layers, red on top, yellow in the middle and green on the bottom

below: Something other-worldly by fongkikid

a painting by fingkikid, fuzzy abstract watery thing in blues and purples

below: By mr. Water

mural, in blues, stylized waves, or text, could be either

looking along a wall of murals on blue hoardings to where they cross and block the sidewalk

below: Swirls by Flip surround a slightly greenish woman with hair that merge into the waves.  The woman’s face was painted by @gosiakomorski One Love – Don’t let hate win.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a woman with long flowing hair and with her eyes closed

below:  Luvs crocodile with crocs floating in the water to the right of a small elfin(?) woman with long pink hair by @monicavcao

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a crocosile, very realistic looking, by luvs, with its feet in water

below: At the end of the painted section of the hoardings is this old green car, “little deuce coupe” surrounded by skulls, a dudeman ‘trademark’ of sorts.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, one end of the hoardings, by the bike trail, an old green car by spud, and a graphic in neutral tones,

almost clandestine Clandestinos

Posted: June 21, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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an orange, or salmon, coloured wall with a window. in the window is a reflection of a pair of eyes from a large street art mural. under the window are two ladders lying horizontal.

On Dundas West, just west of Dufferin, there are two lanes with large murals by clandestinos.

One is the alley to the west of the Lulu Lounge where both sides are covered with fantastic paintings by fiya, shalak, and bruno smoky as well as a few others.  I blogged about it just over two years ago and here is the link to the original post, “life as the shadow of vida“.   Earlier this week I took another look at it – it’s still looking great and there have been no changes so I didn’t take any photos.

The other alley is nearby but on the north side of Dundas Street.  Actually, it’s hardly an alley, more like a driveway which made taking pictures of the whole mural difficult.   Also, if you are traveling eastbound on Dundas, you’d miss it.  Here are the pictures that I managed to take:

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - close up of a large gorilla face

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - a crocodile or alligator coming out of the water

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - a small bird sitting on a rock by a creek

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - bird, turtle and croodile in a nature scene

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - a small bird on the base of a tree trunk

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - a large bird with its wings out stretched getting ready to take off

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - a turtle on a rock

part of a large colourful mural by clandestinos smoky and shalak - lareg greenleaves with their signature

asafo flags

Posted: December 14, 2016 in galleries
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You’ve probably never heard the word asafo before.  You probably have no idea what it means.

Until last week I didn’t know the word existed either.

I went to the Royal Ontario Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit.  There were 100 excellent pictures of insects, animals, marine life, the sort of thing you’d expect.  There was no photography allowed in that exhibit so I have no photos of the images on display.  You’ll have to take my word for it that I was there.

I can appreciate the skill and patience that it takes to capture rabbits in the snow or a school of fish in a certain light underwater but those kind of pictures don’t excite me.   That’s not to diminish the work of the photographers, it was all very high caliber both technically and visually.    What I think I’m trying to say is that I left the exhibit wanting more, something more from my visit to the ROM.

Luckily I didn’t have to look far.  In the next room was Art, Honour, and Ridicule: Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana.

museum exhibit of asafo flags from Ghana, colourful flags of militia groups in yellows, reds and black. Many are hanging in display cases.

Colour, lots of colour.  And a subject that I knew nothing about, asafo flags.  I wasn’t even sure what part of Africa Ghana is in (It’s on the south coast of Western Africa between Togo and the Ivory Coast as it turns out.).

The flags are hand made with an assortment of different motifs.  The British Jack in the upper left corner is a very common feature.  That’s a clue.  Yes, Ghana was a British colony.   Reading the history of Ghana is like reading the colonial history of large parts of Africa.  The Portuguese built a fortress at Elmina in 1482.    Interest in the region was piqued by the presence of gold, hence the name Gold Coast.   By the early 17th century the first African state,  Akwamu, controlled an extensive part of the coast.  They were displaced by the Ashanti who were very involved in the slave trade, especially in trading slaves for weapons.   When European countries outlawed trading in slaves in the early 1800’s,  Ashanti power suffers.   Some tussles ensue, a few battles, some back and forth, and by 1902 what was Ashanti becomes is a British colony.    It remained a colony until 1957.

close up of a flag, hand made, British Jack in the top left corner, a man walks in front of a church in the center, a black bear in the top right.

I’m not going to pretend to know or understand African history.  I’m only trying to give some context to the flags.    First, jump back to my mention of Elmina and the Portuguese. When the Portuguese arrived in this area in the 15th century, it was the Fante (or Fanti) people that they encountered.  Both the Fante and the Ashanti belong to the Akan people.  The Fante prevented them from venturing inland and leased properties for Portuguese trading missions. But when the Portuguese objected to Fante rules and regulations the Fante expelled them.  Soon after, the Dutch arrived.  The Fante served as middlemen in the commerce between the interior and Dutch traders on the coast.

Around 1724 the Dutch either established or made important a number of militia groups of local Fante.  These are the Asafo companies.  Historically, Asafo companies were in charge of the safety and protection of the local community.   At the height of the slave trade they protected individuals and communities.   They exerted power, exercise political influence and maintain codes of conduct within Fante communities. Each company has a flag and that flag has many roles.   They represent proverbs and depict narratives of pride and wisdom.  They accompany oral history and provide a means to preserve customs and traditions.

below:

  1. top flag, by Kweku Kakanu, Saltpond Workshop. “Only a brave man goes under a large tree” because only large animals go under large trees. Made sometime between 1950 and 1957.
  2. bottom flag, artist unknown, Kromantse Workshop. “Only tie a bull to a large tree”. Both the animal and the tree are acknowledged to be strong and mighty.  Made around 1980.  It has a Ghanese flag in the top left corner.

 

two flags displayed on a black background, with three femail mannequins dressed in traditional Ghanese costume.

below:

  1. top flag, by Kweku Kakanu, Saltpond Workshop. A crocodile dominates and controls a pond of fish. Made around 1940.  The prey can not escape.
  2. bottom flag, by Kwesi Budu, Saltpond Workshop. The fish cann’t escape the net of the fishermen just like enemies will not be able to escape when confronted by the company.  Made around 1950.

two flags displayed on a black background, with two male mannequins dressed in military Ghanese costume.

Fante asafo flags from Ghana, two on display in a museum, chickens and roosters,

Fante asafo flags from Ghana, two on display in a museum, griffons

two mannequins in military uniforms as part of a museum exhibit at ROM

 

 

Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costumes,
ROM, 4th floor,
until March 2017.

 

 

 

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

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.