Posts Tagged ‘Elicser’

Exposed to the elements, overgrown with ivy or bushes, and left on its own to gracefully age.  To fade; to peel.  That is the fate of a lot of street art, especially those in lanes and alleys.  Milky Way Lane is no exception and this blog post features a few pictures that I took last week.   I have posted many of these before, back in their youth.

 

on upper and lower part of wall, fish graffiti, blue on top and pink below, in the middle is a yellowmetal railing with a yellow square covered with with graffiti including the outline of an orange t shirt

below: Fear and dead ivy in the alley

looking down Milky Way Lane on a grey winter day, dead overgrown vines on a building and across the hydro wires, leafless little shrubs growing up against the building on the left

street art and graffiti and a large mailbox by the door of number 55

graffiti on a door, red and white

below: This enormous one eyed ice cream cone monster replaces another Buff Monster creation, also on a pink background.

garage covered with dead ivy and a garage door painted pink with a one eyed monsterin black and white

below: Preserving their modesty, two of the people painted once upon a time by Philip Saunders.

old mural by Philip Saunders, a couple holding hands, origianlly with no clothes on but the bodies have been painted over and their modesty preserved

orange rusty metal door in a fence in an alley

corrugated metal wall or fence with little alien spacemen graffiti

street art on a door, lion with grey man, standing upright, cartoon movie character,

small black stencil, person head and shoulders wearing a black balaclava

part of a street art mural, a person in brown and beige tones with open mouth, screaming, someone has add a red line coming out of the mouth

street art mural with the words forty seven in shaddes of orange, on a wood fence

peeling street art on a wood fence in an alley

in the corner of a mural, a little brown cone shaped character with big eyes and an orange hat

below: A square Elmo

Elmo painted on a square garage door in an alley

black and white heart with smiley face, graffiti, and the words love daddy

on a wood fence, two stars, old street art, fading and peeling, trash on the dead leaves at the bottom of the fence

Parkdale mural in Milky Way Lane

brick wall, paint is peeling, two bricks are entirely exposed

close up of dead ivy on a metal wall that has green and black street art on it

below: Part of a “Stay Home” COVID mural by Elicser Elliott, 2020

Elicser Elliott stay at home mural from 2020. A young man holds a roof over his head

below: Still looking good, a moonman mural from 2020

mural by moonman painted in 2020, a snake-like character

 

There are two large Elicser murals on Queen West just west of Ossington. The first is ‘Communication’ on the side of 1052 Queen West.

a mural on Queen Street West by elicser titled communications, showing a diverse group of people

The text part of the mural was the work of street artist Sight.

part of a mural by Elicser, a girl in a wheelchair

part of a mural by elicser elliot showing the heads of a group of people

Just around the corner, at Brookfield and Queen West is a mural that Elicser has just finished.  It is a departure from his usual style – it is still a picture of a person but it is much more abstract.

a large mural of a an abstracted person lying on his or her side with knees bent up

This second mural is part of StreetARToronto’s New Dawn laneway project (see previous post for another mural in this project).

a large mural of a an abstracted person lying on his or her side with knees bent up and face down

As an aside: The last time that google filmed this section of Queen West, the ‘Communication’ mural had been started but was not yet finished.

The construction hoardings on  the south side of Queen Street East between Broadview and the Don River were painted back in the fall of 2021.

below: At the east end, a dear with a rack of antlers beside a young woman in a bright and cheerful orange head scarf.

mural on construction hoardings, Queen Street East

below:  A face by Philip Saunders.

face by Philip Saunders, painting, hoardings,

below: Elicser people

painting by elicser, part of a large painting on hoardings

below: Yellow tea (or coffee?) pot with citrus fruit,  still life by steam reflected on a shiny metal plate.

painting on hoardings by steam , yellow tea pot on a plate with a line and a cut lemon

below:  Closer up of the pinkish eye of a white rabbit

part of a mural on hoardings, close up of an eye of a white rabbit sitting beside a pink flower

below: A large brown turtle slowly ambles by

mural of large brown turtle on yellow grass, mural on hoardings

below: A pigeon never looked so majestic!

pigeon, painting, mural on hoardings,

below: A moth is attracted by the lights of traffic by the Queen Street East bridge

large orange moth on a dark blue and purple sky, mural on hoardings

below: Luvs almost makes this little raccoon look cute!

face of a small raccoon, trash panda, in a mural on hoardings, painted by luvs

In many places in Toronto, railway lines run diagonally through the city’s grid of streets and avenues. Often, they cross the streets near intersections including at Carlaw and Gerrard East. The result is an intersection with two underpasses.

The mural on Gerrard East was updated and added to recently that I remarked on that I noted in a previous post, East on the 506. Kirsten McCrea was the artist.

below: The southeast corner of Gerrard and Carlaw is angled.  In “East on the 506” I described the art on this wall as:  “In the center of the newly painted rectangles are two grey shapes, these are originals. They are part of a 1996 installation by Dereck Revington called ‘Blue Fire’. There is still a plaque that describes these aluminum pieces as “a constellation of five paired aluminum fragments etched with traces of a poem by Robin Blaser and suspended from the entrances to the underpass”.

southeast part of intersection of Carlaw and Gerrard with railway overpass

The overpass on the Carlaw side has now been painted too. The following pictures were taken back in November.

below: Hands beckon and point the way under the railway tracks on the west side of Carlaw, from the north

A large hand mural beckons you forward, under a bridge on Carlaw

below: And from the south

a large realistic hand painted in a mural, part of Bridges in Art project

below: Under the bridge

purple windmills on an orange pink background, part of a Ryan Smeeton mural on Carlaw

Under a railway overpass, looking across the street to arches in concrete supports between road and sidewalk, lights on above sidewalk, mural painted on the far wall including purple windmills on pink and orange background

part of a mural, text graffiti, very three dimensional looking in shades of blue on blue background, representing water

below: A blue octopus in the water

part of a mural, blue background with a darker blue octopus

At the southeast corner of Gerrard and Carlaw there is a small park. The retaining wall of the railway tracks marks one of the boundaries of the park and is continuous with the walls of the underpasses. It too was painted by Ryan Smeeton but with the help of Elicsr, Smug, Tenser, and Steam.

part of a mural, a very large brass faucet is open, water is pouring out, a frog sits on a lily pad

mural on a wall along railway embankment, park in front of wall.  water theme mural, large faucet has water running out of it, a frog, a scuba diver, and some text street art

part of a mural on an outdoor wall, a frog in a blue hoodie sitting on a lily pad, frog has gold chain and medallion around his neck

tree in front of a mural, painting of a person in vintage scuba outfit with old fashioned helmet, yellow suit, weight belt, sitting on a box or a rock at the bottom of the lake, silhouette fish swimming past

park in autumn, wall of railway embankment runs along edge of park, mural on the wall, water theme, with text throw up street art by tenser and steam

part of a mural, a young man in red shorts and red baseball cap, squatting on ground beside a ghetto blaster, there is also part of a text street art piece, as well as a rose on a stem with thorns and a couple of leaves painted on a support pillar for a bridge

Most people who visit Graffiti Alley don’t realize that there is another section of street art to the west.   Technically, Graffiti Alley is the lane behind the south side of Queen Street West between Spadina and Augusta.  The next section of the alley, from Augusta to Portland, is Rush Lane.   Unfortunately there is a large Loblaws/Winners that blocks the lane on the west side of Portland.

To access the next couple of blocks of laneway, you have to detour down to Richmond Street and turn right.  Public Lane is a few steps away from Richmond & Portland.

you look better in a moustache mural, with a man with a moustache, a movember mural

below: Public Lane turns to the left,  regardless of what the arrow says.

Public Lane, that curves to the left

below: Between here and Bathurst Street, a lot of street art has disappeared as redevelopment of Richmond has progressed.  The large black building on the right has its garage entrance from the lane so watch for cars when you’re back there.

back of top part of rowhouses, seen from a lane

below: A few circles of colour on a grey wall, a reminder that there was once street art here.

a grey wall with a window, some coloured circles painted on the window

below: Beyond Bathurst there is a long stretch of laneway. A lot of the paintings here are older and some may have already appeared in this blog.

a person walks away from the camera, down an alley, with garages on both sides, with graffiti and street art them

below: A 2020 mural by Elicser Elliot

metal stairs in front of a large mural by elicser elliott of a policeman controlling a crowd

below: Huey Newton by elicser

Huey Newton mural by elicser on the end of a wall, a mural beside it with a buxom woman in tight clothes

mans face painted by elicser in a doorway

mans face, with hands holding a mask over his mouth and nose, painted by elicser in a doorway

below: Feelings Boi and a pink daisy from Life©

stickers on a pole, a daisy in pin, a feelings boi, beside a wood fence and gate with stencil graffiti of a man's face in a white oval framed in black

below: Woodstock love

little yellow Woodstock with black sunglassses stands above a black stencil on white of a girls head, a love heart is there too

downtown alley with street art

cardboard boxes stored against a wall with a mural of a woman from the back view

part of a mural, a couple, she has wavy hair pinned to the top of her head,

below: By luvsomone

mural of two black men

below: Yosemite Sam is now boxed in.

mural of cartoon character Yosemite Sam, on a wall at the end of a driveway, with trash cans and other stuff in front of it

row of garages in an alley with graffiti and street art on them

below: A resting UBER 5000 yellow birdie.  Or is that a yoga mat?!

uber 5000 yellow birdie mural, lying on a black surface, feet in air, red background

below: This little unicorn has always been a favorite of mine.  Definitely an oldie now.

part of elicser mural of a man with a small beard in red hoodie, holding a small unicorn in his hand

below: Collaboration between luvsomone, vuducats/Christina Mazzulla

mural of a woman with large bead necklace and rose coloured sunglasses, beside of dog in shades of blue and purple,

window and window box in a building with street art on the walls, dead plants in the planter

a pickup truck drives down an alley

mural on a garage door, womans face in blue and purple

below: Mural by Rodwell Soller

mural by rodwell soller, a mans face with eyes closed, calligraphy

gate, and back of stores on Queen

below: Happy face skulls

garages in a lane with graffiti and street art on them

stickers on a pole with garages in the background, laneway,

 

This blog post is a result of a walk down the alley behind Bloor Street West between Dundas West and Keele where the lane runs between the back of the stores and buildings on Bloor and the subway tracks.  Some of the street art in this lane can be seen from the subway and some of it I have shown in the past.   Whether it’s because of Covid or because I was lucky that day, there were very few cars parked in the lane.

a carved pumpkin on a table behind a building

black and white mural from Movie Arts Decor featuring stars from some movies - Alfred Hitchcock and Psycho,

mural with woman's face

highrise apartment building in the background with a concrete building with lower level covered by street art in the foreground, people walking in the alley behind the concrete building

a mural on the back of the hockey store, hockey skates on hydro wires

mural of hockey goalie on the back porch of the hockey store, other murals on the buildings beside, including one that says bomba end

below: I can see you, reflected back

part of a uber5000 mural of a person wearing red glasses, also reflected in the windshield of the car that is parked beside the wall

below: Another part of the Uber5000 mural.  Everybody is a winner!!

uber5000 mural in an alley, everybody is a winner, yellow birdies sitting around a table, one is reading a paper, and two are playing cards

below: An old elicser mural

an old elicser mural with people

back of two storey brick building with a small paved space behind it, a table and benches are near the building, street art on both sides of the small space (the buildings on either sode)

a mural, turkey head, wearing red three pointed crown, with wildstyle graffiti across the bottom

TTC subway tracks running parallel to a lane

below: Float away in the 416

small sticker of a black drawing of a man floating on somethings round in the water, with 416 on his T shirt, his feet in the water, a ghetto blaster beside him

the back of two adjacent buildings on Bloor West, one has a set of stone steps leading down that are overgrown with grass and weeds, some graffiti on the back of the buildings

words scrawled on a concrete wall by a parking lot. eat the rich, kill a billionaire, fuck landlords,

street art on the back of the midas building, parking lot behind Keele subway station

below: Mary prays in a small garden at the end of a backyard along the subway tracks.

at the back of backyard in a small garden, behind chainlink fence, a white small statue of mary holding rosary beads

a driveway with a garage in the back, open door on the garage

a G M C truck is parked in a gravel driveway between two buildings, in the background is a couple of rows of houses and a tall apartment building behind that

old blue oil drums beside a blue wall with graffiti words that say thumbs up and guns down

One of three murals newly painted on the Danforth is one by Elicser Elliott on the southeast corner of Danforth & Donlands (once a 7-Eleven store).   Four other artists were involved in this mural which is part of ‘Destination Danforth’, a pilot project that involved a number of infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and patios as well as creative elements such as these murals.

On the front and sides of the old 7-Eleven is this mural:

from a mural by elicser, a woman in a pink head scarf is reading a book

from a mural by elicser, a woman in a pink head scarf is reading a bookand beside it is text street art

from a mural by elicser on an old 7-Eleven building on the Danforth, a couple is looking at an open laptop together, brown skin, woman in blue head scarf

below: The swirls were painted by Flips (Swirlgod and BSC – Blurred Sight Clreared)

mural by elicser along with text tag street art

text street art in pink that looks like it is hovering over a pond

 

group of people, elicser mural

elicser mural, group of people

On the back of the building along the alley, is a mural in black, white, and shades of grey. “Enemy of Justice is Ignorance Allied with Power”

mural with words, Enemy of Justice is Ignorance allied with power. Black and white and grey

below: “No justice for Breonna Taylor” plays on the TV while a policeman in 2020 vintage riot gear stands by the door.

part of the Enemy of Justice mural, policeman standing by door, man sitting with hands over his eyes as TV is broadcasting about Breonna Taylor murder by policemen

below: The year 1955 references the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in Montgomery Alabama, 1 December 1955.  It was the year that saw the birth of the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the USA.  Police uniforms sure have changed!

history part of elicser enemy of justice mural

This project was also a collaboration with the local BIA’s, StreetARToronto, and East End Arts.

Three other artists contributed to these murals:  Spyone, Nick Sweetman, Smokestack Lightning, and Maysr

below: Older street art in an alley behind the north side of Queen Street West

mural in an alley on the north side of Queen West

a woman stands by a table on the side of a road, across the street is a wall with two pictures on it, a cigarette smoking moose and a square thing with three eyes and long dangling white arms

below: Although it was painted in 2015, Greg Mike‘s message of “Stay positive” still applies.

street art mural by Greg Mike of a turquoise square thing with a large square mouth and white teeth, three eyes across the top of its head, a pink droopy tongue with its own face and tongue, and long white arms and legs. In one hand it holds a sign that says Stay Positive

below: Elicser‘s mural of a woman with a bald eagle fling over the city.

large mural on a wall, woman with a bald eagle, some text graffiti on it too

below: Keep calm and meow on!

graffiti on torn paper on a wall, black marker drawing of a cat with words keep calm and meow on

below: The birch forest painting by Jim Bravo is still at Queen West and Denison.

mural of a birch forest with golden yellow leaves on the side of a building, around the windows that are reflecting sky and buildings from across the street

below: Also remaining, is the remnants of this stikman although he is now covered with a fresh coat of paint.

old stikman on a wood pole, only legs remaining, pole has been freshly covered with white and light blue spray paint

traffic cones down the middle of one of the small lanes running perpendicular to Graffiti Alley

red brick wall with white tag graffiti, similar graffiti on green garbage bib two guys sitting on the curb on the other side of the lane

white line drawing of a man with a bowtie, head only, over coloured spray paint street art

below: Truth phone in Graffiti Alley, by Mike Salisbury

phone booth with three ones, white, red, and yellow, with sign that says your truth

below: A ROC bird character in collaboration with kone

birdie ticker, orange shirt and black bowler hat, white glasses, with words on arm of t-shirt that says kone x roc

two young men walking their bikes down Graffiti Alley

below: A tribute to frontline workers in Rush Lane.  Treaty 13 between the British government and the Mississauga of New Credit is also known as the Toronto Purchase.

mural as salute to frontline workers, on upper level of a wall, mentions treaty 13, first nations symbolism,

a woman takes a picture of street art in Graffiti Alley, late afternoon with low sun and long shadows

below: Pink panther

street art painting of the pink panther

below: Stickers and slap on metal – zonr, feelings boi, and peru143

slaps and stickers on a pole with street art around it

below: Two more stickers.  Daughtcalm on the right and Obey, aka Shepard Fairy, on the left.

two slpas on a pole, on the right is a daught calm you tuber man with a you tube T-shirt, and a red inner tube around his hips. On the left are two soldiers with a red rose coming out of the end of the rifles

below: There is an “Obey Eye” mural on the side of a store on Queen West (near Portland) that was painted in 2014.  It is on the upper level and in a small side alley. The words in the mural say OBEY never trust your own eyes always believe what you are told.

large mural of an eye by Obey, high on a wall near Graffiti Alley, faces QUeen Street West

below: Part of the Black Lives Matter tribute murals that were painted back in June.  Zianna Oliphant was the girl from Charlotte North Carolina who spoke for black rights at a council meeting after a fatal shooting of a black man by Charlotte police.  Also, note the altered yellow sign that now says “Watch for Injustice”.

two women walk into an alley, past a mural featuring Zianna Oliphant, a black girl, garbage bins in front,

below: A green Lambourghini and it’s photoshoot.

a young man in red shoes poses beside a green Ferrari parked in Graffiti Alley, being photographed, other people walking by including woman in ripped jeans

people walking up Rush Lane

a mother takes a picture of two kids standing in front of a garage in Graffiti Alley

a mural of a purple rhinocerus by Nick Sweetman with a woman standing in front of it. She is taking a photo of a child in bright red shoes and red wool or ribbons braided into the hair

street art painting of a Japanese anime boy in orange suit with black belt, jumping up with spikey hair and a grimace on his face

painting of a man on a traffic box, black suit and tie, white shirt, but brown paper bag over his face, with heart painted on it

a sticker on a grey metal pole, yellow with an abstract design drawn in pinks, greens and blues with circles and vertical lines

below: Think!  or rather Stop and think.   Above that, tbonez with The Forge Fury in another urban ninja squadron sticker.

2 stickers on a stop sign. one is a picture of a brain with the word think on it. the other is an urban ninja squadron sticker

below: There is a new public art installation nearing completion at the corner of Carlaw and Dundas.  When the project is done, the obelisk shaped sculpture by Pierre Poussin will be in the middle of a small park.  It is made of laser cut rusted metal and will feature internal LED lighting.

a new public art installation at Carlaw and Dundas with construction fence still around it, also a lot of utility poles around it, rusted metal cut with lasers in a design, sculpture is the shape of an obelisk

below: Shadows of the trees along a winding trail.

trees line a sidewalk that has had small curves added to it, shadows of these treees on the fence beside the sidewalk

below:  There really aren’t enough fairies in the world.  The ones that are supposed to clean my home haven’t shown up yet either.

a sign on a wood fence that says the poo fairy doesn't live here scoopy your ppop, aimed at dog owner

below: This looks like it was once an artwork pasted to a wall.  An eagle’s head is still visible at the very top.  Are those its feathers at the bottom by the shoes – one dark blue and one red stiletto.

a ripped picture, very large, of an eagle and a person with wings and high heeled shoes.

below: The northwest corner of Pape and Dundas.  The “This is Toronto” mural by J. Chiale is still there.

an intersection, looking northwest at Dundas and Pape where the house on the corner has a large mural by j. Chiale on the side, newer houses and apartment building in the background.

mural by J. CHiale on the side of a house

below: An old and worn sign

very old no parking sign on a chain link fence

below: A not so old sign with three lovebot stickers on it.

neighbourhood watch sign with 3 lovebot stickers on it

below: Old cars seen in an alley.  Any ideas on what model and year the brown car is?

2 old cars in an alley. one is an old brown car from the 40's, under a cloth. the other is a blue camaro

close up of a wood utilitypole with some paint splashes on it

 

on the side of a house, a wood panel on porch with 2 windows, 2 panels are painted blue and the last one is white

below: Santa Claus hasn’t returned to the North Pole yet!  This front yard looks quite barren

2 plastic Santa Claus figures in a front yard, no snow, in frontof a porch

below:  … compared to this one!  I am happy to report that the “doll house” still exists.   There is at least one Santa Claus in there!

a house with a front yard full of dolls and toys, on the walls, on the fence, decorations

below:  Not quite every inch (centimeter!) is covered.  Christopher Robin and Tigger, Ernie and a Picachu.  Tweety bird in a blue jacket and a white horse, Dora the Explorer is eating an apple.

some of the dolls and toys attached to the front wall of a house

below: These stickers still exist!  A Star Wars family with a dirty back window.

a star wars sticker family on the back window of a black vehicle, 2 kids, an R2D2 and a wokie

below: Usually if a couch is waiting for the garbage man it’s sitting closer to the edge of the street!

an old black vinyl couch on a sidewalk on Eastern Avenue, beside a house

below: Symmetry at the back of Bruce Junior Public School built in 1923.

back of older brick public school, Bruce Public school with pair of chimneys and rows of windows, symmetrical.

below: And then there is the asymmetry created when one side of a semi-divided house explodes upwards.

the back of a house, a semi divided house where one side is the original one storey while the other side has added two storeys and is taller than the surrounding houses, and it is narrow too

below: Leslieville has two murals.  This one covers the side of the building plus the back in pink, red, and orange stripes.   This Guidant Bikeshare mural was painted by Mediah, aka Evond Blake, in 2017.

below: Nearby at the intersection of Queen and Jones is this mural by Elicser Elliot (2016).

Leslieville mural by elicser of a man sitting under o tree in autumn

below: The Coca-Cola Coady Sweets ghost sign is still there but the convenience store under it has been replaced by a Spanish restaurant.

workmen at an intersection, white van parked, in front of building with ghost sign for Coady sweets, new Spanish restaurant on the corner

below: Queen Street East

line of stores on Queen Street East by the B & B fish and chip restaurant

Leslieville mural by iah media on the side of a building,

below: This is on the wall beside a vacant lot on Queen Street East that has been empty for years.

spray paint, large letters, wuns on a wall beside a vacant lot

Queen street east, vacant lot on the north side

below: Another vacant lot but more recently so.

looking through a chainlink fence, across a vacant lot towards Queen Street east and the brick Scotiabank building

below: An alley view, behind Queen Street East

3 storey brick building, from the back in the alley, behind Queen Street East

below: Waiting for spring?

looking through a metal gate with chainlink into a backyard with patio furniture and blue umbrella (closed)

a row of pink window boxes and red planters on a balcony of a yellowish brick apartment building

below: Dundas Street East

houses on a street with the one being an old narrow two storey house in yellowish brick

And how can we end without re-visiting the doll house?!

an old stuffed mouse with black plastic glasses, in front of a blue m & m character throwing a basketball, outside, and slightly weathered

close up of two of the dolls attached to the railing in front of house

the front steps and door to the doll house - a house covered with dollas and toys, also fake plants and flowers in pots on the stairs

graffiti covered door with turquoise painted words that say street life sweet life

There is an alley that runs behind the north side of Queen Street West, just west of Spadina.

mural and graffiti on a wall in an alley

The next few photos are of street art that isn’t new (and it may appear in earlier blog posts). There are usually cars parked here and today most of the parking spots were empty.

older mural on the back of a building in an alley

close up view of older mural on the back of a building in an alley

below: An older elicser mural

older mural by elicser of two men, one head is much larger than the one behind it

below: Uber5000 painting (and his iconic yellow bird) – the man, the bird, and the surveillance cameras.

an old uber5000 painting on a wall of a man in black baseball cap and glasses with a little yellow birdie on his shoulder, a no parking sign on top of man's hands

graffiti and paint covering on old window on graffiti covered wall in a lane

backs of stores on Queen West, covered with graffiti, a ladder to upper floor, brick buildings

below: This house has been empty for a long time. The doors and windows are now covered with plywood, providing a canvas for some graffiti and a surface for a few paste-ups.

an old brick two storey semi detached house with green mansard roof is boarded up and empty

below: Urban ninja squadron is on the phone.  Tacim Collective (from Milan Italy) is also represented here as is Paris BKC (Brass Knuckles Crew), and sketchrat.

paper paste ups on plywood covering a window

paper paste ups on plywood covering a door

below: There used to be a collection of these “blueprint” pieces (maybe four of them?).  This is the last remaining one.

blue and white blueprint graffiti with large red and yellow text scrawl below it, on a wall in an alley

walls in alley covered with graffiti

below: The lane ends in a mess at a chainlink fence that surrounds a vacant lot on Spadina.

messy alley with car parked, trash bins, barrels, graffiti, air conditioners, back walls,

below: Hidden away just beyond the fence is a face by Phillip Saunders.

behind a chain link fence, viewed from a laneway, a face street art painting by Phillip Saunders