Posts Tagged ‘graffiti’

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

Lovebot and Grominator seem to have developed a friendship.
They have begun appearing in public together.

A graffiti painting on a white garage door, a yellow lovebot with red heart and a red face grominator with blue eyes and blue mouth and teeth
Lovebot seems to have had an influence on Grominator.

A grominator figure wheatpaste, black drawing on white, including body, arms and stubby little legs.  He has 3 lovebot hearts, 2 1/2 are red

on Queen St. West near Dufferin

But they can still be found on their own, all over town.

A wheatpaste lovebot of hearts playing card way up high on a wall

a yellow grominator graffiti painting, yellow with black and white bulging eyes

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

 

A large lovebot on a brick wall on Dundas West.  Included is a circuit drawing (electrical) around him.

at 1505 Dundas West

 

a very large lovebot painted on a wall.  He is close to two storeys tall.

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

A large lovebot on a concrete support under a bridge by a river

on the Humber River

 

A No parking sign on a very red wall.  Sign says "authorized parking only" and someone has put 2 lovebot stickers on it.

 We’ll keep an eye open for other lovebot and grominator sightings!

Millwood Bridge
also known as the Leaside Bridge

I first visited this site late in March.  For one reason or another I didn’t get around to adding the photos that I took that day to this blog.  I was back yesterday on another grey day.  There are now leaves on the trees and the graffiti on the concrete has been painted over.

looking along the length of the bridge from just underneath it at one end.   Sloping ground in the picture, as are concrete supports and the metal steel girders supporting the road above.

below:  The Don River flows under the bridge.  In the distance, top right, is the Don Valley Parkway.

steel girders under the Millwood bridge with the train tracks and Don River below.  Lots of bolts holding this bridge together!

graffiti on the yellow girders under the bridge.  The concrete supports at the end of the bridge are also visible and also covered with graffit.

yellow girder in the foreground, the cat walk and metal structure of the bridge in the background.  Graffit on the girder including the word 'scarey' in white letters.

Catwalk under the Millwood bridge, looking down almost the whole length of it.   A person is on the catwalk in the distance.

yellow metal girder covered with scribbles in black, red, and green.
There was also some graffiti and street art on the concrete supports at the north end of the bridge.  These have now been painted over.  The graffiti on the metal portions of the bridge remains.

below: Two of the paintings that are now gone.

Street art painting of an eagle attacking a snake.

graffiti tag that says Mozie in large letters, blue on the top and a dark burgundy colour on the bottom

Lovebot didn’t want to stick to the paint on the girder but he hung around long enough to get a picture.

lovebot sticker on a yellow metal girder under a bridge

All bridges have a character of their own including the Glen Road bridge.

below: Looking east toward Glen Road from the Beltline Trail that follows the Yellow Creek.  Photo taken a couple of weeks ago just before the leaves started growing.

trail beside a creek in a ravine with lots of trees in early spring before there are any leaves on the trees.  A woman is walking two dogs on the trail and in the distance there is a bridge over the ravine.

The following photos were taken under the north side of the bridge. On the day that I was there, it was impossible to cross the creek – something to do in the future!

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - words 'power to the creative people"
graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - large symbol with eye, yellow sun and serpent like shapes, high on a pillar up near the green metal girders of the bridge

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - looking up from under the bridge - some graffiti on the concrete pillars but they are hidden behind the green metal girders.

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - stencil of a little green alien and the words, "I want to believe"

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - along the back wall, mostly tags, one picture of a man's face that has a big grey X through it.  On the ground in a corner is a mattress covered with a blanket or sleeping bag.

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - tags around the base of the pillars

whos yo daddy? graffiti

graffiti under a bridge

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - colourful tags.  Some are older and are starting to peel

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - a pile of trash beside graffiti covered sections of the bridge

Graffiti and/or street art on the north side of the railway underpass on Bloor St. West between Dundas West and Perth Avenue.  It is also by the Bloor GO station and where the West Toronto Railpath crosses Bloor Street.

Painted April 17, 18 and 19, 2015 by 26 artists led by Cruz1

looking along a sidewalk that runs under a railway bridge.  Along the right hand side are a series of graffiti paintings.

street art painting under a railway bridge - big multicoloured lips, partially open revealing big white teeth

street art - brightly coloured, fluorescent like, giant squid, a steet art painting signed by Nick Sweetman

street art painting of an elephant standing upright, only upper part shown, wearing a plaid jacket, carrying a cane over his shoulder, a small hat on his head, and holding a flower in his trunk.   A green train runs across the top of the painting.   signed by blackburn

Street art painting of many cans of spray paint, some with faces on them.

Street art under a railway overpass as seen from on top of the bridge.  A painting of a bumblebee flying towards a bright yellow and orange flower as well as a painting that is done is blues can be seen.

street art painting under a railway bridge - purple whale

street art painting under a railway bridge - astronaut's helmet

Man walking along a sidewalk towards a railway bridge.  One side of the underpass has been painted with street art pictures.

street art painting under a railway bridge - a large woman's face, she is breathing on a little man who is standing on her outstretched hand.

street art painting under a railway bridge - a young man and a young woman on skateboards

street art painting under a railway bridge - an ugly blue creature with nasty look on his face, yellow stuff oozing from the corner of his mouth

woman walking along a sidewalk under a railway bridge.  There is a graffiti picture of two people skateboarding beside her.

street art painting under a railway bridge - a pink, maroon and red bullblue street art painting of a wrecked sailing ship partially submerged as she sinks stern first

street art painting under a railway bridge - a mn with orange skin, large head and twisted pipes for arms.  A bis S is coming out of the top of his head

east side of mural under the railway bridge - series of street art paintings by different artists, playground behind, street scene beyond.

street art painting in geometrics, especially trianges and angled lines.

street art painting under a railway bridge - a long yellow snake curld up amongst purple and red swirls

street art painting under a railway bridge - multicolored skulls

street art painting under a railway bridge - a white hand with finger pointing to the left

This was spudbomb was added a few days later.

street art under a railway underpass - tag spud and stencil that says spudbomb
street art under a railway underpass - pink lips and a blue bomb with a smiling face on it  by spud

street art under a railway underpass - yellow stars, 3 D blocks and some pink flowers

 This was another StreetARToronto project.

More lovebots that I have seen in the past couple of months –
since back when there was snow on the ground. He certainly gets around!

 below: At the bottom of the stairs over the train tracks, Dundas West, in the Junction

a lovebot wheatpaste along with some other graffiti and street art on a concrete wall
below: A very large 3D looking lovebot in a little alcove on Keele St. near the railway underpass

very large new lovebot robot on a grey wall
below: lovebot waits to cross the street.

lovebot sticker on a yellow sign by the button one pushes when one wants to cross at a streetlight.
below: Lovebot and a friendly dinosaur together in the snow near the AGO

lovebot on a low brick wall, in the snow.  A black line drawn dinosaur is beside him.  Someone has scribbled 'I'm gay' on the lovebot

below: A rusty gameboy lovebot

gameboy lovebot on a metal wall that has become rusty
below: A lovebot and grominator hybrid

grominator and lovebot hybrid large wheatpaste, long red tongue sticking out
below: Standing beside Lee’s Palace, Bloor St. West

A painted lovebot about person height on a wall beside Lee's Palace on Bloor St - a building that is covered with intricate bright coloured pictures

below: Watching over Nathan Phillips Square

A pink and purple sticker lovebot on a glass wall

below:  Lovebot on a crumbling corner on Ossington

grey lovebot wheatpaste on a wall on Ossington Ave., it's down low so some dead weeds are nearby
below: Double!  Two lovebots on an old orange door at Queen and Sherbourne.

two small lovebots on an old orange door.
below: Lovebot waits for a TTC streetcar

 a lovebot sticker on a TTC bus stop pole

below: This lovebot lives with the folks at Toronto Collective

a little cement 3D lovebot statue stands on the floor of a store that sells cans of spray paint

 

Last week I spent a few days in southern California where I found a lot of graffiti, street art and murals.

I have started to put together a collection of photos from this trip and you can find them on their own page or by using the menu at the top of the page,  Worldwide → USA → California murals

street art piece of Ronald Regan holding a sign that says 'Legislative Influence for sale'

 

The last time I ventured into a Toronto ravine on my own the path was a icy so I didn’t go far.  Now the ravines are clear of snow and ice – just watch out for the mud!  I was under the railway bridge at Summerhill (just east of Yonge St) this past weekend and I encountered a number of people and faces.
graffiti painting of a scuba diver swimming under water, under a bridge

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - the smiley face is on a spray paint can, a large finger is on the trigger.

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - three supports in a row are visible.  In the foreground is a simple drawing of a man's head in blacks and greys, the next pillar has a more elaborate man in blues

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - wild blue eyes and red lips with wavy skin, with the trees, creek and path through the ravine in the background.

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - looking up from below so there are a large number of supports visible.  A line drawing of a man's head is on one of the pillars

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - A white head of a person with pointy ears and a scowl on its face, more graffiti is visible in the background.

Two large abstract faces on a cement pillar.  The faces are white ovals, with a red outline.  THe features are in black line drawings

Sticker on a teal coloured metal box.  Sticker has triangle inside a circle.  The triangle is made into a face, big open mouth with cigarette clenched between the teeth.  Around the circle are the words 'Smok'em if ya got 'em. Verbs

UPDATED: Construction here has finished and the hoardings have been removed.  These murals no longer exist.

A couple of years ago, the city started a project to replace the water mains that run under Gerrard Street. As part of that project, a section of Allan Gardens was dug up to provide access to the underground mains.   The site was barricaded by wood hoardings.  These hoardings have since been covered by a large mural titled  ‘Nindinawemaaganidok / All My Relations’.  Twenty one artists contributed to the painting of the mural.

The north side of the wall:

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens seen from back a bit, tees, construction equipment and a couple of people are also in the picture

Four themes appear in this mural,  Community, Water, Anishnawbe Teachings and History of the Land.  Animals such as buffalo, deer, wolves, turtles, and beaver are common motifs.

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens a deer with antlers stands by a pine tree.

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - animals, beaver, turtle, eagle, bird,

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - the sun shones on a person lying on the ground.

The east side of the wall:

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, pine tree on a rock by a lake, under a full moon lit night sky

below: Sky Woman

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, blue woman's face, she is loking at the viewer, her long hair blowing in the breeze, rocks below her

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens a leafless tree and a couple of smaller pines by a lake

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, a eagle in flight and a man.  construction equipment can be seen bei=hind

South side (along Gerrard Street):

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, a young man's breath is stylized as blue ribbons streaming from his mouth

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a woman surrounded by circles (bubbles?) as she sits on the ground.

West side:

First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a row of 6 men's heads seen in profile, all looking to the right, their long hair blowing away from their faces.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a stylized eagle in bright colours in flight.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a couple walking hand in hand beside a circle divided into quarters, one is black and one is red and a head comes out of each quadrant.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens
If construction goes according to plan, the hoardings should come down by the end of May 2015.  As to whether or not this deadline will be met is anyone’s guess.

The artists: Tannis Nielsen, Phil Cote, Natasha Naveau, Rosary Spence, Gwen Lane, Angela Malley, Judy Rheume, Gary M. Johnston, Amanda Murray, Rebecca Baird, Cotee Harper, Graham Curry, Briana Stone, Lyndsey Lickers-Nyle Johnston, Isaac Weber, Honey Smith, Shelby Rain McDonald, Paula Gonzalez-Ossa, Kalmplex, Adrion Corey Charles, Ron Razor and Steven Henderson.

Link to more information (as well as a video) about this project

Street art and murals
close to the intersection of Niagara Street and Graffiti Alley.

below:  A mural on the side of a house on Niagara Street.
Some of the paint is starting to peel but otherwise it is in good shape.

The side of a brick house is covered with a mural showing a woman's upper body and she has yellow and green hair.  Also, there is a woman on a bike with a Toronto scene behind her including the CN Tower and a TTC subway car below her.   There are lots of flowers including red roses and white lilies in the picture. The mural is signed by Robert  (Reber?) Rian Cruz.

Signature at the top right seems to be Robert Rian Cruz.  Other names are written on the bottom left: doz, nose, cora, anto, wizwon, flur, and markis

Mural painting of a large woman's face.  She has yellow and green hair.  There are white and pink lilies in the picture too.

Part of a street art painting of  a woman on a bike with a Toronto scene behind her including the CN Tower and a TTC subway car below her.

below: Make It by Aaron Li-Hill
In Graffiti Alley but visible from Queen St. West at Niagara.

mural of a fencer with sword drawn and ready.  The words are "Make it".  It is slightly abstracted and painted to look like there is motion in the picture.

Wheatpaste and paper graffiti on a white concrete block wall.  A pair of yip yaps beside a person with an owl head and one wing instead of an arm.  The second arm is normal.   Also in the picture is a heatpaste black and white picture of a woman riding a bicycle away from the viewer.  She is wearing polka dot shorts.  Someone has also painted yellow and black bee like creatures with faces (black masks) and brown hats.

Wheatpaste and paper graffiti on a white concrete block wall.  A pair of yip yaps beside a person with an owl head and one wing instead of an arm.  The second arm is normal.

Square wheatpaste graffiti of a man on a bicycle on a city street.  Two large pineapples have been painted on the wall too, one above the bicycle man and one to the right.  The pineapples are bright colours, one is orange and yellow and the other is blue and purple.

Close up of picture of woman riding away on a bicycle.  An I love Toronto CN TOwer personification sticker is also in the picture