Posts Tagged ‘graffiti’

finding green in the alleys

Posted: November 30, 2014 in abstract, general Toronto
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

The other day I walked a number of lanes and alleys, Max Hartstone Lane, Ken Lai Lane,   and Oscar Ryan Lane, to name a few.

I’m not sure if it was the greyness of the day or the preponderance of ugly tags but I was feeling rather uninspired as I walked.  An interesting green wall caught my eye so I started searching more out green things.  This is the result of that search.
Close up of a green wall and door, showing the hinge which is also painted green

streaks of greenish discoloration as well as rust on the side of a corrugated metal wall

An old boarded up window on a wood wall, all painted green

A greenish coloured figure of a girl with the word Cloth written beside her

A green garage in need of paint. A window frame is sitting on the ground beneath the window. Dead leaves on the ground.

A brick wall painted in two shades of shiney green paint. There is a large crack running diagonally across the wall.

Scarfo Lane

Posted: November 29, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

Yesterday I came across some interesting colourful garage doors on Scarfo Lane that I have not seen before.   I didn’t see any signature on them so I don’t know who painted them.

Walking south from Herrick Street…..

a blue animal like creature is carrying a stick over his shoulder. three wood bir houses are at the back of the stick. A blue bird is sitting in front on the stick, and looking at the creature.

street art mural on an alley garage door. A red deer is seated in what looks like a computer lab, or factory.

street art mural on a double garage. yellow background. three floating logs with birds sitting on them are being pulled by a creature with a pink and purple head as well as a blue body.

street art on a garage door - paisley shapes in blues and purples
 

and then walking north from Herrick St…..

an alley with garages on both sides, also tall trees that have lost their leaves, small piles of dead leaves along the sides of the alley.

Looking north from Herrick St.

graffiti of a black and white dog's face on a metal garage

Dupont and Spadina

Posted: November 27, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

A short walk around Dupont and Spadina.

At an intersection, looking across the street to a glass dome like structure that is a subway station entrance. Beside it is a building with a tag that says Uh Oh

The northwest corner of Dupont and Spadina and the weirdness that is the subway entrance.

 

Movember mural

looking across the street to a mural to commemorate Movember. Two large men's faces, both sporting moustaches beside the word Movember written in cursive.

On the northeast corner.  Mural by Elicser

 

The men’s faces up close.

close up of mural, showing man's face with furrowed brow and black moustache.

close up of mural, showing man's face including white eyes and a green moustache.

There are also a few brightly painted garages near the intersection.

A wood picnic table is in front of a street art mural on the side of a garage door

street art mural on the side of a garage door, multicoloured shapes and lines with the words 'escape reality' written in the top right corner

A van and car parked in front of a street art mural of a face in blue, yellow and red that is surrounded with stylized food, especially candy and popcorn. The neck is an iconic red and white striped popcorn container. The picture is reflected in the windows of the van.

literally, pizza face, by Tim Skynz

street art mural of a face in blue, yellow and red that is surrounded with stylized food, especially candy and popcorn. The neck is an iconic red and white striped popcorn container. viewed from the side on quite an angle

a multicoloured tiger's face painted on a garage door

(photo from 2012) This painting is still on a garage door on Dupont. I was going to re-take the photo today but there was a vehicle parked too close to it. Painted by Studio 32, Jose Gabriel.

it used to be Kromer Radio

Posted: November 27, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

 In February 2014, plans to build a large Walmart store on the site of Kromer Radio (420 Bathurst St., just south of College) were shelved.   Kromer Radio was an electronics store and they occupied the building between 1974 and June 2012.

The alley behind the building has been a graffiti site for a number of years.

looking north up an alley. On the right side is a large 3 storey building that has graffiti along the lower part of it. On the left are garages with graffiti on them.

There is graffiti on the building

words written in white paint - "Don't make this building a Walmart"

including this anti-Walmart statement.

 

graffiti on a wall

graffiti on a wall - a chaos of tags and colours on a brick wall

graffiti on a wall - a man with a red face and hat, painted under a metal staircase.

graffiti on a wall - painting of a 'boom box'' or ghetto blaster'

There is graffiti on the garages on the other side of the alley as well.

graffiti on a garage door - a blue tag plus some purple creatures with faces and little skinny black legs. There are also words painted on the garage that say no Walmart

Again, there is anti-Walmart graffiti including this one that says “Need no Walmart”.

graffiti face, white on black, on one half of a garage door. The number 251 is painted in oranges and yellows as well.

 

another bridge, near Woodbine and Gerrard

Posted: November 23, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Location: railway bridge over Woodbine Ave., just north of Gerrard St.

This underpass was transformed this past summer.  Raidi’aal Encompass, by Toronto based graffiti artist IAH Digital (Mediah).   It was done as part of StreetARToronto Underpass Program. 

a woman walking her dog passes street art in blues and browns under a railway bridge

Street art in blues and browns under a railway bridge

Street art in blues and browns under a railway bridge

Street art in blues and browns under a railway bridge

Street art in blues and browns under a railway bridge

Tower Automotive building

Posted: November 17, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

The Tower Automotive building is on Sterling Ave. in the Junction.  This ten storey building was built in the 1920s.  Tower Automotive went bankrupt in 2005 and the building has been empty ever since.  A number of years ago there was talk of turning it into studio space but for a temporary art installation or two, nothing has been done with this heritage building.

 

Chainlink fence in front of the building.

A chainlink fence surrounds the north part of the site.

….. but part of the fence was down and nobody was working on the site, so in we went.

Some of the graffiti on the west side of the building: 

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - looking along the side of the building, the head of the reclining woman is in the foreground. Construction equipment is also in the picture.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - the backside of a naked woman who is lying on the ground. Much larger than lifesize, painted by Jarus.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - a large light blue face with tags on either side of it.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - the words cant hold me back are written in black on top of yellow and turquoise.
graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - a woman with purple hair wearing a brown and red hat. She is holding a blue watering can. She has an anchor tattoo on her upper arm.

moving around the building

On a concrete telephone pole, a black and white drawing of a man's head. The word Others is coming out of his mouth.

on the east side of the building

wall of a building with a wheatpaste lovebot and a standard city of Toronto development proposal sign. Some tags are also on the building.

The sign says “Draft of Subdivision Proposal, 158 Sterling Rd. – Castlepoint Studio Partners Limited has made an application to subdivide the property at 158 Sterling Road into 7 blocks in order to create a mixed use development that will have building heights ranging between 2 – 17 storeys.

a large gameboy lovebot on the side of a concrete wall.
lovebot and an anser black, white and grey face on a conrete wall.
a tag over old graffiti
blue construction fence is in focus in the foreground with a construction site behind it. A tall brick building stands in the construction site.

under Adelaide and Richmond

Posted: November 13, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Both Adelaide St. East and Richmond St. East pass over King Street as they converge into Eastern Avenue.  Recently the concrete supports that help hold up these overpasses have been painted in bright, bold pictures.  The murals are entitled ‘Frozen Memories’ and they were designed and painted by street artist Shalak Attack with help from Bruno Smoky and Fiya Bruxa.

 All four pillars of the overpasses are in view.

Each pillar has a large face on the side that faces King Street and a picture that depicts something representative of Corktown on the other sides. 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, in the foreground is the face of a man with the eyes on the upper horizontal portion of the support and his mouth on the lower part.

These murals are a part of the StreetARToronto Underpass Program or “StART UP.” 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a man passes by on the sidewalk while in the foreground is a support painted with street scenes. Houses and streetcar tracks.

Enoch Turner established Toronto’s first free school in the Corktown area in 1848. 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a young girl in a pink top sitting at a table and writing in a notebook. The word love is written on one of the pages.

painting of the Enoch Turner school on one of the pillars supporting Adelaide St. East in Toronto. Other Corktown houses are also painted here on the lower part of the pillar.

  Two of the main industries in Corktown were bricks and beer.   One pillar pays homage to the people who worked in these industries, including this bricklayer.

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a man portrayed in blue tones, wearing an old fashioned hard hat and holding a trowel.

Mural on concrete pillar of a blue brick layer surrounded by symbols of industry such as factories, gears, beer bottles, bricks. There is a parking lot surrounding the concrete support so there are cars parked in front of the pillar.

This mural is a another tribute to the early days of Corktown.   Sailing ships, maps and compasses are for the immigrants that came here.   The first church built in Corktown was Little Trinity in 1843.   It’s stained glass window is shown here.

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, three supports are in the picture. The one in the foreground has marine scenes - two sailing ships, a large turtle, and waves. The two supports in the background are those with faces, one man and one woman.

other views

blog_overpass_face2

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a large multicoloured woman's face is on the concrete support that is across the street. A chain link ffence and yellow fire hydrant are in the foreground.

back to Graffiti Alley

Posted: November 12, 2014 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Just a few pictures of some of the street art near Queen St. West and Augusta.

Street art in Graffiti Alley, a poser mural with 3 olive green bunnies. The words, The World is Dying for Bold Ideas are written around the bunnies. One bunny has a paint roller and another has a can of spray paint.
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, detail of a red and black piece on which someone has placed a sticker that says "May this day be yours. "
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, detail showing what looks like an eye between two sets of teeth. In the background, and to the right, are two bikes parked against the building that is covered with uber 5000's marine scene
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, Six Six Demigods black and white face of an old man with a flowing beard
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, a guy who has earphones on that are plugged into a phone or something similar. The wrods "Turn off your phone" are included in the graffiti
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, an orange stickman (stickman?) on a hydro pole.
.
Street art in Graffiti Alley, picture of a man's face. He seems to be leering with his tongue (which is green) hanging out of his mouth. He is above another picture of a pair of anser eyes.

under Mt. Pleasant Road

Posted: October 17, 2014 in general Toronto
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Between Lawrence and Eglinton, Mt. Pleasant Road passes over Burke Brook and Blythwood Ravine Park.
This is the graffiti that I saw under that bridge.

graffiti under a bridge - black and white picture of a man in jacket and tie and a hat with a brim. The top part of his face is in shadow from the hat brim. He iis shown only from the shoulders up

eyes in shadow

.

graffiti under a bridge - line drawing of a man's head with dotted lines dividing it into sections that are numbered

the numbers of a man

.

graffiti under a bridge - black and white line drawings of leaves and other biological looking creatures or things. The words 'yellow ochre' and 'lylith lyl' also appear'

flora and fauna, lylith lyl

.

graffiti under a bridge - yellowish gold frame with large line drawing of a smiling person.

crooked smile in frame

.

graffiti under a bridge - Kat Will you Marry Me? was the original words on the wall. It is partially obscured by a tag.

Did Kat marry him?

.
graffiti under a bridge - Crisis? Cress? In large red letters with green and black drawings above (under the beams that are supporting the bridge)

nuit blanche 3

Posted: October 13, 2014 in events
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Manifesto, in an alley, appropriately enough.

graffiti covered cardboard boxes put together in a robot shape. The face (or head) is a white light. It's an alley.

“You can’t silence my thoughts”

.

manifesto cardboard box graffiti covered robot like structure in an alley at night

faces on both sides

.

blog_snb_squat

.

cardboard box robots in the alley, manifesto for nuit blanche

.

Older Entries
Newer Entries