Posts Tagged ‘graffiti’

around the bakery

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Ontario Bread Company is located near Dundas and Ossington.
It had an Ossington Ave address but it is surrounded by lanes.
In September of 2013 it went out of business.  The building is still there but it is empty.

A slightly snow covered parking lot between two low rise buildings, both of which have murals painted on them. .

street art on a wall. In the middle is a brown loaf of bread with the words Ontario Bread Co written around it. There is a black and white tag on either side. two windows and a door of the building are also in the photo.

Lovebot is now on their mailbox!

a small black and white lovebot sticker, the one that looks like a king of hearts playing card, is on the mailbox

The bakery was founded in 1935 by Polish immigrants and they specialized in Polish, and other Eastern European, breads.  BlogTO did an interesting piece about the bakery in August 2013.

 There is a lumber yard adjacent to the bakery on the same lane.
What follows are some of the photos that I took as I walked the “block” of lanes around the bakery and the lumber yard.   Some of the graffiti has been there for a few years.

 

Lifelike painting of a beaver, but larger than life. Very realistic looking, sharp front teeth, little arms and big flat tail.

Old graffiti taf in yellows and blues on a grey brick wall. Two windows have been bricked over in red brick. One window has a green wood covering. It includes the words "RIP Ryan Dunn"

jumble of different scribbles and tags and old graffiti along a wall.

A view of the back wall.

looking down an alley with the side of a two storey building being the dominant part of the picture. It has a large number of colourful graffiti tags painted on it.

The words on this one say “It’s a bittersweet symphony”

A large colourful tag and street art piece. It's a bittersweet symphony is written into it. The left side is dark with a black background, the right side is brighter with a yellow and orange background.

This pair stands under the shower in a quiet corner.

Wheatpaste paste up picture of a woman in a long black sleeveless dress who is pouring water from a jug over the back of her head. The water is falling on a girl who is sitting behind the woman. The girl is holding an umbrella.
Rob Ford may no longer be mayor, but his legacy lives on …. in the form of anti-Ford graffiti.

tags on a brick wall in black, orange and white. Anti Rob Ford graffiti also there in the form of a crack pipe with Fords face on it. "Spud doesn't condone crack" I think are the words written beside the crack pipe.

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall
graffiti tag in greens and purples on a wall on a snowy day. Above the tag is a weathered sign that is peeling but it can still be read - No Dumping Along this wall.

This piece is on Rolyat Street, just north of the Ontario Bread Co.

A wheatpaste paper graffiti piece of a girl's head in duplicate, looks like she's reflected below. Long black hair. Big black eyes.

The last two pieces of street art are in a neighbouring lane, just to the northwest.

large pink creature street art, a small pink heart with the words 'lost doggy' is beside the creature

graffiti buzzard and tag behind a house.

Irene Ave

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Irene Ave. is a short street that runs behind the north side of Bloor Street West between Carling and Shaw streets, just east of Ossington Avenue.  Irene Avenue Parkette takes up most of the south side of Irene Avenue.  There is an alley that runs between the park and the back of the stores on Bloor West.

The Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, through the Graffiti Arts portion of their LOFT program, has sponsored a number of murals in this alley.

This is what it looked like on a cold afternoon last week.

laneway in winter, some snow and ice on the ground. Three cars parked. A mural on the side of a two storey building. Reddish rust coloured background with two faces, one woman and one man.

blog_irene_africa

blog_irene_lion

blog_irene_mj

blog_irene_mos

blog_irene_trash

blog_irene_frequent

The next picture was taken in June of 2012.
The mural is still there but I couldn’t take a proper photo of it last week as there was a car parked too close.

A mural of Teetnage mutant ninja turtles painted on a garage door.

When I walked around the block to check out the fronts of these buildings, this is what I found

Street art mural by elicser of three men on a bench. One is smoking a cigarette, one is reading and one is holding a lunch box in his hands.

A mural by Elicser and to the right the LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation.

changes under St. Clair East

Posted: January 5, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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St. Clair Ave East passes over a ravine just east of Yonge St. 

a view of the bridge from a path in the ravine from a short distance away. It is winter so there is some snow and ice on the path and the trees have no leaves.

Looking south towards St. Clair

The Yellow Creek flows through this ravine.
To the north, the creek is underground until the south side of Mount Pleasant cemetery. 

A view under the bridge, looking from one side to the other across a creek. The curved metal supports under the bridge are visible. There is snow on the ground but the creek is not frozen.

The ground was slippery and the water in the creek was flowing quickly. 
  In other words, I didn’t cross over to the other side of the bridge.

At some point in the past year the graffiti that was under this bridge must have been “cleaned up”.  Since then, new tags have appeared.
Whether they are an improvement over what was there previously is a matter of opinion.

looking up towards the top of a bridge from a path along the ravine below. two concrete supports are visible as well as part of the road way across the top of the bridge. There is a graffiti tag on one of the supports.

southwest corner of the bridge

Two colourful tags on a concrete bridge support, each one is on a different side of the support

SORT and BEGIN

Graffiti tags under a bridge

Graffiti tags under a bridge

behind Honest Eds

Posted: January 4, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks, locations
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Honest Eds, a Toronto icon, at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor since 1948

Standing on Bloor street looking south through the alley beside Honest Eds store. There is a glass covered walkway between the buildings on either side of the alley. On the side of the wwalkway is a sign that syas 'Honest Ed Alley'. The alley leads to a parking lot.

Looking south from Bloor Street towards the parking lot behind Honest Eds.

There are a few murals on the buildings that back onto the parking lot.

mural on a two storey light grey brick building showing musicians.

Trumpet players on the back of the Victory Cafe at the corner of  Markham and Lennox Streets

large mural of a woman with boxing gloves on. Beside her is a picture of a large dog's face.

Woman with boxing gloves has been on the back of Trainers Fitness for a few years.  The newer dog is painted on the back of A Leg Up Pet Services. 

The back of two buildings with a narrow passageway between the two. Both are two storeys high. The one on the left is painted light purple and has the words Southern Accent written in yellow letters. The one on the right is a mural of a man paddling a canoe down a tropical river, with a monkey and a parrot also in the picture.

Purple behind Southern Accent restaurant and a mural painted by Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre through their LOFT program. 

 

finding green in the alleys

Posted: November 30, 2014 in abstract, general Toronto
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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
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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
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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
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 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
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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
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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.

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