graffiti | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘graffiti’

Montreal

Posted: June 19, 2014 in Uncategorized
Tags: alleys, art, denial art, graffiti, instagram, le village, Montreal, murals, paintings, street art, zopel

Yes, there has been a shortage of blog posts here recently.

The reason? A trip to Montreal for MuralFest, and a chance to walk parts of that city.

The result? … of course! …. a few blog posts about Montreal! They are more to come over the next few days, but you will find them on the page labelled ‘Montreal’ – (link) or on the black menu bar that’s across the top of the page.

Bulwer Street

Posted: June 10, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, bird, Bulwer, car windows, chain link, city, concrete walls, downtown, eyes, face, fish, graffiti, lane, photos, reflections, stickers, street art, tags, teeth, Toronto, urban, wall, weeds, yellow bird

Bulwer Street is a short street that runs parallel to, and one block north of, Queen Street West. It is only one block long, running east from Spadina Ave to Soho St.

graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., the angle of the photograph makes it look like there is a large chain link fence in front of the wall.

children behind the fence

graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., children including a larger than life sized boy wearing an orange T-shirt

children playing in the parking lot

white eyes

detail of graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., a large brown hand is holding miniature size city buildings in blues and purples

he’s got the whole city in his hands

rooftop reflections

reflections of a mural in the windows and side panels of a black car

mirrored in the glass

facing the alley

sticker of half of a man's face (cut vertically)

only half the man he used to be

picture of people in blues and reds beside a nondescript grey door at the back of a small parking lot (or driveway)

the back door

bright blue, pink and orange tag on lime green background

tag – suniti? BA Kings?

parts of three tags on a wall

A concrete wall with tags on the lower part. There are hydro wires in front of the top part of the wall, and they are casting shadows on the wall

wired tags on concrete

large paper stencil of the top part of a woman is still there although parts of it have worn away

worn away but clinging on

Uber 500’s little yellow bird shows up on this street too

little fish, big teethfish

graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., with the CN tower behind in the distance

one of the many, many, views of the CN tower

*****

stuck on behind Bathurst

Posted: June 9, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, bathurst st., black and white, brick wall, calzone, decolonize, dog, Dundas, eye, graffiti, lane, line drawings, mug shot, paper, phinite, photos, red eye, scribbled, stickers, strawberry, street art, tags, tongue, Toronto, window

There is an alley that runs behind Bathurst, on the west side. Most of these photos were taken in that alley. All of the photos are of sticker, or paper, graffiti that I saw when I walked that alley a week or so ago.

A window space in a brick wall that was covered over a long time ago. Now there are tags and stickers covering the space as well as graffiti on the walls around the space.

It used to be a window, now it is an ever changing canvas.

black and white line drawing that looks like something you'd create with spirograph

spirograph on the metal pole.

four stickers on a wall. One is a mask that looks either African or BC First Nations. One is a hairy dog like creature with a long tongue that is licking a red strawberry with legs. One has the word 'decolonize' on it along with a picture of a group of men. The last sticker is just the word 'phi-nite' with a symbol.

strawberry man gets licked by dog, a mask looks at you, decolonize and phi-nite, all in a small space

two stickers on a tag & scribble covered space. One sticker is a silhouette of a man on a skateboard. He has large wings coming out of his back. Ths other sticker is a greenish colour geometric design within a greyish white circle.

have wings, will skateboard

a purple and white sticker that has been defaced by the tag 'calzone'. Beside it is a sticker that says 'decolonize history' with a mug shot of a man.

calzone tag unfortunately scribbled on top.

five stickers on the back of a metal sign.

Billy and friends

black ink on brown paper graffiti of a woman's head & shoulders

brown girl on the wall

two stickers on a wall. One is the head of a blue cat. The other is a lacey looking circular design.

blue cat with lace

Someone has placed a red & white circular sticker over the iris of an eye that is part of a black and white eye graffiti picture

red eye

*****

over Cedarvale

Posted: June 8, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: bathurst st., bridge, cedarvale park, concrete, graffiti, pink, smoking man, street art, tags, under bridge

I am beginning to wonder how many bridges there are in Toronto! Yesterday I walked under three that I hadn’t been under before. These are the photos from one of those bridges – Bathurst Street over Cedarvale Park, just north of St. Clair Ave.

three large colourful tags and one grey scale picture of a man squatting and smoking a cigarette,Bathurst St. over Cedarvale Park, graffiti under the bridge

chillin’ & smokin’

pink!

flower face in black, grey and white, on the side of a support pillar, Bathurst St. over Cedarvale Park,graffiti under the bridge

a happy flower growing on the concrete

tags around a down spout, Bathurst St. over Cedarvale Park, graffiti under the bridge

tags around the down spout

Look Mom!

tags and a few small pictures on a large concrete support at one end of theBathurst St. over Cedarvale Park,graffiti under the bridge

an assortment of tags at the end of the bridge

In case you are curious, here is a list of bridges in Toronto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Toronto

*****

Pedestrian Sunday

Posted: May 26, 2014 in events, people
Tags: bikes, chalk, chalk chick, colours, eating, enjoy, eye, food, graffiti, Kensington, patio, pedestrians, people, photos, pictures, sidewalk, sights, stores, street art, summer, Sunday, sunny, Toronto, umbrellas, walking

The first Pedestrian Sunday of 2014, Kensington Market, 25th May.

What follows is a collection of sights from that afternoon.

A group of young people are walking down the street, away from the camera. Some are walking their bikes and some of the men are topless.

It was a warm day, the warmest day of the year so far. Time to shed the remains of winter and enjoy the sun and the city.

art and music…..

A young woman is sitting on the sidewalk. She is creating a picture of one of the characters from the TV show Futurama.

‘chalk chick’ – see more of her work at chalkchick.com

A man sitting on a stool on the sidewalk, playing a musical instrument

I am not sure what his name is or what kind of instrument he plays. If anyone knows, please give me a shout!

Two men on the sidewalk outside Sancis store. One man is standing and the other is sitting.

guitar players

food and drink…..

Three women are lined up waiting to be served at a street vendor who is selling food.

one of the many street vendors selling food and drink – BBQ chicken, burgers, fries, sandwiches and coconut sorbet included

The front of Wandas Pie in the Sky restaurant. People are sitting at tables and chairs set up outside the restaurant.

enjoying Wanda’s patio

A number of people are having lunch on a patio.

lunch on the patio!

A group of young people are sitting onthe curb eating food out of stryofoam containers

street food

people watching ……

Some people sitting on steps, three women standing in front of a large graffiti face that is wearing large star shaped sun glasses.

In front of big red starry sunglasses.

giant scrabble!

A couple with a small dog on a leash are standing by one of the barricades used to keep cars off the street

People with animals ….

A woman has a large fake red nose and large white frames sunglasses. She is carrying a green umbrella with a froggie face on it

keeping cool under the froggie

A woman is sitting at a table, under a patio umbrella. Behind her is a large graffiti piece of a young woman's face

two women, one larger than life

A woman is looking at her phone as she waits behind a table where she is selling denim shorts (on the sidewalk). In the background a man is buying something at another vendor's table.

‘This Way’ to browsing, buying and selling.

A pile of large wood blocks are in the middle of the street and a family is building small towers with them - a small girl and boy and their parents.

playing with blocks

Two women, each with an umbrella open above their heads are standing in the street.

Some people bared their skin to bask in the sun while others wanted more protection

under the blade

….. and the sights of Kensington

Detail of messages attached to a telephone pole. They are written on strips of yellow and blue heavy paper. In the background is a painting of a large eye, part of the sign above the door of Orbital Arts on Augusta Ave.

A watchful eye from Orbital Arts looks over Augusta Ave.

At an intersection, lots of people are walking on the street. Across the intersection is a three story burgundy colored brick building with a shop, and awning, on the ground floor. There are murals of faces on the upper level of the outside wall along with the words 'Welcome to Kensington, Romeos'

crowded streets mid-afternoon outside Romeo’s

a man stands in the doorway of a shop that has towels in the window and a lot of things for sale on a table outside the shop

Captain America and the Hulk lurk outside a store.

street scene of the intersection of Kensington and Dundas West. There are people walking on the sidewalk past a boarded up shop.

the corner of Kensington and Dundas West

A man is sitting on a fence reading a book. There are books on the ground in front of him that are for sale. There are also some shirts on hangers that are for sale.

a quiet corner to read on

little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

spring in the city

Posted: May 26, 2014 in general Toronto
Tags: buds, city, flowers, graffiti, ivy, leaves, photos, spring, street art, streets, Toronto, trees, tulips, walls

Spring in the City

Hopeful signs of a new season that I have spotted this week.

A large garden full of orange tulips. In the background is the grass and trees of St. james Park. There is a couple sitting on a bench on the far side of the tulip bed.

orange tulips galore in St. James Park

Tulips and other spring plants starting to grow in front of a wall that has been painted with graffiti

signs of spring in front of the wall

Flowering white tree in front of the entrance of Metropolitan United Church

Even spring can look grey if you look at it from the right angle. Metropolitan United church.

pretty in pink, and purple…. boxes of flowers along the fence, Davenport Road

many yellow and white daffodils are growing in front of a picket fence. There are a number of trees with new leaves behind the fence.

daffodils and picket fence, Riverdale Farm

A row of orange tulips growing in front of St. James cathedral. Close up of the building so only part of one wall, with lower corner of a window, can be seen.

growing in the shadow of St. James cathedral

A tree with pink blossoms is growing in front of brick row houses, one red brick and one that has been painted light grey.

pink on brick, near Kensington

Ivy begins to grow again on a wall that has been painted with beige, blue and orange graffiti. Close up picture of the graffiti so it looks like an abstract shape

almost smiling at the ivy growing on the alley wall

508

Posted: May 21, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: bathurst, city, clandestinos, colourful, graffiti, house, murals, painted, photographs, photos, shalak, smoky, street art, Toronto, urban

One house in the city.

The number 508 is above the doorway. An eye, part of two different murals, is on either side of the door.

508 in the middle

View of the front of a two storey building taken from the street in front of it. The exterior of the house is covered with paintings. Two faces cover what once the front windows.

eyes on the street

large painting of a red and blue bird on the side of a house. Hydro wires are also in the photo

bird contemplating a wire

A white toilet sits on a sidewalk outside of a house. On the side of the house, just behind the toilet, is a painting of a an old house.

outdoor plumbing

A large mural on the side of a brick house.

characters on the north wall

windows and other bits

Posted: December 4, 2013 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, bird, brick, construction, fish piss, graffiti, lane, lovebot, metal, photos, red brick, Richmond Street, rust, street art, Toronto, windows, yellow brick

A few things that I saw today as I walked from Richmond and Spadina, southwestward to King and Shaw. A beautiful sunny Tuesday afternoon.

An old metal sign saying No Authorized Parking has rusted badly. It is on a yellow brick building. Beside it is a blue coloured metal screen covering a window.

rusted and authorized

A graffiti painting of a blue and white bird on a grey concrete block wall. It is painted to look like it's perched on the top corner of a window.

Happily perched above it all with a birds eye view of Richmond Street West.

the backs of a few lowrise brick buildings. One of the buildings is painted an olive green coloutr. There is graffiti above one of the buildings, of 2 dog heads, one of which has a cigarette in its mouth.

Smoking on the roof.

Stop Rob Ford at the western end of a one way Richmond street.

A brick wall that is painted a pinkish colour. There is an old window with the lower half barred. A light is mounted on the wall to the right of the window. The wall is dirty.

window and light, Palace Hotel, at King and Strachan.

A red brick wall with an old door that has been bricked over. A large new window has been added. You can see the lights on inside.

Afternoon light.

A paper sticker showing three beer bottle shaped bottles with labels that say fish piss.

fish piss in the alley

Three small windows arranged vertically beside a rusted metal grille covering an air vent. Black and white splotches have been painted around the window.

Black and white and speckled all over. This was one in a series of five or six windows of various sizes along the same wall. The black and white painting gave the wall an interesting look although I am not sure of pictures of the individual windows are all that interesting!

gold coloured poster on a dirty light grey garage door. The poster says 2013 Lovebot Loveinvasion. It has a picture of a light grey robot on it, with a red heart.

The alley I was walking down turned, but as I turned the corner I realized that I had come to a dead end. I spotted this poster on one of the garage doors that was there. According to the man standing inside one of the other garages, lots of people end up doing U-turns in front of his garage – including cars that come zooming around the corner, only to have to hit their brakes.

A sticker of a black hearted, square headed, yellow robot on a blue dumpster.

for more information about the lovebots, http://lovebot.com/about

This photo was taken while standing in a parking lot near the southeast corner of Adelaide and Bathurst streets.

The graffiti across the lower part of the building is by homebase. Their website: http://www.homebasetoronto.com

viceroy on dupont

Posted: December 1, 2013 in graffiti and street art, landmarks
Tags: boarded up windows, brick, factory, gone, graffiti, heritage, Junction, laser, photos, siderodronophilia, street art, Toronto, trains, viceroy, West Toronto Railpath, windows

1655 Dupont Street, a large red brick building that once housed the Viceroy Rubber Company factory. Now it is Planet Storage with over 10,000 square feet of self-storage space.

The building, now designated as a heritage building, has had it’s structure preserved although some of the lower storey windows have been boarded up. The east side of the building backs onto the Toronto Railpath and it has been decorated with graffiti at ground level. An old storage tank at the southeast corner of the building has been painted bright green to match the Planet Storage logo.

Viceroy still makes hockey pucks and other rubber items but at a newer plant on Weston Road, under the name of Allied Viceroy.

Three storey brick factory building. The windows in the lower storey are covered with orange wood. There is graffiti along the lower five or six feet of the building.

looking south along the side of the building

Looking north along the side of the old Viceroy rubber factory building. A red brick building with large windows. There is graffiti on the bottom five or six feet of the building.

Looking north along the West Toronto Railpath.

a chainlink fence is in the foreground. Behind the fence is a tall green storage tank (the top part of it is not in the picture. One wall of a three storey red brick building is in the background.

At the southwest corner of the building and behind a fence is a tall green storage tank.

bottom two storeys of a red brick factory. The lower storey has the windows boarded up and painted orange. There are graffiti tags along the bottom of the building.

tags under the orange

An open window covered with metal bars and a metal screen. Graffiti on the walls too.

a large tree is in the foreground and it is casting a shadow over the wall of a red brick building that has graffiti on it.

In the shadows.

Large windows on a red brick building. The window frames are metal and they are rusty.

Rust, writing, and reflections

an old door is painted bright green and on it is a piece of street art of a man in a black and white striped shirt. A blue and white graffiti tag is on either side of the door.

on the green door.

a black and white drawing of a woman with binoculars sitting beside a train track waiting for a train that is in the distance

S is for Siderodronophilia, a proclivity to become aroused by watching or riding trains.

The sun is shining on a red brick building with large windows. Graffiti tags are on the wall.

Tags in the sunshine.

graffiti of many white fingers in at least three rows of four. The fingers have eyes and their noses look like the number two.

many fingers with twos.

graffiti on garages

Posted: November 10, 2013 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Alan Powell, alley, camille, city, colours, Darth Vader, David French, dogs, door, faces, fence, garages, graffiti, Harbord village, lanes, locomotive, paint, photographs, street art, Toronto, train, urban

Graffiti and street art on the garages

of David French Lane and Alan Powell Lane

David French Lane runs south from Barbara Barrett Lane (just south of Bloor St.), one block to Sussex Ave. If you cross Sussex Ave., the lane continues as Alan Powell Lane. Both lanes are lined with garages for the houses on Borden St. and Brunswick Ave., the streets that run parallel on either side of the lanes. Alan Powell Lane also runs behind Central Tech Collegiate.

There is an excellent interactive map of the lanes of Harbord village and the people for whom they were named at http://www.harbordvillage.com/laneways/lanewayinteractivemap.html