Posts Tagged ‘humour’

slaps on walls and poles

Posted: December 2, 2019 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

I have accumulated a small collection of slaps, stickers, and small paste-ups, that I have seen around the city over the past couple of months.  This collection has grown large enough to warrant its own blog post.  So here they are….

below: He’s stepping out of the bunny suit in a little paper paste up by sketch nate (aka Nate Galbraith) 

on a blue metal box, a sticker slap graffiti of a man in yellow shirt coming out of a large blue rabbit suit

below: Looking a bit weathered on this piece of plywood is a paste up by sketchrat, (aka srats) Now Hiring Circus Rats.

old weathered pasteups on a piece of plywood

below: Two stickers on a pole, the top by drible_drible and the bottom by daughtcalm

two stickers on a pole with crumbling concrete or plaster behind, top sticker is by drible_drible and the bottom is by daughtcalm

two stickers on metal, the lower one is by drible drible

below: This old orange stikman has lost his head.  In its place is a sticker for eddaviel aka Edison Montero

on a wood utility pole in graffiti alley, on top is a sticker with word eddoviel and on the bottom is the bottom part of an old orange stikman

below: A solemn (depressed?) man with baby.

paste up in window of a man with depressed look on face, from waist up, holding a baby in his arms, in green tones

below: Wires, and more wires, on old wood utility pole.

sticker of a large wood utility pole with 3 horizontal pieces, lots of wires, top part of pole only

below: Covered.

many stickers on a metal sign on a wall covered in street art.

below: Contributions from Paranoid, Cherry Whine, and feelings boi. This is the oldest photo in this post; it dates back to TIFF in September.  The rabbit poster was a promotion for one of the TIFF movies, Resin.

paste ups and posters on a wall

below: A bunch of words.  Honest.  Question authority over and over again.  Wants to be healthy and happy? Money first. Capitalism.   Put them altogether and what do you have?

paste ups and stickers on a wood utility pole, all with words. one is honest, another is question authority written 5 times, and the third is about capitalism

below: Nice to see that there are still some Rob Ford faces around.  He shares this sign with many others including a lovebot, a deluxo xyz, and a blue skull.

many stickers on a traffic sign, including rob ford's face and a blue skull

below: Time may be a human construct but I’m still tired – sitting in the bottom corner with a head full of flowers, by Sketch Nate.

stickers and paste ups on a black box including a brown & red chicken head, a blue cat head

below: Fake Canada postage stamps as graffiti.  An interesting idea.  Each of the little red maple leaves on the stamps has a letter in it, P A W.  Is this the artist’s initials?

graffiti, or street art, in the shape of 4 Canada postage stamps, each one with a different nature scene

below: Many slaps here – On the bottom tight is one from Pestilencia Worldwide with two of their characters, Ratanic and Scumby.   Bottom left – an Urban Ninja Squadron tbonez turned barber.  Nixon, lines and shapes by The Forge Fury, and freewill are in the center, and a person hides behind a cute cat mask by Sketch Nate.

stickers and slaps on a grey metal box

below: Another Urban Ninja Squadron, this time with The Forge Fury (aka David Baron) and screaming ‘Your Mom’.  Also, Fascism shall be destroyed.

stickers on a pole, an urban ninja squadron and one that says fascism shall be destroyed

stickers and slaps on a pole

below: These faces, either with eyes missing, or eyes added on top, or some variation on that theme, have sprung up all over the place.  These are two of the small ones that I have seen.   You can see more of Jeremy’s work on instagram.

below: Lots of silly faces with Urban Ninja Squadron loser, and a cat on its 9th life by Sketch Nate.    As for the top poster, so much for Sketch Rat.

stickers and slaps on a pole

below: Urban Ninja Squadron with a playing card Lovebot, the lovebot of hearts.

stickers and slaps on a pole

below: Tbonez with dunzo on top -more of TCF, The Chosen Few.    The Forge Fury on the bottom.

stickers and slaps on a brown railing of an exterior staircase

below: And now Urban Ninja with Ratanic from Pestilencia Worldwide.  I am getting the sense that this a rather incestuous group in that they all know each other and cross pollinate each other’s work.

sticker, urban ninja squadron breaking out of jail with ratanic

below: And last but not least, a very small sticker on a pole, xmarks

small sticker graffiti on a metal pole, street art on the wall behind. Word on sticker is xmarks

Kensington never disappoints

Posted: June 11, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

murals in Kensington, Mona Lisa with fruit, and Poser bunnies,

Here you will find a few random things that I found the last time I wandered through Kensington, some large and some small, but most new to me including this wonderful dinosaur mural by Nick Sweetman.

on a Kensington wall, a large mural of dinosaur on a black background it's wearing a small gold crown with 3 points,

below: Kids for sale.   Perhaps they mean goats?  Hmmm……

sign in a store window that says kids for sale

below: She needs a better makeup artist.

head of a mannequin with large brim hat, shoulder length blond hair, red sunglasses, lipstick

below: An exhibit: petrified skull and horn of a Shoasaur, approx 1.4 million years old, right?

tacked to a wood fence is an old wood shoe form that someone has turned into an exhibit of a fossilized skull and horn, complete with drawings of the animal that it came from

below: A profane glove

one single glove with a face drawn on it and fuk you written on it, stuck on the top of a wood fence post

below: Pasted, ripped, and painted…. an abstract in the making.

posters on a window that have been partially ripped and streaks of red paint sprayed on them, also white spray paint

below: Soap ghost has some good advice

a small paste up on a green fence that is soap ghost, words say wash your hands

below: Two witches grace a door –  XVIII The Full Moon Witch and XVI The Hell Hath No Fury Witch

two cars stuck into the crack formed between a door and a wall, two witch cards,

below: Urban ninja guy has grown a mustache!

three stickers and paste ups on a metal post, urban ninja warrior on the top, with a black mustache, and a pink and blue bunny face on the bottom

below: Spanish graffiti says “Estamos solas pero nos tenemos todos” which equals “We are alone but we have all (everybody)”.

black and white paste up on a wall, Spansih words that say estamos solas pero nos tenemos todos

below: Weed the bored as a play on We the North.  So many Raptors references around the city these days!

chalk drawing on a sidewalk that says weed the bored

below: A candle to light Death’s way.

painting on a fence of death with his scythe and holding a candle

below: Watching the street, or has that orange cone caught his eye?

mural of a large face with eyes looking outward, looking onto the street where there are people passing by, Kensington storefront

Keep your eyes open!

today’s advice?

Posted: May 17, 2019 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

“Stop at nothing to get a head”

stencil on a wall that has been spray painted a pale blue, black ink, man holding a tall stick on the top of which is a head, words that say, stop at nothing to get a head

But be careful…. that head could become some body’s dinner!

a small paste up on a utililty pole, blue stencil of the monopoly guy's head, top hat and X's for eyes, under his head are the words eat the rich

the latest word on the street

Posted: April 10, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

Anyone with a marker and a bit of gumption can leave their mark almost anywhere but most of us don’t.  What makes some people write?  The stupid and/or juvenile scrawls I can do without but I like encountering words that make me smile or make me think.  Below is a small collection that I have seen in the past week.  Some are stupid and some are witty, but all are the result of someone’s thoughts and actions.

below: Keep it civil; keep it underground.

an orange diamond shaped construction ahead sign

below: “MyFace  – I vote for a date with you!  Currently searching for my 2017 Valentine.”
Brought to you (maybe) by someone called James and seen around Ryerson University.

a poster taped to a pole on a street with the heading "MyFace", a picture of a young man pointing at the camera. Words on the bottom say:

below: What is more tempting than a blank wall?  If a sign requests you not to paint on the wall and you draw on it with marker, have you disobeyed the request?

An off white coloured wall on which someone has printed the words "Please do not paint wall". In answer someone else has drawn a picture (very faint so it's hard to see)

below: These posters on the wood hoardings have been up for many months now.  Someone has written “communist garbage” on one of the posters.  I’m not sure of the ideology, but if you believe in the freedom of movement are you really a communist?  The Soviet government certainly didn’t allow it.

posters that have been on wood hoardings for quite a while and they are starting to fray at the edges.

below: Let’s call this photo ‘Garage Heavy Metal in the Bike Lane’.
I’m not sure if this is a list of good things?  or bad things?  Or maybe some sort of poetry?
What does Elizabeth May have in common with Lucy DeCoutere?  Or the TD CEO with Desmond Cole?

a list of things and people written in capital letters, in different colours on a light blue garage door

below: “Do not place any materials here”…..  just a lot of words instead.
A few words about someone called Sarah.

A yellow sign in an alley that says "So not place any materials here" on which someone has written in black sharpie

below: “Drink coca-cola get fat”.  Probably not what Coke intended!?

A large poster coca-cola ad. In the red circle with the coke logo, has been written in black, drink and get fat, such that the sign now says, drink coca-cola, get fat.

below: “I use stickers because I’m too afraid of getting caught to spray”, wabishabby

A very small hand printed sticker that has been stuck to a sign on a wall, top part of sticker is picture of a cat, bottom half of sticker are the words: "

random pieces

Posted: September 26, 2015 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

This is a collection of things that I’ve seen recently that haven’t fit in with any other blog posts.

below: He hangs out on Queen St. West.

A partial painting of a red head man, life size or close to it, on a white wall that people have added stickers to. The stickers cover all of his torso

below: A legless stikman behind bars on Palmerston

Stickman behind a wrought iron fence. He is missing the lower half of his body

A lovebot sticker, lovebot is holding up a sign that says I am a toy. It is on a sign for a store that says Since 1914

below: Malibu rum and Corona beer exposed by demolition on Peter Street.

A construction site. A wall has been exposed that has two large wall paintings, one is an ad for Malibu rum and the other is an ad for Corona beer.

below: Argh.  He understands our frustration.  The Dufferin bus didn’t stop even though there were two of us waiting here!

On a TTC temporary bus stop sign, someone has put a sticker of a person on it, the sticker fits perfectly into the vertical part of the letter T in S T O P

below: Death is the conduit of rebirth.  Life, death and everything in between.

A street art painting of a large skull with the eyes painted as people's heads. Beside it are the words, Death is the conduit to rebirth

below: False can’t hide behind the pipes, Kensington

Behind two yellow pipes on the exterior of a building, a painting of a person's torso with a large heart painted on his shirt. In it's hands is a white sign with the word false written on it.

below: Love the hearts, especially now that blue crowns have started appearing with them.

a yellow happy face lovey heart on a telephone pole, with a blue crown on top of it as well as a stencilled sign that reads Honesty of the best poetry, Gregory Alan Elliott

below:  Panda with guns.  This image was originally a Banksy and it came with the words ‘Destroy Racism.  Be a panda. He’s black.  He’s white.  He’s Asian. ‘

A painting of a panda standing upright, painted on an old wood fence. The panda has a gun in each hand and they are pointed upwards

below:  Seen on hoardings on Eglinton Avenue near Bathurst.  My apologies to the artist, Alice Choi for accidentally cutting off her name from the bottom when I took the picture.

A painting of a person sitting on a chair with only a red cloth draped over their body. The head is a light bulb. A calculator, smartphone and computer monitor and some fish are floating around the person.

below: This stikman is embedded in the pavement.  He’s been run over many times.

A stikman painted onto the pavement of a street

below: Remnants of people and such

The remains of many black and white stickers or wheatpastes on a wall

A small sticker of a girl with a large head and big eyes

below: There will always be haters I guess.

A sticker with a red heart and the words Love Everyone that someone has scrawled on in black marker, shut up

a stroll inside Honest Eds

Posted: March 26, 2015 in history, landmarks
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Honest Ed’s

 In 1948 Edwin Mirvish opened his ‘Honest Ed’s Famous Bargain House’ on the southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets.  Honest Ed’s was not only one of the first department stores in the city but also one of the first to offer discount prices on its merchandise.

below: Honest Ed’s, from across the intersection of Bloor and Bathurst streets.

Looking across an intersection of Bloor and Bathurst streets towards Honest Eds store with its big orange, yellow and black signs on grey cladding. Running around the store, about the level of the top of the first storey, are signs (red lettering on white background) that read "Only the Floors are crooked" , "There's no place like this place, any place", "Come in and Get Lost" and lastly, "A Bargain Centre like this happens only once in a lifetime"

photo taken 25 March 2015

 

below: The same intersection in 1948 when Honest Ed’s Famous Bargain House opened.  As you can see, the exterior was covered with signs with humorous sayings from the beginning.

historical black and white photo of Honest Eds store at Bloor and Bathurst.

photo from Honest Eds store via a 2013 article in The Grid TO

Along with the discount merchandise, Ed Mirvish filled his store with pictures and posters, especially movie posters.   The stairwell walls are covered.

movie posters as well as other kinds of posters in a stairwell at Honest Eds, including a large red poster with a picture of 'Honest Ed Mirvish'.
reflections in a round mirror in a staircase at Honest Eds store showing the stairs, railing and various pictures and posters hanging on the walls

A stairwell at Honest Eds store with a large black and red sign that reads "Honest Ed's an Idiot, his prices are cents-less"
You can buy almost anything at Honest Ed’s!  Clothes, shoes, toys, household items, groceries, hardware, prescriptions, souvenirs, … and so on.

Interior photograph of Honest Eds store with its eclectic mix of merchandise. Big No Smoking sign on the wall, some old movie posters on the wall too.

aisle in a discount bargain store. White wooden shelves and bins, lots of red signs, cashier sign as well. Honest Eds interior, ground floor, kitchen ware,

There are hundreds of pictures of actors and other famous (and no so famous!) people.

kitchen wares for sale laid out on white table like shelves. Large pillar in the middle of the store with a sign warning you that you are on camera. Seven pictures of movie stars adorn the pillar. Lots of merchandise for sale in the background.

Jeans for sale, on tables in Honest Eds store. Large black and white posters on the wall along with a colour full length portrait of a woman in a long dress.

All of the signs in the store are hand painted.  In March 2014, Honest Ed’s had a sale of all their signs and the profits ($17,000) from this sale were donated to Victim Services Toronto.
Another sign sale is scheduled for 11 April 2015 starting at 8 a.m.  If you want to buy a sign, arrive early and expect to wait as it is a very popular event.

Sandals for sale at Honest Eds, on white shelves. There is a mirror behind and in the reflection is most of the shoe department of the store.

bins of panties for sale, a wall display and long horizontal mirror in the background. Beside the bin in the foreground is a white pillar on which there is a black and white picture of a man from the shoulders up.

Signs in a store window. One says "Honet Ed can't cook but his customers never get a raw deal" and the other is a page showing all the special prices available at the store. It is printed like a newspaper page and there is a lot of information on it.

A bin full of brightly coloured kids running shoes in greens, blues, reds, etc

In October 2013, the property was sold to a developer but as you can see from the sign in the photo below, the store is still open.  It will remain open until the end of 2016.  It’s been open for 67 years and will remain open for another 21 months.
The southeast corner of Markham and Bloor. The corner of Honest Eds store with its red framed windows and loud garish signs.

red umbrella day

Posted: November 4, 2013 in abstract, general Toronto
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

umbrella, parapluie, paraguas

red, rouge, rojo,

Grey, damp days always need a touch of colour.

Yesterday, as I walked from Dupont subway station to Kensington I made use of my red umbrella.  It kept me dry.  It brightened up a few photos!

.

A red umbrella is open and sitting on the wet pavement beside a grey painted wall.

Every rainy day needs a splash of colour.

.

A red umbrella is wedged between two poles beside a purplish brown garage door in an alley

caught in the alley

.

A mural on a garage door shows a girl reaching out her hand. The umbrella is placed by her hand.

When this mural was first painted, there was a downspout for the eavestrough running down the side of the wall. Her hand was painted to look like it was reaching for, or holding onto, the downspout. Because that downspout is no longer there, I decided that she needed something else to hold on to.

.

A red umbrella is lying on a wet sidewalk beside a large puddle. There are lots of leaves on the sidewalk as well.

left in a puddle

.

Whatsoever

‘Whatsoever you do’, a sculpture by Timothy Schmalz.  It is also referred to as ‘Homeless Jesus’.  This installation is outside of St. Stephen-in-the Fields church on College Street. It was installed on 14 September and was originally scheduled to remain there until 6 October. According to the description of the sculpture, it is a fiberglass cast of a silent, huddled panhandler. A person that people walk by and ignore. But if you look at the outstretched hand, you will see the stigmata (the wounds of Christ).
When we first placed the umbrella over her, we worried about the appropriateness of such an action but as I took the photo, a passerby commented on how people have been known to place cheeseburgers and other food in her hand.
The statue was stolen at the end of November. More information

.

A close up photo of the red umbrella's reflection on the roof of a black car. There are lots of rain drops on the roof as well.

car roof reflections

.

A red umbrella is beside a stone and brick wall that was once painted yellow. The yellow paint has started to wear off.

red and yellow

.

A white line drawing of a man with a top hat (upper body only) on a dark grey wall. On the ground beside the wall is a red umbrella

top hat, umbrella…. where are my dancing shoes?

.

A man is crouching beside a brick wall that has been painted purple and grey. He is holding a red umbrella over his head.

Toronto siesta

.

A red umbrella in front of a wall made of different coloured bricks - yellowish, orange, brown, and purple

.

A red umbrella on the ground beside a gate made of weathered wood

something old, something new

.

The red umbrella is wedged between the top of a chainlink gate and a wood door.

The End

Special thanks to Sasha and David who played along and made the day even better!

Also to Michael for crouching against a purple wall!

.