Posts Tagged ‘Kensington’

of many ages

Posted: August 7, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Follow the pointy fingers!

4 black and white stencils of hand and fingers pointing, on the sidewalk, pointing towards a mural on a wall

In a Kensington alley just north of Dundas there are several new faces.

two large faces painted side by side in an alley

below: A very bright face by Curtia Wright

large face mural on an exterior wall in an alley, in bright fluorescent oranges and blues, wearing a large floppy hat

below: An up close look at ‘Lovely’ by ahayahisone (aka Philip A. Saunders, or P.S.)

close up of a face in a mosaic like style with shapes of different colours making up the skin, green eyes, red lips, by Philip A. Saunders, called Lovely

below: A portrait of Philip Saunders by luvsumone (aka Moises Frank)

portrait of a man in shades of brown, orange and purple, with a hat, by luvsomone, a mural in an alley

A Poser bunny face and a companion mini happy face too

a black on silver poser bunny painting on a wood fence in an alley, a little happy face is in the top left corner of the picture

Bonjour from the future

black woman's head in space helmet of clear glass, futuristic clothing around her neck, Jamaican flag painted on her collar, purple lips

This one looks very much like it’s another P.S. painting.

male head in many different colours

Not as bright, but still surviving in the lane, are a couple of older faces

faded, on an old wood fence is a profile picture of a woman that is faded, the wood grain comes through very clearly, some peeling paint on the edges

on a fence that is vertical slats of wood, a portrait of a woman in blue

Mario sticks his head above text graffiti that says flyguy

head of Mario from the Nintendo game peaks over the text graffiti

“Keep yo head out the clouds” to which someone has responded.  At first I thought the response was “Nah, Rock that cloud.” but on closer inspection I see that I am wrong.  I like my answer better!

wood fence painted red with yellow words that say Keep yo head out the clouds, with a couple of white clouds, one with green eyes and a nose and mouth

on a wood fence, a drawing in white pencil of a man in a tie, beside him are the words cloudy daze. above him are two clouds

Kensington Pedestrian Sunday, July 2019

Posted: August 4, 2019 in general Toronto
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a young man plays a violin in front of a pedestrian Sunday banner

It was a very busy (i.e. crowded) Sunday afternoon at Kensington. Last Sunday that is.

an Asian woman walks holding a white umbrella with frilly trim

below: Bubbles of joy

a young boy in yellow shhorts and blue shoes is laughing as he runs through a stream of bubbles, outside on the street

below: Honkers on their saxes performing on the sidewalk.

two saxophone players, hinkers group, at outdoors performance

below: Street performance by Hero-San, a Japanese man who has been performing around the world for 25 years.

hiro son, a Japanese performance artist stands on one hand on a box in front of a crowd, outdoors, on the street, street performance

below: His show is part comedy and part stunts involving standing or walking on his hands.

hiro son, a Japanese busker and performance artist does a hand stand on the arms of two men standing facing each other, orange sweat pants and legs open wide for balance, a crowd is watching from behind

below: The finale was Hero-San walking on his hands while going through the open legs of a young boy. Even though his body was very close to the ground, only his hands actually touched the ground.

hiro son, a Japanese performance artist is standing on his hands in front of a young boy who has his hands close to his mouth, crowd watching in the background

below: A wagon full of plants to sell. $25 each.

people around a man with a woagon full of small marijuana plants that he is selling for twenty five dollars a plant

below: Sitting in front of poser bunnies while the world walks past.

two people sitting in front of poser bunnies mural in Kensington as other people walk past

below: A dog and many tattoos

a dog on a leash being held by a person with tattoos on booth knees and shins

two black women walking down the street while looking at their phones, on in a bright pink T shirt

a woman walking in short brown dress and floppy beige hat, another woman sitting in the window of a cafe and a third woman in striped pants and grey hat

below: Paper graffiti on a utility pole

on a utility pole, a paper graffiti piece of a man's face with the eyes from a different picture

Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington are the last Sunday in each month from May to October.

Kensington paper

Posted: July 8, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Slaps, stickers and paste-ups in Kensington.

below: Stickers on a pole

slaps on a pole in Kensington, people on bikes in the background.

below: Ohhhh, Portland is burning

slaps stickers on a pole, top one is Portland is burning with man pasting sign to wall, another has a man with a fat chin and mouth open in O shape.

below: Feelings boi hanging out on a wall with a morose pot belly poop

feelings boi pasteup beside a pot belly pop pasteup on a wall

below: Riding zebras in pairs

two copies of a small pasteup of a yellow figure riding a zebra

below: The words flow. “She clasped my face in her bones and kissed silence into my mouth” a quote by Amiri Bakara

pasteup on a wall, of a skull looking down at a man's head, who is looking up at skull, Letters are between the two mouths. words written below the man

below: Four urban ninja squadrons and a couple arguing

5 black and white paste ups on a wall in Kensington, four are urban ninja squadron and the the fifth is of a couple arguing, him on the left and her on the right, in the middle between them dark angry figures come nose to nose

below:  Even aliens check their phones.

sticker on a grey box on sidewalk, little figure, martian alien like, with head mostly one eyeball, human shape,

below: An ad, a drawing, and some knowledge

parts of a few different posters and drawings on a wall, a man in a red shirt on blue background which is part of an ad is on the left, a drawing of three naked women is in the middle (but is faint and hard to see), and a drawing on yellow labelled knowledge

below:  Black and white photos of people’s faces with the eyes missing.

black and white photos of faces, cut and manipulated to remove the eyes, i.e. forehead lowered to cover eyes

below:  More missing eyes, but this time some of the faces have eyes.   For the latter, the faces are composites

black and white photos of peoples faces. Some have eyes from a different person inserted, others have eyes removed by lowering of forehead

below:  One is blind and one is the merging of three.  I’ll leave it to you to figure out if it’s three different people, or the same person photographed three times.

large black and white faces on grey metal box on sidewalk, one side has person with eyes missing and the other side is a face made of a composite of at least three different faces

below: Urban ninja with Grey Owl and its large (and very sharp looking) talons

urban ninja squadron sticker with hooded ninja character with arm up, and owl on forearm, owl has face of Donald Trump

below: Go vegan for her. A pig’s eye?

sticker on a pole that says go vegan for her, shows one eye of a pig, on pole near drawings of other eyes

Those are what I saw today.  You could probably walk Kensington and see others.   Many are hard to miss but keep your eyes open for the little things in unusual places!

Kensington never disappoints

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

Hope Wall

Posted: April 11, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
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large painting of a face, street art, yellowish skin, small moustache and beard, glasses, eyes looking straight ahead

Hope Wall on Spadina Ave., near Kensington Market.

wall, plywood hoardings, covered with paint and graffiti as a Hope Wall, in memory of Andre Alexander who was killed when hit by a car. painting of his face, plus large space for people to write messages, on Spadina near Kensington Market,

below: Messages written on the wall for Andre Alexander, aka Hip Pop Art who died in October 2018.

messages written on a wall

a man sleeping on the sidewalk in front of a wall covered with street art, graffiti and art in memory of Andre Alexander who was an artist who worked in Kensington

wall and doorway painted purple, a black man's face in greys on one side of the entranceway, other graffiti too

 

as summer winds down

Posted: September 26, 2018 in general Toronto, locations
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below: The sign over Kensington but I guess that’s obvious.

metal sign above the buildings, says Kensington in capital letters

Kensington pics from a warmer Saturday morning earlier in September.

 

below: Liz says eat more cheese

old framed black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth, on top it someone has given her a word bubble that says eat more queso (Spanish for cheese), in the window of a cheese store

below: A smoke and a phone.  Swiping right or left?

a woman in a white blouse sits on a bench ooutside a restaurant, on a wood bench, smoking a cigarette

below: A homemade sign

a hand made stop sign, red octagon, with the word stop in large white letters and racism written in black letters underneath

below: Well dressed Swiss Misses

3 half mannequins dressed in tops, standing in two old containers that say swiss miss puddings

below: Walls and skin

a young woman with blue hair and many tattoos is looking at her phone as she sits on a kerb

below: Just a part of the van.  If you’ve been to Kensington you may have seen this van – it’s totally covered with stickers.

part of the side of a white van that is covered with stickers

below: Churro chairs

two metal chairs outside a churros place

below: Morning coffee.  Saturday mornings in Kensington begin quietly.

the patio in front of Moonbean coffee shop, with two men sitting at tables

below: Faded and forgotten

two fake sunflowers, very faded, in a window, between the glass and the bamboo blinds,

below: These poser bunnies are a recent addition to the street art in Kensington

poser bunny mural on a brick wall, a pinkish bunny and a yellow one, the yellow bunny is holding a bottle of alcohol

below: Mona Lisa and her fruit basket still look out over Kensington Ave.  She still hasn’t eaten that banana.  The black and white part of this now iconic mural (with the banana) was painted more than 30 years ago.  The rest of the fruit was added after.

realistic mural of Mona Lisa holding a basket of fruit, high on a wall in Kensington

below: Looking a little frayed around the edges, like some of us at the end of the hot summer!

red and white striped awning above a store, tattered

the side of a building covered with graffiti

below: Not long ago there was only Mary in this window. Jesus is now keeping her company.

the window of Crows Nest Barber with a statue of Mary and a statue of Jesus in the window

Amen

Go Go Gadget

Posted: September 19, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There’s a new mural in one of the Kensington alleys!  It was painted recently by Dave Setrakian.  It is also too long, and the alley too narrow, to get a good picture of the whole mural.

 

mural by Dave Setrakian in a Kensing alley

below: A parrot, an airplane and some Italian.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, some passport stamps

below: An Immigration Canada stamp from the 29th of May 1986 beside an Italian flag just out of reach.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a hand holding a small flag, a blue passport stamp from Lester Pearson airport with the date 1986.05.29

below: Inspector Gadget appears on TV – a kids’ cartoon produced in the 1980’s.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a television set showing Ispector Gadget, a cartoon character from a 1990's kids program

below: A little yellow car with an Armenian flag in the back passenger window.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a large yellow car

below: A large palm tree grows here, along with a Kuwaiti passport stamp and Kuwaiti flag

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a palm tree and a flag

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a blue and white scooter, motorbike, is parked beside the mural

29 July – another Pedestrian Sunday

Posted: July 30, 2018 in events, people
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People watching at Kensington Pedestrian Sunday

a woman in white sleeveless top and with very red dyed very curly hair, carrying a bottle of ginger beer,

a young black man in black wide brimmed hat sings in front of a microphone, part of a band performing ouside in front of a mural on a wall

below: The Spontaneous Poet, poet 4 hire

woman with green felt hat with floppy brim, smoking a cigarette, sitting at a small table and typing on an old Smith Corona typewriter. She has a sign on the table that says, poet for hite, the spontaneous poet.

older man with white beard and mustache, wearing sunglasses and teal baseball cap, leans on a garbage can while smoking a cigarette

a young black woman with long dreadlocks has a large snake on her forearm, she's smiling. A man with grey grey beard and moustache watches her.

man standing in an alley with street art on one wall, holding a guitar, he has just finished playing and singing, a man is behind him on a bike

balding black man with the Queen of hearts playing card stuck on his head makes a muscle man stance with fists clenched, he's performing magic tricks while people watch him

below: #whatsvictorupto painting the word ‘together’ on the sidewalk.

victor painting on the sidewalk in Kensington. He's wearing a shiny sparkly mask over the top of his head. people are walking past #whatsvictorupto

an older man in tweed jacket and cap with long white beard and mustache, black rim glasses, white plastic bag over one arm, walks down the street

young black man dancing on the street, part of a group, Pedestrian Sunday afternoon at Kensington, people in the background watching

young Asian womanin a straw coloured wide brimmed hat, smiling as she dances, she is holding the brim of her hat with both hands so it doesn't fall off

a male mime, black hamburg hat, lime green shirt, black suspenders and red carnation on the suspenders, beckoning to the crowd, outside, street festival, pedestrian sunday at kensington

a black man dances on the street, slow dance, with an older blond woman,

two women dancing, one with long hair on the top but shaved on the sides, wearing an intricate black necklace, double, one woman in focus in the front, the other slightly out of focus, purple and black sleeveless tops, close up of head and shoulders and one hand with grey fingernails

woman in short velvet close fitting top, large necklace, and holding a white parasol walks down a street in a crowd of people

young girl in Minnie Mouse tshirt and frilly pink skirt, pacifier in mouth, sits on the street beside a bike while she watched a performer, summer afternoon,

black woman with very short hair, round sunglasses and white top, wearing many strands of beads, sitting on a bench on her phone

a man wearing a purple vest and white hat, stands on stilts with long trousers covering, juggling 4 different coloured bats (or pins?) shaped a bit like bowling pins, two in his hands and two in the air. outside on the street

 

Saturday afternoon in the city

Posted: July 21, 2018 in people
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A Saturday walk about with friends

a group of people walking over the raised pedestrian bridge between the Eaton Centre and the Bay, 4 women, one man and a boy

Looking at people.  Ordinary people.  Going about their summer lives.

man with beard and moustache, one a bike that is stopped in front of a red and white TTC bus, man wearing a blue baseball cap with red Air Canada maple leaf logo on it

young Asian woman under a black umbrella, standing in a TTC bus shelter, reflections off her umbrella of other people, plus a stella artois beer ad

man in an apple store, orange T-shirt, leaning on the counter, with headphones on, looking closely at the screen of a laptop, other men in the store too

a young woman with bright yellow hair tied back in a short ponytail, tattoo covering most of her arms and upper part of body that is visible , wearing sleeveless black top, walking past Cheese Magic shop in Kensington market, Toronto

two people, one is a woman holding a coffee cup from Jimmys Coffee, she is laughing. The other is black, hair tied back, pink long sleeved shirt and sleeveless jean jacket, scowling,

a tanned older man in sleeveless black shirt leans against metal railing at the Eaton Centre, mannequins in a store window behind him, womens' sporting wear

a man sits with his son on the floor of the Eaton Centre, next to the glass railing. reflections from the railing make it look like there are two boys

looking into the window of a women's wear store, two dresses, on mannequins, each holding a handbag. a red dress and a dress with big red flowers, a red head woman is standing beside the mannequins

people walking across pedestrian bridge between the Eaton Centre and the Bay, one woman has long light pink hair and is wearing jeans with many rips and holes in the front,

a couple sitting in a restaurant, across from each other, in the window, window is open, drinks on the table . Woman has glass of white wine, man has something orange

a woman standa against an exterior wall, beside a tottoo place. The word tattoo is in large yellow letters beside her, her hair is multicoloured, she is wearing a short dress, knee bent with one foot against the wall, phone in hand, black jacket over her shoulders

three people sitting on a concrete bench outdoors at Yonge Dundas Square. An older woman with teal long sleeeved shirt and light blue hat, a man in a white t-shirt with black moustache, with a woman leaning against his shoulder with her eyes closed

a couple standing facing each other, talking to each other,

an older woman carrying a pale purple umbrella, and a handbag with pictures of cats on it, a blouse with orange flowers on it

mother and son posing for picture, Asian, boy is lying on the ground between his mother's feet

bald black man with black sunglasses is taking a selfie while holding a large ice cream cone

a young man holds a sign that says hug me we need it

black man with blue t-shirt holds a blue bubble maker and he is making bubbles as he walks down the street

young woman in sunglasses poses in front of a fountain

couple, one is smoking, man in yellowish orange shirt, standing by a chinese restaurant, pictures of the food on the wall behind them.

faces of P.S, Augusta alley

Posted: March 16, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations
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As you walk down Augusta Ave., you may spot this familiar face:

mural of a head and shoulder of a young man, by P.S., in an alley

It, like all the others in this blog post, is signed P.S (& this is the signature of Phillip Saunders). The background in the one above looks very much like the work of J. Chiale.

below: A very red face and the traces of a moustache.

mural of a head and shoulder of a young man, by P.S., in an alley, very red face

below: More stylized and almost abstract, very purple too.   The door with its circuit board and honeycomb patterns says no entry.

mural of a head and shoulder of a young man, by P.S., in an alley, purple face, beside a door that has street art on it too

below: A couple at the end of the alley.   Love is golden.

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