Posts Tagged ‘men’

#turbanup

Posted: May 17, 2015 in events, locations
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This afternoon at Yonge Dundas Square,
Turbanup, presented by the Sikh Youth Federation.

There were many people there helping to wrap

Passersby have stopped to watch a an is wrapping a red turban around a young woman's head.

and many colours of fabric to choose from.

People in turbans are at a table sorting and folding purple and pink and blue fabric that is available for making turbans with.

A young man having his head wrapped in a dark blue turban. His eyes are closed. Close up shot.

Two men sitting in chairs while having their heads wrapped in a turban, one purple and one orange.

A man is wrapping a light blue turban around a young woman's head.

A man in a bright yellow T shirt is sitting in a chair while another man wraps an orange turban around his head. To the right, an older man is waiting his turn to get a turban.

A man is grimacing while having a yellow turban wrapped around his head (and into his eyes) by an older Sikh man with a a dark red turban.

A black woman with long hair is having her head wrapped in a turquoise turban

Three men in their new turbans are standing together while a fourth man is taking their picture.

bolts of many different colours of cloth being folded by some people

hanging around Union Station

Posted: April 20, 2015 in locations, public art
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If you have recently stood on the platform at Union subway station, northbound to Finch side, you will have seen the new artwork being installed there.   The platform is still under construction and not all the art panels have been installed but this is what it looked like this past weekend.

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform - a seated woman picture on the left. The panel on the right has not yet been installed, there is a space and the construction behind it is easily visible

There are 166 glass panels, each just over 2m high (7 feet) and when it’s finished it will cover the length of the subway platform, a length of 170m (about 500 feet).

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform

At the moment they are installed in such a way that they act as mirrors as well as pictures.

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform - several panels with pictures of people but it is highly reflective so you can see the people waiting on the platform as well

The piece is titled ‘zones of immersion’ and it is the work of Canadian stained glass artist Stuart Reid.  The people on these panels are based on drawings that Reid made as he rode on the TTC.

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform - a sitting woman and a standing woman. An exit sign is reflected in the glass

I’m not sure they will be so highly reflective once the installation is complete and the construction behind them finished.  But in the meantime, a little fun can be had!

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform several panels with pictures of people but it is highly reflective so you can see the people waiting on the platform as well

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform - two blue glass panels, one with a woman's face

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform - 3 men sitting on the subway, all facing the viewer

new art, pictures of people on the subway, on glass panels installed at Union Station platform, a woman's face in profile. You can see traces of the construction behind her.

Allan Garden hoardings

Posted: April 19, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
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UPDATED: Construction here has finished and the hoardings have been removed.  These murals no longer exist.

A couple of years ago, the city started a project to replace the water mains that run under Gerrard Street. As part of that project, a section of Allan Gardens was dug up to provide access to the underground mains.   The site was barricaded by wood hoardings.  These hoardings have since been covered by a large mural titled  ‘Nindinawemaaganidok / All My Relations’.  Twenty one artists contributed to the painting of the mural.

The north side of the wall:

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens seen from back a bit, tees, construction equipment and a couple of people are also in the picture

Four themes appear in this mural,  Community, Water, Anishnawbe Teachings and History of the Land.  Animals such as buffalo, deer, wolves, turtles, and beaver are common motifs.

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens a deer with antlers stands by a pine tree.

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - animals, beaver, turtle, eagle, bird,

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - the sun shones on a person lying on the ground.

The east side of the wall:

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, pine tree on a rock by a lake, under a full moon lit night sky

below: Sky Woman

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, blue woman's face, she is loking at the viewer, her long hair blowing in the breeze, rocks below her

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens a leafless tree and a couple of smaller pines by a lake

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, a eagle in flight and a man. construction equipment can be seen bei=hind

South side (along Gerrard Street):

part of First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens, a young man's breath is stylized as blue ribbons streaming from his mouth

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a woman surrounded by circles (bubbles?) as she sits on the ground.

West side:

First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens

part of a First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a row of 6 men's heads seen in profile, all looking to the right, their long hair blowing away from their faces.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a stylized eagle in bright colours in flight.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens - a couple walking hand in hand beside a circle divided into quarters, one is black and one is red and a head comes out of each quadrant.

part of an Anishnawbe First Nations story/legend themed mural painted on wood construction hoardings in Allan Gardens
If construction goes according to plan, the hoardings should come down by the end of May 2015.  As to whether or not this deadline will be met is anyone’s guess.

The artists: Tannis Nielsen, Phil Cote, Natasha Naveau, Rosary Spence, Gwen Lane, Angela Malley, Judy Rheume, Gary M. Johnston, Amanda Murray, Rebecca Baird, Cotee Harper, Graham Curry, Briana Stone, Lyndsey Lickers-Nyle Johnston, Isaac Weber, Honey Smith, Shelby Rain McDonald, Paula Gonzalez-Ossa, Kalmplex, Adrion Corey Charles, Ron Razor and Steven Henderson.

Link to more information (as well as a video) about this project

another Kensington alley

Posted: March 30, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Borden Street becomes an alley south of College Street.  It runs along the east side of Kensington Community School, then makes a turn and runs part way along the south side of the school.  All of the garage doors have been painted with pictures and murals.

below:  The most northerly garage door has a sign that indicates that the murals were a gift to the children of Kensington Community School from the Kensington Market Action Committee.  They were painted by a number of different artists.

A large green and black beetle (or a similar insect) painted on a garage door along with words

longer view of part of an alley showing the street art covered garage doors.

Street art piece of a tag in the middle and a face on either top corner.

Graffiti on a garage door. A face is in the top right corner and she is looking down towards the ground. Stylized.

Graffiti painting of a hand holding a can of spray paint.

Garage door with a very large round fat yellow mother hen with two little chicks following behind her.

Graffiti painting on a garage door of the words "Hi Def" in rounded fat letters with colours in pinks greens and black squares.

A mural on a garage door, a wispy picture of a man, an owl and a pair of eyes

close up of a man

north end of an alley with garage doors on the right, white chain link fence on the left. The garage doors are covered with street art and graffiti.

North end of the alley, looking towards College Street.

 

below:  Hey and Hello, by J. Stanton

 A mural on a garage door, all yellow and black, stylized figures a fish, a bone, a wedge of cheese with a face, two cherries made into little figures with eyes, mouth and legs, a large sandwich with a face on the bun as well as arms and legs, also a lemon with eyes, arms and legs. personified food,,

below: A painting by lexr in 2012, Hey Markusiel.
The sign on the gate refers to the Yinka Dene Alliance, a coalition of six First Nations groups from northern British Columbia who organized to stop the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline being built through their territory.

Wooden garage door with a painting of a boy with a baseball cap on his head and a breathing mask around his neck and nose.

below: Street art piece by Cam Novak

Purple and blue abstract street art on a garage door.

below: Max and the Wild Things by ACS Murals (Annex Creative Services Murals)

Mural on a garage door of Max and the Wild Things, characters from the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" . They are swinging from tree branches.

Close up of a Mural on a garage door of Max and the Wild Things, characters from the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" . Two of the wild things are are swinging from tree branches.

below: Another ACS mural

mural on a garage door in an alley of a marine scene. A large grey and white shark is swimming along with a yellow and black angel fish. There is a pink starfish and some coral as well.

Graffiti tag on a garage door in an alley, green tag on blue and orange background. The tag, or word, says "sighto" or something like that.

Blue graffiti tag on pale orange background on a laneway garage door. The word 'Suniti' is written in small letters in the top left corner.

below: The next four pictures are from a mural that covers a couple of garages.  From left to right.

colourful graffiti of two bulls

multicoloured street art on a garage door of a boy reaching forward, his hand is foreshortened and is clasest to the viewer.

street art painting on a garage door in a laneway, a woman with open mouth under a row of eyes

colourful graffiti painting of a man's face surrounded by a lot of abstract shapes

Regent Park hoardings

Posted: March 13, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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Located at the northwest corner of Regent Park Blvd and St. David St.,
(which is south of Dundas East and east of Sackville)
painted on the wood hoardings around a construction site.

 This wall was painted as part of The Patch Project
PATCH = “Public Art Through Construction Hoarding”

Unfortunately, one photo that is missing is one of the section of the wall that is a large section that says “Conquer Adversity with Diversity”, the title of this work.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Scenes of people and faces, kids on bikes, activities. The word Welcome is written in red cursive. Two apartment buildings are in thebackground.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. The words Regent Park are written in large blue & purple cursive writing. An entrance to the construction site is between the two words.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. A woman's head and three men's faces in profile. They are all under the same pink head covering.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. A large woman in head scarf with her eyes closed, people on bikes riding on a path

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site.Young man in blue baseball cap

graffiti people. One of whom has there hands over their mouth.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Six stylized hands in a row, on blue background. Highrise apartment building is in the background.

Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Large blue boy's face with a large bird taking flight beside him

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Street art of six stylized hands on a blue background.
Colourful graffiti on hoardings around a construction site. Two men punching, one is punching while the other stands beside him with fists clenched

Street art painting of two guys on a wall around a construction site. There are words in the picture. The first word ends with e n c h I think. The other words are Generation Rising Still

More information on The Patch Project

a few guys hanging out

Posted: February 11, 2015 in general Toronto
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A few guys that I encountered the other day.

black and white paper graffiti of a man in grey pants, white shirt, and tie. He has two black and white faces instead of hands. Someone has scrawled words on the hands.
A deflated inflatable Santa Claus is hanging from a hydro pole in an alley beside a garage door with a graffiti man on it.

A large pinkish man's face, with big blue eys, and large hands

close up of man's face painted on a garage door. You can see one ear, the nose and the mouth.

Street art painting of two men's heads. Both have beards. One is wearing a black crown and the other has a red hat and a red & black plaid shirt on

 

under the tracks at Bathurst

Posted: November 28, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Murals painted by Elicser in 2014, under the railway bridge on Bathurst St., just north of Dupont.

It is difficult to do justice to the paintings with a camera because of the structure of the bridge.   The following images are ones that I took yesterday.  Yes, there are many!

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - taken from across the street, The picture is of 4 people who seem to be looking at the camera.

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a man on a red bike who is cycling towards a woman with outstretched arms

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a woman sitting cross legged on the ground beside a miniature city

mural under a bridge

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a man's hand reaching towards a miniature city. roads, houses, tall buildings and hydro wires

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a man with a football helmet on and green triangles in his hand

A man in a blue winter coat is walking under a bridge, beside a mural that is painted on the wall of the bridge.

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a pair of legs with sneakers on flying past a man's head.

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - a man with a red baseball cap on backwards

A man sitting on a bench who is looking down into a bag that is on the ground. A face in profile is beside him

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - Two large people in the mural. A woman is walking past on the sidewalk. The picture is taken from across the street so bridge supports are also in the picture.

part of a mural beside the walkway under a railway bridge - the triangular part of the wall of the bridge at the end, showing a woman in yellow coat and hat.

woman holding baby, man behind her making rabbit ears with his fingers

rusty metal railway bridge over a city street. There is a mural painted on the wall beside the walkway on the far side of the bridge.

mural street art painting of a man's face. He has a moustache. He is looking at the camera

 

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.

Ultra Church

Posted: October 17, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A mural near Church and Wellesley

A picture of most of the mural. There are many colourful characters on a wall that is about 8 feet long. The mural is close to 20 feet long.

Most of the mural.

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detail from mural - three people, black woman, white woman with blond hair and glittery ear rings and necklace, and a man in the right hand corner
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detail from mural - group of people in flamboyant clothes lounging around

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detail from mural - close up of woman with white hair and long eye lashes. She is wearing blue and silver sparkly er rings .

detail on mural - man in cowboy hat with a red & white striped guitar, amongst other people
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detail from mural - a bearded man in a pink dress, a woman in purple and two people sharing the same red & white polka dot dress
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detail from mural - a very pink woman in fish net top and wearing a sparkly pink eye mask
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detail from mural - close up of woman with black and white striped top, glittering neacklace and ear rings.

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detail of mural - two women, one in black low cut dress and silver sparkly crown and the other in a bejeweled black dress and white fur boa. .

woman with long arms and hands, wearing 2 bracelets as well as necklace and long droopy ear rings.

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detail from mural - chicken pecking at some nuts (corn?) on the ground beside legs wearing yellow high heel shoes
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A picture of a man in drag - blue dress as well as long hair and horns on head, is behind a real tree

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sign painted beside the mural that says "Ultra Church 50 VIP part people 1948 to 2014"

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pride parade

Posted: June 30, 2014 in events, people
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Shooting the pride parade was a lot different from shooting the dyke march!  The pride parade is much bigger and by necessity much more tightly controlled.  I was able to walk alongside the women in the dyke march but the streets were barricaded and non-participants kept off the route for the pride parade.

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crowds are behind barricades along the streets, policemen on motorcycles are waiting at the end of the street. parade hasn't started yet

looking west on Bloor towards Yonge.

I walked the first part of the route, along Bloor Street, just before the parade started.  Lots of crowds were behind the metal bars; a few police were watching/ignoring me.  When I turned the corner at Yonge St., I realized just how controlled the crowds were!  I chose not to continue walking south on Yonge.  A policeman opened the barricade enough to let me out.  After that I walked amongst the crowds….. and saw nothing of the parade!  Too many people!  But they were interesting people and I enjoyed walking amongst them. …. until Dundas when there were so many people and no one could move.   That’s was my cue to exit stage right.

So here’s a salute to all those who joined the fun.  A little raunchy and a little over the top at times but all good.

Two women in banana costumes posing for the camera.

Kudos to these two ladies who showed up in banana costumes! I asked them if they were part of a group, but no, they’re just fruity they said. I hope they joined the parade had fun (and didn’t get too hot!… unless they peeled…. )

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Two women, or men dressed as women, one in black and one in white. The one in white has a large black & white clockface behind her

timeless

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A group of people are standing behind metal barricades waiting for the parade to start, some are waving and some are smiling. A group of three girls are wearing pink boas.

pink, with smiles, waiting for the parade to begin

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A group of policemen and policewomen pose for a group shot before the pride parade

Before the parade started – They were actually posing for someone else… but I suggested that they look a little livelier, wave their hands or something…. thanks for obliging!

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viewable & captured from all angles

viewable, & captured, from all angles

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One guy in red underpants (with Christmas bells attached to the front) is pointing to the bare bottoms of his two male friends. He is making an exaggerated facial expression of surprise and shock.

boys just wanna have fun

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Two older men dressed in white are under a rainbow striped umbrella. One has a white boa, the other has a red boa.

keeping the sun away. These umbrellas were great – very photogenic!

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A woman with very large and almost bare breasts. Her face is decorated

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Two men are standing beind, and leaning on, the barricade. They are wearing multicoloured beads, incuding some very big beads that look more like balls for a Christmas tree

big grins! The one in blue was more game than his partner…. you could almost say that one in grey is grimacing more than grinning. Thanks guys!

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A group of men are standing behind barricades.

He had such a wonderful smile and he seemed so happy that I couldn’t resist taking his picture.

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four girls, each with a different coloured mask, like the ninja turtles TV characters wear.

ninjas, mostly unmasked

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a boy is sitting on his father's shoulders

a better view!

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many people lining the route of the pride parade on Yonge St.

The crowds at Yonge and Wellesley just as the parade reached that part of the route.

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A row of people wearing hats in the foreground, looking across an empty street to a very large crowd behind barricades

How does one even start to calculate how many people were there?

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A quick shot - he saw my camera, turned and quickly posed, and I got the shot. It wasn't until I downloaded the photos that I saw the marvellous juxtaposition!

A quick shot – he saw my camera, turned and quickly posed, and I got the shot. It wasn’t until I downloaded the photos that I saw the marvellous juxtaposition!

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a group of four girls wearing rainbow curly wigs, frilly short skirts and rainbow striped socks are walking up the street between two rows of parade watchers

almost their own little parade!

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streetcars at the intersection of Yonge & College, all corners are packed with people

stopping the parade to let the College/Carlton streetcar through

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Two people are standing on the window sill of a large window. The woman is wearing a striped dress. She is texting. The guy beside her is topless, wearing grey shorts

She doesn’t seem to be having fun – standing in the window of Starbucks at College & Yonge.

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Wall to wall people at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas. All you can see in the photo are people's heads.

I walked the parade route at about the same speed that the parade went. An hour and a half later, I reached Yonge & Dundas where the crowds were so thick no one could move.

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Two boys are standing on a window ledge so they are above a crowd of people. The small boy doesn't look too happy.

At the corner of Yonge & Dundas – by the time I made it to this intersection, I was beginning to agree with the boy in green!

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Two topless women are painted in big rainbow colours. Two clothed women are posing for a photo with them.

posing with the body painters – Body Art by Tania was the booth on Church St., near the start of the parade.

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