Posts Tagged ‘mural’

As promised a few blog posts ago, I went back to take more photos of the now complete mural on the underpass on Lawrence Avenue just west of Caledonia.  It was painted by Essencia Art Collective (Shalak Attack, Fiyabruxa and Brunosmoky).

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - a larger than life sized head of a tiger, an elephant, and a bird with a colourful beak

mural by Essencia Art Collective of golden pyraminds with elephants walking amongst them and eagles and macaws flying above them.

street art picture of a red and blue macaw flying over pyramids, its painted beside a set of stairs so it looks like the bird is flying up the staircase

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - looking at an angle back at the mural, Egyptian pyramids painted beside the stairs that go from the sidewalk to the houses above. Also a painted camel with a bright patterned blanket on its back.

part of a larger mural on the side of an underpass, road and sidewalk in front of the photo, houses behind - a creature with a deer skull and antlers as head with a vulture sitting on its shoulder. Background scenery is dead land with an oil derrick on it.

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - dead animals, dead oil fields, dead trees, over exploitation of the Earth

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - dead forest, dead city

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - a black and crumbling city with the CN Tower looking like it's about to fall down

part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective on Lawrence West in Toronto showing the drastic possible environmental effects of not looking after the planet - a person covered in a grey suit and wearing a gas mask in front of a decaying and falling down city

mural of a person praying, hands together, eyes closed, wearing a purple shawl over their head

mural with people, city life and comment on mistreatment of the environment

car driving under a bridge and past a mural painted on the walls of the underpass, two large green women's faces tilted upwards with eyes closed

street art mural of a turtle swimming by some lily pads in the water, as seen from below

a man cycles past a large mural, two very large green faces are in the foreground

part of a mural on an underpass, under the bridge, large cobs of corn and a bright dragonfly

close up of big eyes on an insect, part of a mural

looking eastward along a long horizontal mural painted beside a city street

close up of part of a mural by Essencia Art Collective of a woman with a flower in her hair and a leaf shaped ear ring, mother nature like, beside a large fox.

part of a mural painted on an underpass - the nose of a very large fox plus two tiny houses on stilts above turbulent water, night sky

part of a larger mural, a boy is sitting at the back of a large wood boat, he is fishing, the boat is in a large bubble

part of a large mural on an underpass in Toronto painted be Essencia Art Collective, an old man with white hair, beard and mustache and wearing a wool hat is holding a paper cup that has fire and steam coming out of it. A bird is sitting on his shoulder

part of a street art mural - three animals, a warthog with spikey back, a deer, and another animal with antlers and a roundish face

a large warthog animal in a street art mural

a large owl in a mural

looking along a sidewalk where there is alarge mural, a very large owl is looking at you, other animals in the background.

street art mural, metaphorical heart of the Earth is being ripped out of the water

part of a large mural with an environmental theme - a brown bear stands beside a small waterfall in the midst of a lush green place

part of a mural with an environment theme, a polar bear is standing beside a red and white ship that is frozen in the arctic ice.

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - polar bears walking on ice, with an iceberg behind them.

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - a person in a purple parka holding a little tree, standing in ice between two polar bears

arctic scenes as part of a larger street art mural on an underpass in Toronto - a man in a parka with a fur lined hood looks down the road towards the rest of the mural

part of a street art mural, three people bundled up in fur lined parkas in a winter scene

I drove the back streets to Yorkdale yesterday.  It’s not something that I normally do; in fact I can’t remember the last time I drove those streets.   But I’m glad I did because I found another mural painted on an underpass.  Four sections of concrete wall,  four words in bright colours – Love, Home, Limitless, Heights.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word love, actually it is love or love

Home – just to the right of the word ‘home’ was a large heart that unfortunately I missed when I took the next photo.  There was also a sign describing the story behind the mural.

This community mural was painted by youth from the neighbourhood, Rocco Ursino, Salim Yislam, Michelle Collin, Jaden Beckford, Tamika Smart, and Hassan Mohamed under the mentorship of Sean Martindale and Joshua Barndt.  Apparently it was inspired by a popular local expression “Love or Love” and tries to convey compassion, hopefulness and determination.  Needed sentiments as this neighbourhood undergoes major changes and revitalization.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word home

This 2012 project was produced by Art Starts in partnership with Toronto Community Housing and office of councillor Josh Colle. Funding was provided by StreetARToronto and TCH.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word limitless

The mural is on Ranee Avenue as it passes under the Allen Expressway.  It is also right by the south entrance to Yorkdale subway station.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word heights, with the south end of Yorkdale subway station in the picture

When I parked my car I saw this telephone pole – Shoot for the stars.  Great advice!

Telephone pole with the bottom metre and a half painted blue with some yellow stars and the words Shoot for the stars.

And because one thing  always leads to another, I was parked on Flemington Road beside this – the remains of Zachary Court.

A small street with some mature trees growing beside it. There are a few rowhouses but the windows and doors are all boarded up.

The street is fenced off and the houses are empty.  Some of the windows are missing but most are boarded up.  This must be the neighbourhood redevelopment referred to in the description of the mural, or at least part of it.

rowhouses boarded up and fenced off in preparation for demolition

An old sign for community notices that is now empty because the area is fenced off for demolition

The end house in a row house complex has been started to be demolished.

There was another telephone pole with a happy picture painted on it but looking a little worn.

A telephone pole that has been painted on the bottom few feet. A bright blue sky with a cloud and a few birds flying, green grass and a couple of yellow flowers standing tall

There are two development proposal signs posted on Ranee Avenue that pertain to this area.  One of them is for a seven unit, three storey townhouse development on Ranee Avenue itself.  The other is for the demolition and replacement of 233 social housing units as well as the construction of 824 market value units serviced by a new public street.  The latter development involves a number of streets besides Zachary Court on both sides of the Allen Expressway (Zachary Court backs onto the west side of the Allen).

 

Back in the spring I posted pictures of the murals that were painted on the north side of the railway underpass on Bloor Street just east of Dundas Street. Since then, the walls on the south side have also been painted.  Both walls were Wallnoize projects.

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - looking along the wall
mural of an eagle with wings spread and talons out. A red rose at the top of the mural too. Painted by moveslow (@moveslow)
part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - a water serpent, or an eel, with big teeth is after a smaller black fish

looking across the street at a mural painted on the side wall of an underpass. Bright, multicoloured, curved lines and shapes. The entrance to the west toronto railpath is also in the picture

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - a hand in black and white passing a can of pink spray paint to another, similar to Michaelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street, a man is walking past

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - also painted on the sides of the stairwell that access the path that crosses over the bridge

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - an octopus painted beside some stairs, made to look like it's climbing down the stairs.

street art painting on an underpass wall. Large geometrics in dark red and blue, with a gold inverted pyramid shape

orange metal railway bridge over bloor street west, with the words West Toronto Railpath written on it in white lettes. A sidewalk runs under the bridge as well as the street. Along the side of the underpass there is a lot of street art

street art along the side of an underpass as seen from across the road. bridge is visible

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a larger painting on an underpass wall, eyes looking out, surrounded by many colours and shapes

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street,

street art on an underpass wall by kizmet32, pink and purple on blue

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street,

street art painting on a wall based around the letter t, lower case

wall of street art beside a sidewalk.  Tall chain link fence above the wall and a brick school building behind the fence

There’s a new mural being painted.  It’s not quite finished

looking down a sidewalk. A wall on the left has been painted with gold orange and brown pyramids, a lift is in the middle of the sidewalk, a busy street, Lawrence Ave, is to the right.

but it is looking impressive!

view of a mural that runs beside a sidewalk, taken from across the street

It is the work of Essenciartcollective, namely brunosmoky, shalakattack and fiyabruxa.

It started to rain quite heavily while I was there so I didn’t linger.
I’ll return soon – and by then it should be finished!  A few photos in the meantime:

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, two woman's faces in green, eyes closed, heads slightly uplifted. long green grass around them, some orange and blue plants that look like water lily pads seen from below.

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, a large owl in purples and reds with a yellow eyes. He dominated the picture. There is also a warthog and an elk (reindeer?) behind him
Parts of the mural are very apocalyptic

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, an apocalyptic view of Toronto with the CN Tower and downtown skyscrapers crumbling in a lifeless city

part of a larger mural on an underpass in Toronto, on Lawrence West, a close up of an old bearded man's face.

Pictures of the completed mural are now available!

As I sort through the photos that I took this past summer, I keep finding pictures of street art that I have not yet posted.  The following collection were taken in the Dupont and Ossington area back in July.

below: A very horizontal piece by Cool Ethan, obviously

a long horizontal street art painting

below: A TTC streetcar passes by the Massey Harris building, a mural by Colin Turner Bloom.  This office building, at 915 King St. West, was built in 1883 as the headquarters for the Massey Harris Co.  It was declared a heritage building in 1973.  Since then it has been developed as lofts/condos.

A mural on a garage door by colin makes art, showing a large brick building with a TTC streetcar passing in front of it.

below: A city scene mural by Monica on the moon,  just off Dupont Avenue.

long mural, black background, white line drawing of a city scene by Monica on the Moon

close up of part of mural, white line drawings of a city scene, lots of houses and other buildings, on a black background on the side of a house. Small window as well as three trash bins are in the picture.

below: Another garage door

garage door covered with a street art painting of squiggly shapes in oranges and reds with dark grey background

below:  Up, up and away with a bunch of red balloons.

two stencil graffitis on a white garage door in a lane. One is of a girl standing on her toes and holding onto a bunch of red balloons that are up in the air. The other stencil is of a man from the shoulders up

below: Bobby with a gas mask, stencil on garage door in a lane.

stencil graffiti in black on a white garage door. London bobby (policeman) wearing a gas mask, from the waist up

below:  Two lovebots on Dupont.

two lovebots on a blue metal structure on a brick wall. The top one is a gameboy lovebot. The bottom one is the usual robot lovebot.

sticker on a white wall. Sticker says ADORE: for all the golden moments captured indoors and out

This post is the result of a search for street art while walking south of OCADU on McCaul Street past Grange Road and Stephanie Street on the way to Queen St West.

below: Part of a painting by Uber5000 on the ramp to Above Ground Art Supplies, OCADU on McCaul at Grange.

part of a mural by Uber5000 with birdie in paiter's beret holding a paint palette and painting a portrait of another bird who is posing on a table beside him.

below: On the SW corner of Grange and McCaul is this woman.  The building is 60 McCaul St., the Brinks Express Company of Canada building.

A picture of a woman in profile, with one knee raised, wearing a yellow and white striped top, picture on a wall. An older woman is walking on the sidewalk, approaching the camera.

below: On the south wall of the Brinks building is a mural.  It was painted in 2014 by Julia Dickens, Tara Dorey, Alexandra Mackenzie, Lido Pimienta, Peter Rahul and Diana Vander Meulen.
UPDATE: As of 4th Nov 2015 the lower right part of this mural has been tagged over unfortunately.

mural on the side of low building, beside w parking lot with one white car parked there.

below:  This building has a City of Toronto Development Proposal sign on it.  This sign says: “40-60 McCaul Street and 10 Stephanie Street.  An application has been filed to amend the Zoning By-law to permit a 14 storey residential building with 184 units and a below grade parking garage as well as a 3 storey building proposed to a private art gallery.  Statutory Public Meeting:  Information will be posted once meeting is scheduled.”

corner of a red brick building with a mural on one side and a standard city of Toronto black and white development proposal sign on the other.

below: The next building south on McCaul Street is 52 McCaul.  Dasic Fernandez and Uber5000 contributed this street art to the northwest corner of the building.   It is across the parking lot from the mural pictured above.

street art piece of a woman's face with eyes closed and a vague shape of a heart behind her, done in purples and yellows, by Dasic Fernandez, on the side of brick building, with a pay machine for a parking lot in front of it. Just above her is an UBER5000 birdie with a ghetto blaster

yellowish brown brick wall with a wheatpaste of a girl with long hair and eyes closed. Above her is a paper lace doillie in a heart shape. Part of a grey metal door is also in the picture

below: On the back of 52 McCaul (west side) is:

street art on the back of brick building. A male face is above an old door and an arm on either side of the door.

close up a street art face on a wall

wheatpaste of a girl holdinging something, with poppies behind her, on a brick wall, with decorative metal grilles on either side of her

below: There is a large mural on the south side of 52 McCaul.  It was painted by Francisco Rodrigues da Silva, a Brazilian street artist who goes by the name Nunca, in 2009 as part of that year’s Manifesto Festival.

large mural on an exterior wall beside a parking lot. A man is swimming away from hands holding booze and dice and towards hands holding flowers. There are a few fish in the water with him. Painted by street artist Nunca on a bulding on McCaul Street in Toronto

close up of bottom left of a mural showing 7 hands of different shades of brown and beige. One is holding a pair of dice (two sixes), one is holding a green bottle, presumably with alcohol in it, the other fingers are pointing to the right, towards the main part of the mural.

street art mural, close up of part of it, showing a man swimming in wavy water, he has short black hair, a shiny round ear ring, and his tongue is sticking out. his arms are at his side.

two big round grey fish with open mouths and big yellow eyes, part of a larger mural

part of a mural by Nunca, four hands of differing shades of brown and beige are pointing or holding a large orange flower

below:  A few little things spotted along the way.

on a rusty metal pole beside a brick wall, close up of a flower in a flower pot line drawing in white on brown paper with the word moter in white above it with an arrow pointing to the flower

street signs covered with stickers and slaps in front of OCAD University

More info on the two large murals pictured above.

A number of street artists have collaborated to paint an animal themed mural on a wall
that separates St. Helens Ave from a Value Village store and parking lot (near Bloor and Lansdowne).

street art painting by braesoner of a tiger poking its head out from behind a tag

street art mural on a wall beside a sidewalk, with leaves on the ground and two small trees in the picture as well

street art painting of a toucan with a colourful beak, sitting on large green leaves with a sunset in the background.

 

street art painting of a yellow spray paint can with a big happy face on it.

side view of a street art mural on a wall beside a sidewalk, the closest part of the mural is a picture of two giant beetles by Nick Sweetman with a painting of a spray paint can farther down the fence.

street art mural by Nick Sweetman of two large beetles and a pink flower, on a wall, St. Helens Ave in Toronto

street art painting of letters that spall fathom

street art mural by EGR of a lion beside a tree

street art painting on a wall by cruz1

street art painting of a brown monkey

street art painting by cbs

street art mural on a wall, by Nick Sweetman, of a snake head in blue, purple and green, with a long pink tongue and an orange eye

street art painting on a wall by spud1, #spud1

street art mural painting by EGR of a probably naked woman crouching in the long grass with a spear in her hand.

Renfrew Place, near Queen Street West and University Avenue.

Another alley, another collection of graffiti and street art.

below: Lovebot strides over speed bump warnings.

A yellow sign warning of speed bumps in the lane has a big lovebot sticker in the middle of it. Buildings in the background.

Street art on an alley garage that covers the whole of the front including garage door and entranceway. On the entrance door is a greenish horned three eyed, big teeth monster

rasr tag on the upper story of a building in an alley . another tag under it that also covers a door.

door in an alley is covered with a street art piece in golds, reds and white

back of a building in an alley, beside a parked car, is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

back of a building in an alley is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

Two signs on a wall covered in street art in pinks, yellows and oranges. One sign is a Tow Zone sign, i.e. no parking. The other sign has an arrow pointing to Queen mother bar garden.

below: The Korean Grill House restaurant is at the corner of Queen West and McCaul.

The back of the Korean Grill House restaurant, and the alley that its in. There is lots of street art on it. Two red garbage bins are also in the picture and they too have graffiti on them.

below:  This mural by elicsr is on the corner of Renfrew Place and John Street.

a mural by artist elicsr on the side of a convenience store. The side of the building faces an alley. A large man and woman are in the mural and they are wearing red crowns. The woman has a young girl sitting in her arms. There is another man in the mural, he covers the back entrance to the building.

two pictures, both part of a mural by elicsr. On the left is a man in a brown and olive green adidas jacket. He is wearing a brown baseball cap with the letters ELX on it. On the right is a picture of a woman with her arm wrapped around a young girl. She is writing a letter.

A painting of Frida Kahlo on a wall. Larger than life size. She has a purple shawl around her shoulders.

line drawing of a dinosaur on a wall beside a door.

A street art piece in grey tones with some black and white, by gino.graffiti (that is how he has signed it). Done in 2015. In an alley beside a black metal door.

The back of a couple of buildings in an alley, covered with graffit, mostly tags. One says Herbs and another says Near. A beige car is parked there too.

A street art painting is wearing away revealing the red brick underneath. A pink bunny is still partly visible. The word gwap is written above the rabbit's ears.

the demolition of a building has made it easier to see some street art and signs on the upper part of the side of a building. One is the word Alveno (or maybe Alvend) written in large block letters. Another is a colourful geometric design.

Toronto’s newest street sign

A blue and white Toronto street sign that says Reggae Lane. Some stores and a tree are in the background.

Reggae Lane is a small lane on the south side of Eglinton West, between Marlee and Oakwood.
It is home to a new mural that celebrates the many reggae musicians from Toronto.

below: A Heritage Toronto plaque marks the spot.  It tells the story of Jamaican immigration and the reggae music they brought to Canada with them.   A transcription of the plaque appears at the bottom of this post.

plaque with the title "Toronto's Reggae Roots" with three photos as well as a story of Jamaican immigrants to Toronto and the story of reggae music in Toronto

 

The mural was painted over the course of three weeks by Adrian Hayles with the help of some young painters.

below:  Appearing in the mural: Reggae musicians from Toronto – Pluggy Satchmo, Bernie Pitters, Leroy Sibbles, Lord Tanamo, Jay Douglas, Stranger Cole, Johnny Osbourne, Jojo Bennett, Nana McLean, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Brown, Otis Gayle, Joe Isaacs, and Carol Brown.   Bob Marley is also in the mural as are the Skatalites, one of the groups that started it all; they began recording ska music in the mid 1960s.

View of a 1200 square foot mural by Adrian Hayles that depicts many different reggae musicians. This photo was taken from the second floor of the building next door so the camera is looking down across the parking lot towards the mural. Eglinton Avenue is seen behind the mural.

below: “Reggae, The King’s Music” is a reference to Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) who was born Tafari Makonnen.   Before becoming emperor, he was known as Ras Tafari where Ras means Duke or Prince (depending on the translation).  Hence the name Rastafari.   The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica after the coronation of Haile Selassie.  To them, Selassie was not just a black king, he was the messiah.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians -

Although it didn’t become a musical genre until the 1960s, reggae also has it’s roots in Jamaica. Reggae and Rasta have become closely linked.   Reggae has spread the Rasta message and Rastafari musicians like Bob Marley have popularized reggae music.

below: The radio station CFRB once had a Sunday evening reggae program.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A large hand with a finger pointing to the right with the letters C F R B above it. Two musicians are also in the picture.

below: The Lion of Juda is a Rastafarian symbol.  It comes from the fact that as Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sealssie’s full title was “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah”.  The lion also appears in the middle of the Ethiopian flag.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - a black man in a green hat, a lion's face and the words, Adrian Hayles production

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A man wearing headphones and a baseball cap is playing a guitar.

plaque: “Toronto’s Reggae Roots

In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 100,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Canada. Many settled in Toronto on Eglinton Avenue West, between Oakwood Avenue and Allen Road, in “Little Jamaica”, which became the centre of one of the largest Jamaican expatriate communities in the world.
Among these immigrants were popular reggae artists who brought their music to Toronto. Reggae record stores and recording studios began opening up in this neighbourhood. Leroy Sibbles (the influential bass guitar player and lead vocalist of The Heptones), Jackie Mittoo, The Cougars, Ernie Smith, Johnny Osborne, and Stranger Cole all performed and recorded in Toronto during this period. Despite the rich talent in and around Little Jamaica, early Canadian reggae struggled to find mass appeal. However, later generations of Toronto reggae artists achieved mainstream success, including Juno Award winners Lillian Allen, Messenjah, and the Sattalites.”

 

The project was funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto program, with support from Metrolinx, Councillor Josh Colle’s office, the Macaulay Centre for Child and Youth Development, the Toronto Parking Authority and the York-Eglinton BIA.  It was also supported by the STEPS Initiative.

A return trip, out of this world.

Toronto street sign, Milky Way, with a one way arrow sign below it.

below: Street art along the north wall of 376 Dufferin Street.

tag-like street art under a window in an alley

tag-like street art under a window in an alley that says GEMS

tag-like street art under a window in an alley

Street art on a wall in an alley, A Jarus woman with a blue shawl around her shoulders and a persue rabbit reaching for money that the woman is holding in her hand.

below: A new buff monster on pink.

A garage door in an alley painted pink. A large fat grey creature with bat-like wings and bulging eye takes up most of the space, a small skeleton is sitting on the creature's head. The piece is signed Buff Monster

below: Greetings from Parkdale mural

Greetings from Parkdale mural in light blue and purple featuring a ttc streetcar in shades of purple

below: This mural can be seen from Milky Way although it is painted on the side of Stones Place on Queen St. West

vacant lot, with a grey van parked in it, two pieces of street art on a wall as well as a large two storey mural

blog_milky_way_queen_west

below: Back in October 2014, there was a large lovebot on the wall where the mural is now.
For other photos of Milky Way from last autumn, see when  I blogged about it previously.

large wheatpaste lovebot on a brick wall

A large street art piece painted in an alley. It covers most of the side of a brick house. It is mostly blue lines and arrows.

graffiti in yellows and greens on a blue background, on a wall in an alley, between two windows with metal grilles, signed BSM Crew

Street art in pinks and reds, signed by Wizard

Two heart stickers on a metal pole. One is a pink lovebot shaped heart and one is a drawing of two hands making a heart shape with the thumbs and forefingers

A black poser bunny spray painted on a wall that is covered with slaps, stickers, and words written in black marker
A number of stickers, or slaps, on a black metal box

Black and white wheatpaste of a man's head, bald but with a large curly beard. Line drawing

Other new street art in the Milky Way was in a separate post a few days ago.