Posts Tagged ‘Queen St. West’

almost around the block

Posted: August 22, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Walking around the block, sort of, near Ossington and Queen.

North from Queen Street, west side of the alley

graffiti and street art by elicser on a wall in an alley, on the side of a Wine Rack store

detail of mural by elicser of two faces, a woman and a man in profile

Little animals crawl along the bottom part of a wall in an alley. They are covered in polka dots, there are two turtles, a hippo, a dinosaur and part of a beaver

street art on a wall in an alley

mural on a wall around, above and below three windows, looking down the along alongside the mural towards Queen St. west

part of a mural on a wall, a couple cheek to cheek with the woman wearing a purple party hat, also a topless green woman

detail of part of a mural showing a snake head and a skull. the snake looks fierce and has his tongue out

East side of the alley

street art, car movement and lights

mural of a jogger and a car with bright headlights shining through the night

Turning, now behind Queen Street West

graffiti and street art on both side of a corner of a building at the intersection of two alleys
street art covered wall in an alley

close up of a door covered with bright yellow, red, and blue graffiti

sticker graffiti, hot dog with line of mustard on it on a blue and yellow door

part of a street art painting on a wall with two windows, two large male faces, one in grey and pink and one in a brownish yellow

close up of a street art painting showing a large hand in front of a blue and red sweater

street art around two windows on a wall, pink on the top, green and brown on the bottom, with two faces, one realistic woman's face and one stylized face with eyes closed

A small corner in an alley that is behind metal bars, has graffiti on the wall. Beyond that is a wall cover with street art.

lovebot playing card wheatpaste high on a wall in an alley

pink swirls and a light purple skull in a street art painting

Where the alley meets Brookfield Street

A wall in a parking lot is covered with a mural with large S A and K letters,

A double garage door is covered with a painting in black andd white of geometric shapes, converging lines, with two faces as well.

two wheatpaste graffiti pieces, one yipyaps and one man's head. The word irony is written as well. They are on a worn black painted wood surface

On Brookfield Street at Queen Street West

street art by amek in pink white on blue background, sidewalk and bicycles in front of it.

below: The red line marks the alleys in which the above photos were taken.

map of Queen West at Ossington showing the northwest quadrant

alley bunnies

Posted: March 23, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Back to Graffiti Alley for the first time this spring…  well, for the first time since the snow melted since I’m not sure you can call it spring yet!

Here are a few poser and abm crew bunnies that I saw.

large greenish brown poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on pinkish purple background. Bight yellow, pink and blue tag to the right and a door covered with small tags to the left

three black and white poser bunnies on red background with black and white tag in front in Graffiti Alley. They are beside a doorway on which a man has been painted - red hair, white T-shirt and blue pants. Stylized, shrugging his shoulders and holdin his hands at waist level.
light brown poser bunny in Graffiti Alley - about 30 cm wide and 75 cm high on a wall that is perpendicular to the alley, Graffiti Alley is in the background. Signed ambcrew 2014
black, grey and white poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on a wall that is perpendicular to the alley. Graffiti Alley is in the background.

small black and white poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on a wall beside a metal exterior staircase

Sanko wall

Posted: March 20, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Mural on the wall of the Sanko Trading Company
(a Japanese Canadian business, since 1968),
corner of Claremont and Queen St. West,

Looking across a city intersection to a store on the corner that has a large mural painted on the side of it. Many Japanese motifs, many colours too.
There are many Japanese motifs in the mural including sushi.

sushi street art, part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

A robot is at the door.

Street art, part of Japanese-Canadian mural, of a robot looking down at the door.

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. left part of the mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. Arched bridge over a stream with a fish jumping out of the water, Japanese maple tree beside the water, street art, large mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. A girls face. Her hair is pink and blue and she has big green eyes.

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looking up the side of a two storey building to the underside of the overhang above. part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

Painted by Ken Galloway, Timothy Fukakusa, Mitsuo Kimura, Takashi Iwasaki, Darcy Obokata, and Shogo Okada in the winter of 2013-2014

More on the Japantown Mural

animals and birdo birds in Roncey

Posted: March 18, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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On Queen St. West, just before it meets Roncesvalles Ave., is the Corona Restaurant and Nightclub.  Along the wall of this building are a number of pieces of street art.   Only a small section is visible from the street.

Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces. The Corona Restaurant with a yellow awning is on the right and James Dys Antiques and Collectibles is on the left. is on the left.

Close up of Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces.

If you follow the alley that runs behind Queen St., you will find more street art alongside the same building.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,
The back part is a mural entitled ‘Destination Mammal Cabana’ by Birdo, Spudbomb and SKE1.  It was painted in 2012.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, middle part, large baboon wearing a party hat, a giraffe, a crazy looking zebra and a green turtle, street art on a wall.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, purple ostrich, screaming baboon and a giraffe,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, hairy creature with mouth wide open and wearing suglasses and a rhino by a beach umbrella, street art, graffiti,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, upright yellow tiger, antelope wearing yellow and green stripe beach wear and some other hairy creature with sunglasses on.

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On the north wall of the same building…..

metal stairs to a small landing outside a door on the second storey of a concrete brick building. The walls of the bottom floor are covered with graffiti. Immediately behind the stairs is a large blue letter Z.

If you look closely at the above picture, on the right hand side metal pole supporting the landing, is a sticker.  Below, that sticker up close.

A small yellow bird on a small sticker. It is an Uber 5000 bird, wearing glasses and holding a red book. He's on a metal pole.
three murals on alley walls

mural by birdo, red background, a man's head and an creature with an animal face and a body that looks like a blue checked sweater

a mural by birdo, a small black and grey bird that is holding a geometric shape in blue and white diamond shaped sections.

Looking west along the alley towards Roncesvalles Ave.

looking west along an alley in late winter. Street art on the walls on the left, garage doors on the right. Buildings on Roncesvalles can be seen at the end of the alley which is about a block long.

but if you walk slightly west, away from Roncesvalles, you will encounter two more pieces by Birdo.  The ‘Dreamer’ is on the same building as the Destination Mammal Cabana that is pictured above.

A street art piece painted in a small stairwell, down from alley level. The door way is the head of a woman and her arms extend over part of the stairwell walls. She is dressed in red and blue including a birdo hat.

A birdo mural on a dirty light grey wall of a stylized bird and the word "dreamer" written in large black letters.

nuit blanche 1

Posted: October 10, 2014 in events
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Nuit Blanche, night of October 4 to morning of October 5

people on a street downtown at night. 3 large orange cranes with many small palm trees in their baskets overhand the street. they are well lit from below.

Queen Street West near John St., 4:30 a.m.

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Stacks of inflatable globes of the world form walls and columns that leave paths for people to walk through.

Walking through the worlds, hundreds of inflatable globes. Even at 4:30 a.m. there was a long line to enter this installation.

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some of the inflatable globes.
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A bright yellow box with the sign "scraming booth" sits on a sidewalk. There is a line up of people waiting for their turn to scream.

waiting for the screams

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rolls of light green toilet paper are stacked to make short walls as part of an art installation.

tissue in greens and yellows.

rolls of orange and red toilet tissue look like candles

Looking like candles on tall metal candlesticks.

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Three people are performing aerial movements on ropes hanging from the ceiling in a large dimly lit space

hanging

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a woman is sitting on the ground with a large rope beside her.
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it’s starting to look a lot like Christmas

Posted: December 9, 2013 in general Toronto, locations
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at least along Queen Street West……

On display in a shop window are a stuffed toy cat and dog are dressed for Christmas. THe dog is wearing a Santa hat. Reflected in the window are people passing by carrying shopping bags.

Christmas is going to the dogs, and cats.

A window display in a T-shirt shop. THere is a T-shirt with a picture of ROb FOrd with the word yolo printed on it. There is a black toddler onsie with the words Bad Seed written in red. There is a green T-shirt with the words Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal written on it.

He knows when you’ve been naughty……

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blog_xmas_records .
blog_xmas_sock
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A drawing on a chalk board of Santa trying to get a hold of a cat that is hiding under his sleigh. The words on the board say Why Santa has reindeer instead of cats.

Rudolph the red nose cat doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

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Two christmas tree balls. Both are white on the bottom half and both are pantone colours on the top - one is red and the other is light blue, pantone universe color 15-5519

A very merry pantone Christmas in 15-5519 aka turquoise, their colour of the year in 2010.

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The window of the store 'Come as You Are' has been covered with a layer of fake snow. THere are clear circles in the snow with vibrators hanging in them. There are also some snowflake shaped clear spots.

Both hot and cold on display for a very, very, merry Christmas!

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walking Graffiti Alley again

Posted: August 22, 2013 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Behind the south side of Queen St. West, starting at Spadina and heading west.  At Bathurst there is a slight detour because someone built a Loblaws grocery store and a condo in the way.   But just turn south to Richmond and walk a short distance west.  On your right there is a small alley; follow this lane to almost Dufferin street – if there is no construction in the way!

I have walked this route many times.  Sometimes there are new things to see, or changes have occurred.  Sometimes I just notice things that I missed on previous visits.

Larger than life.

Larger than life.  The woman on red has been there since the first time I walked this way a couple of years ago.  The aquatic scenes on the building across the alley are a more recent addition.

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Tom and Jerry and their never ending chase scene.

Tom and Jerry and their never ending chase scene.

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The alley changes with the seasons. Even here there is greenery.

The alley changes with the seasons. Even here there is greenery.

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Sunshine and shadows in the lane.

Sunshine and shadows in the lane.

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Looking out over the alley.

Above the alley.  She now appears in a few places.

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Tag inserted between two windows

Tag, baker, inserted between two windows

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I just want people to like me. A sticker in McDougall Lane, a good use of US Priority Mail labels.

I just want people to like me. A sticker in McDougall Lane, a good use of US Priority Mail labels.

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I resurrect the destructed poster with a few tags added accompanied by a girl with a broken heart.

I resurrect the destructed poster with a few tags added accompanied by a girl with a broken heart.

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Black and white graffiti on a wall and door. There is life sized picture of a man on the door. He is holding a red heart in his hands.

He evolves. First his face was added – with googly eyes and his tongue stuck out. Now he seems to be anatomically correct as well!

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Graffiti of many caricature images of Rob Ford. Most are black and white but one is red and white. Some of the edges are beginning to rip.

Starting to fray at the edges

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back of a building on Queen St. that has a large red and blue tag on it. There is a large green skull-like picture on the door. Four blue recylcing bins are by the door.

Garbage bins guarding the door.

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Uber's yellow bird is laughing and drinking something from a can. Somone has added the words grain fed to his forehead.

I’m not sure what he’s drinking, but apparently he’s grain fed.  He looks a bit grubby because he’s sitting on the ground next to the dust and dirt in the lane.

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A smiling Cheshire Cat and a few other creatures.

A smiling Cheshire Cat and a few other creatures.

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A concrete block wall that has been painted an orangish red colour. Someone has stenciled the word soul on it..

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