Posts Tagged ‘tags’

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

Broadcast Lane

Posted: March 8, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Graffiti in a Cabbagetown lane.

Graffiti street art, smiley man's face in pink with orange hair and orange moustache. Also abtracts in blues.

Graffiti on a garage door obscured by a large pile of snow. Open metal gate between two garages, graffiti can be just seen down the wall on one of the garages, beyond the gate.

graffiti painting of a musician, trumpet player in yellow on blue background, above a garage door in a lane

backs of buildings, cars parked behind the buildings, piles of snow on the side of the alley, graffiti on the walls and garage doors.

A tree with it's branches painted in rainbow colours, from left to right: red, orange, yellow, green, blue. A man is sitting at the base of the tree, back to the viewer, in a yoga position. Unfortunately, part of the mural has been tagged over in sea foam green DWEL. Wintertime, snow on the ground. .

large stylized man's face graffiti in orange hues on a light grey door.

A large painted man's face on a brick wall. Close to it is a line drawing (black on white) of a woman's face but she's much smaller.

Two graffiti faces on a wall, one woman and one man. Metal bars surrounding a small parking spot behind the building partially obscure the wall.

Behind 509 Dance, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre on Parliament Street.

Mural over the back entrance to 509 Dance, ghetto blaster in one corner, a guy break dancing, and upside down almost, in the picture. He's wearing a yellow hat.

Close up of part of the mural where a guy is break dancing.

anti graffiti

Posted: February 12, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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There will probably always be some controversy surrounding graffiti and and street art.  Some people like it and some don’t.  There is street art with a lot of artistic merit.  There are a number of drab grey places in the city that are improved by adding street art.

Graffiti is temporary by nature.    Time and weather affect it.  Sometimes it evolves over time as others add stickers or comments.   This is a strength and a weakness.  All it takes is a marker or a can of spray paint to make your mark on a wall, a doorway, or any surface you want for that matter.  Unfortunately, there are people who destroy rather than create.

There are many examples of the juvenile nature of some taggers so these are just a few.

blog_anti_croft

Stupid and clueless. The mural on Croft street commemorating the Fire of 1904 has also been tagged over.


 
blog_anti_red_hat

a black tag over a grey and white painting on the side of a set of stairs

The word 'lame' is written on blue letters on a large black and white tag.

Great comment. Written on a black and white tag that was painted on top of a street art picture

 

The City of Toronto has a Graffiti Management Plan.
They try to encourage Graffiti Art while getting rid of Graffiti Vandalism.

Where the West Toronto Railpath meets Dundas West.

Where the West Toronto Railpath meets Dundas West.  The graffiti and street art that were here were painted over with grey paint, probably by the city.

 

beside 314

Posted: January 31, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Street art seen in a small lane, on the side of 314 Adelaide East.

A dog and a face partially obscured by swirls. There are also some chemical structures in this grey and blue painting.

above: painted by Aaron Li-Hill

IAH media graffiti in blues and greys on a black wall, very geometric. Sidewalk in front has snow on it.

above: painted by IAH Media

HUG graffiti tag and drawing in blues, greys and purples on a black and white wall.

Graffiti picture of two people, a man and a woman,

people painted by Elicser

Mural of a group of people, one in a chef's outfit, one on a bike,
314 Adelaide East is the home of Artik, a custom T-shirt (and other things) printing company.

mural scene of two people working at a desk amongst paint cans

mural scene of two men working on a machine that is printing designs on t-shirts

 

around the bakery

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Ontario Bread Company is located near Dundas and Ossington.
It had an Ossington Ave address but it is surrounded by lanes.
In September of 2013 it went out of business.  The building is still there but it is empty.

A slightly snow covered parking lot between two low rise buildings, both of which have murals painted on them. .

street art on a wall. In the middle is a brown loaf of bread with the words Ontario Bread Co written around it. There is a black and white tag on either side. two windows and a door of the building are also in the photo.

Lovebot is now on their mailbox!

a small black and white lovebot sticker, the one that looks like a king of hearts playing card, is on the mailbox

The bakery was founded in 1935 by Polish immigrants and they specialized in Polish, and other Eastern European, breads.  BlogTO did an interesting piece about the bakery in August 2013.

 There is a lumber yard adjacent to the bakery on the same lane.
What follows are some of the photos that I took as I walked the “block” of lanes around the bakery and the lumber yard.   Some of the graffiti has been there for a few years.

 

Lifelike painting of a beaver, but larger than life. Very realistic looking, sharp front teeth, little arms and big flat tail.

Old graffiti taf in yellows and blues on a grey brick wall. Two windows have been bricked over in red brick. One window has a green wood covering. It includes the words "RIP Ryan Dunn"

jumble of different scribbles and tags and old graffiti along a wall.

A view of the back wall.

looking down an alley with the side of a two storey building being the dominant part of the picture. It has a large number of colourful graffiti tags painted on it.

The words on this one say “It’s a bittersweet symphony”

A large colourful tag and street art piece. It's a bittersweet symphony is written into it. The left side is dark with a black background, the right side is brighter with a yellow and orange background.

This pair stands under the shower in a quiet corner.

Wheatpaste paste up picture of a woman in a long black sleeveless dress who is pouring water from a jug over the back of her head. The water is falling on a girl who is sitting behind the woman. The girl is holding an umbrella.
Rob Ford may no longer be mayor, but his legacy lives on …. in the form of anti-Ford graffiti.

tags on a brick wall in black, orange and white. Anti Rob Ford graffiti also there in the form of a crack pipe with Fords face on it. "Spud doesn't condone crack" I think are the words written beside the crack pipe.

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall
graffiti tag in greens and purples on a wall on a snowy day. Above the tag is a weathered sign that is peeling but it can still be read - No Dumping Along this wall.

This piece is on Rolyat Street, just north of the Ontario Bread Co.

A wheatpaste paper graffiti piece of a girl's head in duplicate, looks like she's reflected below. Long black hair. Big black eyes.

The last two pieces of street art are in a neighbouring lane, just to the northwest.

large pink creature street art, a small pink heart with the words 'lost doggy' is beside the creature

graffiti buzzard and tag behind a house.

changes under St. Clair East

Posted: January 5, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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St. Clair Ave East passes over a ravine just east of Yonge St. 

a view of the bridge from a path in the ravine from a short distance away. It is winter so there is some snow and ice on the path and the trees have no leaves.

Looking south towards St. Clair

The Yellow Creek flows through this ravine.
To the north, the creek is underground until the south side of Mount Pleasant cemetery. 

A view under the bridge, looking from one side to the other across a creek. The curved metal supports under the bridge are visible. There is snow on the ground but the creek is not frozen.

The ground was slippery and the water in the creek was flowing quickly. 
  In other words, I didn’t cross over to the other side of the bridge.

At some point in the past year the graffiti that was under this bridge must have been “cleaned up”.  Since then, new tags have appeared.
Whether they are an improvement over what was there previously is a matter of opinion.

looking up towards the top of a bridge from a path along the ravine below. two concrete supports are visible as well as part of the road way across the top of the bridge. There is a graffiti tag on one of the supports.

southwest corner of the bridge

Two colourful tags on a concrete bridge support, each one is on a different side of the support

SORT and BEGIN

Graffiti tags under a bridge

Graffiti tags under a bridge

finding green in the alleys

Posted: November 30, 2014 in abstract, general Toronto
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The other day I walked a number of lanes and alleys, Max Hartstone Lane, Ken Lai Lane,   and Oscar Ryan Lane, to name a few.

I’m not sure if it was the greyness of the day or the preponderance of ugly tags but I was feeling rather uninspired as I walked.  An interesting green wall caught my eye so I started searching more out green things.  This is the result of that search.
Close up of a green wall and door, showing the hinge which is also painted green

streaks of greenish discoloration as well as rust on the side of a corrugated metal wall

An old boarded up window on a wood wall, all painted green

A greenish coloured figure of a girl with the word Cloth written beside her

A green garage in need of paint. A window frame is sitting on the ground beneath the window. Dead leaves on the ground.

A brick wall painted in two shades of shiney green paint. There is a large crack running diagonally across the wall.

facing outward from the wall

Posted: July 18, 2014 in graffiti and street art
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Graffiti faces seen in alleys and lanes recently.

A street art painting of a bust of a woman, all white, looks like white marble Greek or Roman statue, very classical looking

White bust on a wall near Bathurst subway station. She has been here for quite some time now; it’s good to see that no one has tagged over her

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Large black & white & grey face of a famous black musician, probably jazz or blues but I'm not sure

musician – and my apologies because I am not sure who it is.

.

A small black & white & grey face made on paper, surrounded by green , yellow, blue & oranges squiggly lines

colourful face

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A street art painting of a woman's face. Her eyes are closed and her head is tilted upwards

Closed eyes between the garages

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Graffiti, or street art, on a blue background, of a little black and white animal with a spray paint can in his hand. Beside him is a tag in yellows and olive greens.

Love Spraying Dude, a colourful little guy

.

A few small trees are growing in front of an older building that has been painted white. Two brown figures have been stencilled onto the wall.

Hiding behind the trees

*****

alley animals

Posted: July 14, 2014 in graffiti and street art
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A selection of the graffiti animals that I have encountered in the past few weeks.

large mural on the side of two storey building of a rhino surrounded by large birds

rhino and his feathered friends, parking lot off College St.
This is only part of the mural…. more below.

.

mural of many large birds in blues and greys, they all have long curved necks and large beaks

large beaks, large birds
This is only part of the mural…. more above.

.

large realistic painting of a pink pig

oink, oink
A mural by ACS murals

.

A white outline drawing of a dinosaur painted on a green door that is locked

guardasaurus to watch over the door

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a red and white painting of a floppy eared stylized rabbit on the side of an old garage. Other garages with tags on them are also in the photograph

posr rabbit tucked in beside a garage – hiding from those who are hunting rabbits

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large mural street art piece painted on the side of a one storey building of a beaked creature with wings

Creature with scales and a tail, Willis St., near the northwest corner of Queen and Bathurst streets.

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elephants in threes, but you can only see two of them in this pic. The elephant on the right didn't fit in the photo.

Elephants herd of three, but you can only see two of them in this picture. The elephant on the right didn’t fit in the photo…. but it looked just like the one of the left except it’s facing the other way.

.

painted graffiti of a hummingbird that looks like it is coming into land, hovering near vertical

hummingbird hovering beside a garage door

*****

Bulwer Street

Posted: June 10, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Bulwer Street is a short street that runs parallel to, and one block north of, Queen Street West.  It is only one block long, running east from Spadina Ave to Soho St.  

graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., the angle of the photograph makes it look like there is a large chain link fence in front of the wall.

children behind the fence

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graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., children including a larger than life sized boy wearing an orange T-shirt

children playing in the parking lot

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graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., big white eyes on a brown face looking up towards the sky. A white Hyundai is parked beside it.

white eyes

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detail of graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., a large brown hand is holding miniature size city buildings in blues and purples

he’s got the whole city in his hands

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graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St.

rooftop reflections

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reflections of a mural in the windows and side panels of a black car

mirrored in the glass

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graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St.

facing the alley

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sticker of half of a man's face (cut vertically)

only half the man he used to be

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picture of people in blues and reds beside a nondescript grey door at the back of a small parking lot (or driveway)

the back door

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bright blue, pink and orange tag on lime green background

tag – suniti? BA Kings?

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parts of three tags on a wall

parts of three tags on a wall

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A concrete wall with tags on the lower part. There are hydro wires in front of the top part of the wall, and they are casting shadows on the wall

wired tags on concrete

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large paper stencil of the top part of a woman is still there although parts of it have worn away

worn away but clinging on

.

Uber 500's little yellow bird shows up on this street too

Uber 500’s little yellow bird shows up on this street too

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little fish, big teeth

little fish, big teethfish

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graffiti on a brick wall on Bulwer St., with the CN tower behind in the distance

one of the many, many, views of the CN tower

*****

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