Graffiti Wall Art: October 2011

Things stencils

It's been raining like crazy the last couple weeks, so I made 6 new stencils. Here are the first two that I painted this weekend.

This past Thursday was the opening party for the Post-Graffiti show on the 3rd and 4th floors of the Gladstone Hotel. The show runs until Sunday, November 20th. It is open daily from 12-5 and admittance is free.

"Post-Graffiti examines the evolution of street artists to iconic image-makers. Special guest curator, Simon Cole, director of Show and Tell Gallery in collaboration with Britt Welter-Nolan present survey of local and international fine artists whose artwork has evolved from working in the streets, riffing off of advertisements, playing with political iconography and challenging cultural and artistic norms. This exhibition examines a collection of artworks that engage a populist language of iconography that play with our collective memory and reflect on ideas of globalization, war, consumerism and a desire for hope in the Global Village. Featuring works by Shepard Fairey, Anthony Lister, Banksy, Retna, Dolk, Dan Bergeron, and more!"

The show is part of the McLuhan 100 Conference and the DEW Line Festival.

Graffiti in the news

Photo by David Cooper / Toronto Star

I saw some of these portraits up near Eglinton and Oakwood:

Toronto Star: Changing the world, one giant portrait at a time

"When French photographer and street artist JR heard he had won the $100,000 TED prize and a wish to change the world, he was totally floored.

He hadn't applied for the award. He hadn't even heard of it until he was notified that he'd won. Someone else had nominated him."

"Prior to the award, JR had earned an international reputation amongst both street artists and art critics. In his short career, the 28-year-old had made an impression with his portraits of the suburban "thugs" of Paris, Israelis and Palestinians in eight Palestinian and Israeli cities; and women in the slums of Africa and the favelas of Brazil."

Respect. And in other news:

CityNews: Coun. Vaughan says graffiti worse since Ford's crackdown

"Six months after Rob Ford donned a grey sweatshirt, a pair of safety goggles and aimed a power washer at a spray-painted wall, one city councillor claims unwanted graffiti has gotten worse in his ward."

"Spray painting has been taken to new heights—literally—since the crackdown call was issued, Vaughan said. Vandals are painting their tags higher up on buildings to avoid removal, making it harder and more expensive for property owners and businesses to clean off their exteriors."

" 'It's provoked almost a daredevil attitude amongst the graffiti guys, the taggers in particular,' Vaughan said."

Super Grover unmasked

If you haven't guessed the location of the first Super Grover stencil, this should help:

Photo by James Hamilton

"The fuzzy blue Muppet flies faster than a speeding bullet and leaves a trail of spray paint everywhere he goes. Grover is flying alongside the Tommy's Gifts and Variety wall at Dundas and Sorauren Streets."

- Toronto Grand Prix Tourist: A Toronto Blog

More things at Tower Auto

The first and only things tag (so far). Photo by Vic Gedris

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on the Tower Automotive building, I got a tip from Vic Gedris that he also visited the Tower recently, and had some more photos to share.

The first set of photos is expanded from the 2009 junctiontriangle.ca gallery I mentioned before.

The second set of photos was taken just a few days ago.


Before.		After. I don't know who it is, but they went big.

Some more of my favourites:


Artist unknown. Photo by Vic Gedris		Artist unknown. Photo by Vic Gedris

Artist unknown. Photo by Vic Gedris

Thanks Vic!

Graffiti in the news

As a follow-up to Sunday's mural launch, here are some media reports on Joel Richardson's work:

Photo by Vince Talotta / Toronto Star

Toronto Star: Artist completes mural erased by city during anti-graffiti campaign

CBC News: Artist revives city-funded mural wiped in graffiti cleanup

Toronto Life: "After Joel Richardson’s mural was scrubbed from an underpass by Rob Ford’s graffiti Gestapo, the artist has now spray-painted a full replacement, with some alterations."

" 'I’m thrilled that they gave the space back to me,” Richardson told CBC News—although we hear he tried to preserve the other graffiti on-site, including an unflattering caricature of the mayor."

At the No Comment show in New York. Photo by Joel Richardson

Torontoist: This Art is Occupied

Washington Post: Occupy’s most controversial art: Burning money, saints in suits

Tower Automotive

Photo by Jonathan Castellino

The old Tower Automotive building, located at 158 Sterling Road, is one of Toronto's forgotten landmarks, and a magnet for urban explorers. The site has been derelict since 2006, so it's full of graffiti, some of which is quite amazing. It is now being redeveloped by Castlepoint Realty Partners, so all that is about to change.

City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1231, Image 1628

City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Image 7203


Photo by Jonathan Castellino		Google Maps

Photo by Vic Gedris

So it's good news that Martin Reis, a local photojournalist and prolific documenter of street art, just posted a new set of photos from his recent "authorized visit to this heritage building in transition." The set includes one of my doodles, but I'll leave it up to you to guess which one it is (a hint: it's not in either of these photos).


Photo by Martin Reis		Photo by Martin Reis

A personal fave from the Tower:

Artist unknown. Photo by Caroline Ross

Here are a few other recent photos of the Tower Auto building from Vic Gedris.

Events, Oct. 23 - 29

Two street art things are happening in Toronto this week:

Sunday, Oct 23rd (that's today), 5-6pm - Besuited artist Joel Richardson officially launches his new mural at Lansdowne and Dupont. "Wear a suit and bring a camera and help me celebrate the finishing of my mural." I don't even own a suit.

Thursday, Oct 27th, 7pm start - Sean Martindale is giving the tenth anniversary lecture in the Hart House Hancock Lecture Series, titled "Playful Interventions: Engaging Our Urban Environments". The talk is at Hart House, and tickets are free, but you must reserve a ticket to attend. See the Hart House website for more. Sure to be a fun night.

Sean Martindale's Ai Weiwei sculpture at Queen's Park.
Photo from Whippersnapper Gallery

If I missed anything, please let me know.

Super Grover

I put this up for the first time just a couple days ago. Do you know where?

Ford resurfaces

Photo by Martin Reis

From June, 2011...

Toronto Star:
"Artist Joel Richardson says the city has painted over a popular Dupont St. mural that it paid him $2,000 to create, an apparent misfire in Mayor Rob Ford's war on graffiti.

A city spokeswoman says the railway underpass wall was returned to drab grey because Richardson's artwork was unauthorized, uncommissioned, political and may have 'referred to (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper.' "

Photo from Toronto Life

I wanted to help Ford own up to his mistake, so:

Unfortunately my mural didn't last long either.

A few months later, Joel Richardson repainted the wall with a new mural. But, lo and behold...


Photo by Martin Reis		Photo by Martin Reis

Photo by Martin Reis

A big thanks to Joel Richardson and his assistant for restoring the stencil, and to Martin Reis for all your great photos.

Some conditions apply

Kind of a follow-up to the copyright stencil:

Photo by Vic Gedris

Vic Gedris:
"It's a constant back'n'forth game around here, as graffiti shows up on the walls, then gets sloppily painted over by the City.

I believe the "Some Conditions Apply" phrasing here is a commentary about the various states of legality / illegality, and sometimes uncertain approval processes for legalizing artwork."


Photo by Martin Reis		Photo by Martin Reis

Priceless

On April 7th, 2011, Rob Ford staged a photo op in an alleyway behind St. Clair West to announce the next phase in his war on graffiti.

Photo by Tara Walton / Toronto Star


Photos by Nick Kozak / Torontoist

Globe and Mail:
"Wielding a high-powered pressure washer and a gleeful smile, Mayor Rob Ford got his hands seriously dirty and seriously wet in launching the city's graffiti eradication initiative in an alley behind St. Clair Avenue West last Thursday. But the final results of the mayor's efforts suggest his city-wide spray-paint purge leaves something to be desired.

A spokeswoman for the mayor's office said the wall will eventually be covered with a mural."

CityNews:
" 'It just depreciates the value of everyone's property, it turns it into a ghetto, and that's not the kind of city I want to represent ... We're gonna go brick by brick right across the city, and we're gonna get it cleaned up and that's the bottom line,' said Ford."

So, when the mural was done I paid a visit:

Photo by Martin Reis


Photo by Mike Peake / Toronto Sun

And then this random wall made the news again:

Torontoist: Scene: Rob Ford returns to graffiti wall... as graffiti
"Unfortunately, it seems Ford doesn't grasp the psychology of graffiti especially well; immediately upon his return from the neighbourhood, everyone was taking bets on how soon some Ford-themed graffiti would appear on this wall. Answer: we can't say exactly, but it was no more than a matter of weeks."

Toronto Sun: Graffiti artist targets Ford
"A cheeky graffiti artist recently painted a picture of a devious looking Ford on the wall, just off Earlscourt Ave. and St. Clair Ave W. ... Someone has defaced the mural with an illustration of the mayor's face in a frame.

Palacio, the chairman of the licensing and standards committee, shrugged it off as 'part of the (graffiti) culture.' ... 'They could have done something worse,' he said. 'I can live with it.' "

CityNews: Street artists take aim at Ford [video]

Rob Ford stencil

I made this stencil during the 2010 election, and painted it for the first time a few days after Ford won. I didn't want to make fun of his weight or call him stupid, but I did want to tweak him and provoke angst in the general public.

Disclaimer: I did not do any of the writing in these photos.

This was the very first graffiti portrait of Rob Ford anywhere, at Queen and Dovercourt: