STREET ART MURALS

TORONTO GRAFFITI ARTISTS! The City is a giant gear but it is up to all the strange characters spiraling through it to propel the machine! As well as working as a full time street performer and renegade street artist, I also have done a number of larger outdoor murals around the city of Toronto. These artworks have been either commissioned or at least sanctioned by the owners which allows for more detailed productions and often a longer lifespan for the artwork.

The biggest mural so far was the two story brick wall on Wollesely Street. This work was commissioned by the home owner and features a giant cartoon cityscape as well as a comic strip panel. The main image is split into two sections featuring an anonymous city on the right filled with faceless bubble people and giant gear shapes amidst the buildings. On the left the audience gets pulled in closer to the street level and the crowds introduce themselves as a bunch of horde of strange and individual characters. The idea here is to question the idea of “a city” as an ominous entity devoid of responsibility when compared to the singularity of each citizen and his or her own actions.

A number of other murals have been created throughout Toronto including storefronts and garages all around Kensington Market and Queen Street West. For the most part these public works deal with similar themes as the Wollesly Street mural and are intent on depicting the city as both terrifyingly and joyfully human as warning towards the future of the metropolis. The playfully optimistic nature of the works is ideal for the public forum inviting viewers of all ages to enjoy the humorous ideas while the subtle and surreal cog wheel imagery sublimates thought and incites contemplation…