Its Wednesday, the sun is out, a little chilly, but over all a beautiful day. Last night I read about a place called Graffiti Alley. Each year in July, the city of Toronto throws a week long graffiti festival. Artist from all over gather in the city to express life in the form of dance, music and by throwing fresh paint on the back alleys of King Street. Its sounds like a good time. Well its March so I might be a little early for the festival, but I think the potential goodness to see “supa cool’ graffiti pieces is worth the time to take on the search and adventure, so it begins.
12:00. I hopped on my bike and headed for the city. A quick check on the map and I’m off on my motorcycle. Unfortunately on a motorcycle chilly becomes a bone numbing experience. Oh well, its part of the fun. Besides that the ride was uneventful, No lane splitting, barely going over the speed limit 60 kph (boo). It was a painful ride considering how excited I was to find this place. I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know the exact location. “AWESOME”.
When I got in the city, I found a public parking area that had a wall with a burner piece. It was really inspiring so I took some pictures… the trip was off to a good start. I wanted to park the bike right there, I figured it’s a good place to start, but it was one of those automated parking lots… buy a ticket and leave the ticket on the dashboard deals… the bike doesn’t have a dashboard. So I jumped back on and continued. Now I’m really stoked but at the same time I had doubts, what if graffiti alley was and exaggeration and what I witness was it?
Parking lot "Burners"
"Pest"
"Webs"
"Shadow"
My favorite picture for two reasons...1. I love the piece I can't read it but it looks "Supa cool"... 2. My bike is in it :)
I was forced to ride my bike all over the city, damn those no turn signs. I accidentally ended up in one of the two Chinatowns Toronto has to offer. I was so temped to park it and chow down on some dumplings. “NO!” I had to find G Alley… food would kill time. “I… must… focus… on mission”. I’ll do that the next time I come back in.
I parked the bike in a lot north of the fashion district for 6 Canadian dollars. There I was immediately approached by a man about my bike. I wasn’t sure if he was homeless… He was dressed casually but he was smoking recycled cigarettes, half smoked, all bent and broke, you decide. It really did not matter because he was nice, nice enough to walk with me a few blocks towards the fashion district discussing the motorcycle and area. After a few more blocks, the man took off with a woman, who had approached us for some direction. The man was soooo nice, he offered to show the woman the way… I think she was a model. Awesome, I’m back on my own, Wandering the street… no directions just a goal.
G-Alley was supposed to be near where I parked my bike but after several blocks I had no luck. What I did find was the CN tower, a poster for a Junkie XL show I might attend on the 5th of April, a hostel in Toronto and several cool shops and a yummy hot dog stand. I was getting a little impatient… maybe its not too late for the dumpling run 2007, Chinatown, Toronto style. I started to head back towards my bike.
"What I Found Instead"
CN Tower
Lunch
"Junkie XL" show
One of many hostels in Toronto
On my way back to the bike, I decided to get spontaneous and take a random turn into an alley. “BOOYAAA!!” There it was, two blocks away, I could see splashes of color behind a garden. I wasn’t 100 percent sure but it seemed like a good lead… two hops, a skip and a jump…”TADAW!!” graffiti mecca, I was like a kid in a Technicolor candy store. Everywhere I looked was painted, tagged, pieced… bombed… it was awesome. I didn’t know where to start taking pictures. It was blocks and blocks and when I thought it was over I would stumble upon another block…in one of the blocks I met the alleys curator. A nice, I think homeless chap, who chatted me up about the festival and how cool it was last year. He was also kind enough to offer me his drink, a 40oz of ice malt beer. I politely declined and took his picture instead and parted ways.
"BOOYAAA"
the bottom half of this picture is funny but this is a PG rated site.
Museum curator with 40 at hand
Graffiti Shop "Bombshelter"
Businesses embracing Street Art
I didn't do it but I wish I did...:)
Not even a wooden fence was untouched... preeetty.
This one says "life is beautiful"... or "Mushrooms are good"
Favorite character...
One of my favorite pieces
Stencils so much fun
I went back to the parking lot. I talked to the parking attendant, King Solomon, about my adventure and asked for some directions on how to take the highway back home. His name is actually Solomon but he added the title “King” to help me remember his name, I’m bad with remembering names. I jumped on the bike, got home and the day was complete, Mission accomplished. I am happy.
King Solomon
Hope you guys’ enjoi the pictures.
Oh by the way, the ride home was also uneventful. I got lost, my butt was numb from sitting on the bike, I was cold to the bone and had sex with a chimpanzee… but that is a story for another day.
Neil O, I found a shop for you
I remember you saying you like "Art Deco" design