STREET ART UTOPIA
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Funny Fake Shadows (20 Photos)

May 11, 2026
By Vidar

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Two examples of Damon Belanger’s Redwood City Shadow Art in Redwood City, California: a blue USPS mailbox with a painted toothy creature shadow, and bike racks casting painted flower shadows on the sidewalk.

Damon Belanger’s Redwood City Shadow Art turns everyday street fixtures into playful painted “shadows” in downtown Redwood City, California, USA.

Belanger, a graphic artist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, painted false shadows onto bike racks, benches, mailboxes, parking meters, hydrants, light posts, and railings. The City of Redwood City lists the installation as the Sidewalk & Shadow Art Project and says the Redwood City Improvement Association donated $30,000 for downtown public art, with the shadow-art series as the first part of that public-art effort.

The city’s 2016 walking map plots the works around downtown—among them Lazy Daisies, Robot Band, Parking Monkeys, Ryu, Railbots, Catch the Cloud, and Wild Ride—and local reporting described the works as stenciled gray paint made for concrete and completed in May 2016. A bench becomes Dog the Cat, bike racks bloom into Lazy Daisies, a parking meter becomes Parking Monkey, and railings and bike racks turn into robot bands and miniature trains.

💡 Nerd Fact: The downloadable 2016 walking map is dated 8.23.2016 and makes the series feel almost like a treasure hunt, with titles such as Laberinto acuático, Loco Motive, La Caja, Funambulist, and Amore that a passerby might never know without it.

For more on Damon Belanger and his work, visit his website or follow his Instagram.

Mailbox Monster, Dog the Cat, and Lazy Daisies

Damon Belanger’s painted mailbox monster shadow in Redwood City, California, with a blue USPS mailbox casting a wide-mouthed gray creature with teeth on the sidewalk.
Dog the Cat by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California: a black metal bench casts a painted gray shadow shaped like a long animal with a round eye and curled tail.
Lazy Daisies by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with circular bike racks casting painted flower stems and blooms across a wide concrete sidewalk.
Bike racks and a locked bicycle in Redwood City, California, with Damon Belanger’s Lazy Daisies painted shadows stretching across the sidewalk.
Person kneeling beside circular bike racks in Redwood City, California, painting the Lazy Daisies shadow-art stencil on the sidewalk.
Mr. RWC by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with a street map sign casting a painted robot-like shadow on the sidewalk.
Sidewalk railing in Redwood City, California, with Damon Belanger’s painted train-car shadow and small robot-like figures on the pavement.
Night view of a metal bike rack in Redwood City, California, with Damon Belanger’s painted gray shadow shaped like a one-eyed creature on the sidewalk.
Locked bicycle in Redwood City, California, beside Damon Belanger’s painted fake shadow shaped like a wheeled monster with raised arms and a square head.
Person riding a small bicycle past Damon Belanger’s painted fake shadow of a wheeled creature on a Redwood City sidewalk.
Robot Band by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with a row of circular bike racks casting long robot-like painted shadows on the sidewalk.
Low-angle view of Robot Band by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with long gray robot-like fake shadows cast from circular bike racks.
Parking Monkey by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with a sidewalk kiosk casting a small monkey shadow with a curled tail.
Parking Monkey by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with a pay-by-space parking meter casting a painted monkey shadow with one arm raised and a curled tail.
Night view of a train-themed shadow artwork by Damon Belanger in Redwood City, California, with a painted little train and track beside a bike rack and street fence.
Night view of Damon Belanger’s train-themed painted shadow in Redwood City, California, showing a train car and tracks running along the sidewalk.
Yellow fire hydrant in Redwood City, California, beside a painted gray shadow shaped like a maze-like figure on the sidewalk at night.
Streetlight pole in Redwood City, California, with Damon Belanger’s painted fake shadow shaped like a fire-breathing dragon on the sidewalk at night.
Close view of a black streetlight base in Redwood City, California, with Damon Belanger’s gray painted dragon shadow breathing flame across the sidewalk.
Work-in-progress view of Damon Belanger’s mailbox monster shadow art in Redwood City, California, with orange cones, tape, and a toothy creature painted beside a blue USPS mailbox.

Which one is your favorite?

Discussion 8 comments

  1. @streetartutopia I love the bitey mailbox!

  2. @streetartutopia I pass these every day. They're cool!

  5. Very funny only more people thought more and the things you could come up whith lol

    Reply

  6. Have the real shadows been edited out of the photos ? I would like to see a daylight photo that includes the real shadow.. I imagine that it would be quite a jumble of shadings

    Reply

    1. No, it’s an overcast day, meaning the clouds block the sun. It’s bright enough to see, but it diffuses the light, leaving very faint & soft shadows. In some, you can see the actual shadow, and it somewhat breaks the illusion. Night time is easier, as it’s the same level of light in the same place, so it’s easier to play with, whereas the sun moves throughout the day and changes with the seasons.

      Reply

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