At the corner of Beatrice and Dundas West there is a new mural by Elicser of a couple building with blocks, or more accurately, playing with Tetris shapes.
Posts Tagged ‘Dundas West’
Beatrice building blocks
Posted: September 26, 2019 in graffiti and street artTags: Beatrice Ave., blocks, Dundas West, Elicser, mural, street art, tetris
0
Three Sisters, Tikay and Aner
Posted: June 19, 2019 in graffiti and street artTags: agricultural, agriculture, aner, Aner Urra, bean, colours, corn, Dundas West, First Nations, flowers, indigenous, leaves, mural, paint, Paula Tikay, Rodrigo Ardiles, squash, symbols, three sisters, tikay, tikay & aner, vegetables, vine, women
Three Sisters – both literal and allegorical. Three women, each with a vegetable, and these three vegetables, corn, squash, and beans, are the three sisters of indigenous agriculture. These were the main crops of most North American native groups and they were usually planted together; together they thrived for thousands of years.
This is one of two murals by Paula Tikay and Aner Urra (aka tikay & aner) in the Dundas West area. They are two indigenous Mapuche artists from Chile who were invited to come to Toronto to paint the murals.
The project was organized by Rodrigo Ardiles (of the Dundas West Museum). This neighbourhood was chosen because of its ties to the many immigrants from Chile who have found a home here as early as the 1970s. Children from the nearby Alexander Muir / Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School and The Grove Community School had some input on the mural. Also involved was StartARToronto.
meandering near Bloor and Dundas
Posted: November 9, 2018 in general Toronto, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, nature, old buildingsTags: alley, autumn, bikes, building, car, contemporary art, Dundas West, garage doors, heart, houses, lane, map, MOCA, mural, pasteup, people, raccoon, signs, street scene, Tommys Gift & Variety, tractor, trees, uber5000
Presenting an eclectic compilation of images so
Have a seat!
below: But maybe not here, even if they are two comfy sofas! Comfy but wet.
Meandering on a day early in November
while the trees were still showing their last hurrah of colour.
This mural is on Roncesvalles is partially obscured but is still a welcome splash of colour and vibrance.
I love the raccoons! Pink raccoons
and blue raccoons on street art that I haven’t seen before.
Crooked lines,
tight spaces,
and old glass. All kinds of alterations.
Peeling paint on diamonds (once red?)
and water drops on leaves (definitely red).
One very pink car. Whiskey for Whiskers.
Uber 5000’s yellow birdies and friends are still on the side of Tommy’s Gift & Variety.
And next door you Coffee and breakfast at Tina’s while your tax returns are prepared.
Semi neighbours
at the edges of gentrification.
Lights over the train tracks
and graffiti beside.
A fine and dandy tractor
and a great idea
She’s gone green but she’s got the blues.
and Ontario’s now orange.
A family outing
below: The building with the giraffe pattern on top, at Bloor and Dundas West, is still there.
below: The murals painted by Wallnoize are still there. They were painted in the spring of 2015 and I posted a lot of photos of them shortly after that.
below: The murals run under the Bloor Street underpass (railway tracks overhead), on both sides of the street.
below: The new MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) is now open on Sterling Road. The renovations to the old Tower Automotive building aren’t totally complete; most of the area is a construction site. But the museum opened earlier this year. Access from the West Toronto Railpath is available.
But hey! Why stop here?…. more about the new MOCA follows ……
of birds and flowers and more
Posted: March 5, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations, storesTags: architecture, birds, cars, Dundas West, Dupont, facades, fairy, flowers, footbridge, gnome, graffiti, houses, maple leaf, mural, reflections, sidewalk, stairs, street, street art, tracks, underpass, West Toronto Railpath, windows
The other day I headed towards Dupont and Dundas West because I heard about a mural that I didn’t recall having seen. Here it is … and more.
below: The most westerly part of the mural is on the north side of Dundas West where Old Weston Road and Annette Street meet.
It continues along the side of the railway underpass on Dupont (it’s a confusing tangle of streets here!)
….and on the stairwell up to the West Toronto Railpath.
It was a gorgeous day so I walked around a bit more, of course!
below: On Dundas West
below: A row of houses with wonderful facades. You don’t many like that anymore! .. at least not on houses.
below: These fooled me at first. Interesting black and white photos looking grubby and worn… with a small McDonalds logo on the bottom right. The photo on the bottom left also has a few words in small print that give away the fact this is a McDonalds promotion. I don’t think I’ve seen any like these elsewhere – or have I missed something?
below: The large black metal staircase at the end of the footbridge over the tracks at Wallace Ave are gone. The replacement stairs are dull and bland. This change was meant to accommodate new development on Wallace.
below: Railpath window reflections.
below: Also on the West Toronto Railpath, someone has hung this colourful ‘curtain’ on the fence in order to add a splash of colour to a sitting area. Once upon a time there were more chairs here. And a table if I remember correctly.
below: One of two chalkboards installed by crazydames where people have written notes to cyclists imploring them to slow down and use their bells. I totally agree! Just before I came upon this, a man on an electric bike came up behind me, silently and fast.
below: This little gnome still stands by the entrance to a convenience store. This guarden gnome has been here (Bloor West) for a few years.
below: Reduce, reuse, recycle – here the R used is reuse. Truck and tractor parts and other bits and pieces craftily arranged and put to use on the outside of the Farmhouse Tavern. It should look better in a couple of months!
below: A fairy in a garden of mushrooms.
One last look at part of that mural!
Brockton murals
Posted: June 27, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: artists, Brock Ave., Brockton, cat, corn, daisies, Dundas West, flowers, gourd, guitar, hibiscus, Jonny Cakes, lovebot, melon, mouse, mural, owl, paint, sewp, Tilay & Aner, walls, window, woman
Or more exactly, murals on Dundas West near Brock and Sheridan.
Starting with an old favourite – I had mentioned this mural in a prior post, Bloordale to Brockton, but at the time it wasn’t finished and it had no signature. Now it is completed and signed, Jonny Cakes and sewp.
In the background (on the other side of Brock Avenue) is a new mural by Tilay & Aner.
If you are familiar with the area, you will know that a very large Lovebot was on a wall here. You’ll be happy to know that he’s still here, large than life, kitty-corner from the cat and mouse.
Tilay & Aner have also painted another mural nearby, one with a South American flavour. It is on the side of building on Dundas West, but closer to Sheridan Ave.
almost clandestine Clandestinos
Posted: June 21, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street artTags: alley, alligator, animals, ape, bird, Bruno Smoky, clandestinos, creek, crocodile, driveway, Dundas West, feathers, graffiti, lane, leaves, nature, shalak, Shalak Attack, smoky, street art, turtle
On Dundas West, just west of Dufferin, there are two lanes with large murals by clandestinos.
One is the alley to the west of the Lulu Lounge where both sides are covered with fantastic paintings by fiya, shalak, and bruno smoky as well as a few others. I blogged about it just over two years ago and here is the link to the original post, “life as the shadow of vida“. Earlier this week I took another look at it – it’s still looking great and there have been no changes so I didn’t take any photos.
The other alley is nearby but on the north side of Dundas Street. Actually, it’s hardly an alley, more like a driveway which made taking pictures of the whole mural difficult. Also, if you are traveling eastbound on Dundas, you’d miss it. Here are the pictures that I managed to take:
say it ain’t so
Posted: October 15, 2016 in locations, public artTags: AGO, art, Art Gallery of Ontario, changes, construction, Dundas West, Grange Park, Henry Moore, McCaul, move, public art, renovation
First I heard a rumour that the Art Gallery of Ontario was going to remove that sculpture from the corner of Dundas & McCaul, you know, the one that everyone climbs on and takes their picture with, the one near the AGO entrance.
Then I read about in a newspaper.
You know, that curvy bulky slippery thing by Henry Moore, the one with a title that’s almost as shapeless as the sculpture, “Large Two Forms” although no one calls it that. Oh, what do they call it anyhow?
Then I read about it online.
It’s sat on that corner since 1974. That’s 42 years. Longer than the average Torontonian has been alive.
Can you say synonymous? …. as in synonymous with the corner of Dundas and McCaul.
Apparently it’s going to be moved to Grange Park. That’s the park behind the AGO, the one that is being renovated.
The expression “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” comes to mind.
How about new public art for a renewal of the park?
But walking the site and looking at the plans made me start to think. The sculpture is being moved into its own space in the park and as I looked at the drawings and the artist rendition of the future space, it dawned on me that the redesign of Grange Park was possibly (probably?) done specifically to accommodate the sculpture. The Art Gallery owns Grange Park after all. Toronto does a lousy job of placement of their public art so maybe I shouldn’t complain about this?
Maybe.
As I tried to take photos of the sculpture where it is, I was reminded of how the streetscape in Toronto gets short shrift.
Henry Moore competes with old poles as well as bus shelters that are designed to maximize Astral Media ads. At least there isn’t a ghastly trash bin beside the sculpture. And at least the art is solid enough and strong enough to hold its own.
But this is going to be a problem for any artwork that gets put on that corner.
Oh dear, assuming that something will replace Henry Moore?
Don’t mess it up even more AGO, don’t leave the corner empty.
We have more of a cultural memory than you give us credit for.
