FAIRIES AT THE BASIN

09/03/2024

THE BASIN [ALL ABOUT THE FAIRIES AT BLESSINGTON BASIN PUBLIC PARK]

I already photographed this work about a week ago but at the time I did not realise that it sprcifically referenced what I refer to as the "fairy village" in the Blessington Street Basin public park.

This paint-a-box artwork, titled "The Basin" draws inspiration from Dublin's nearby Blessington Street Basin, a historical landmark steeped in the city's rich industrial past. The artwork emerges from the creative collaboration of Guzbourine, a project formed by Irish animator and illustrator Laura, known for her stunning traditional style, and writer Christina, who crafts intricate storylines and immersive dialogue.

BOLD BOY

22/02/2024

HAVE YOU BEEN A BOLD BOY [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ON NORTH BRUNSWICK STREET]

I once had a red setter who got very upset if you said to him "have you been a bold boy". Note:  in other English speaking countries, most notably England, being bold is a good thing. But in Ireland, typically, the word is applied to misbehaving children.

Dublin Canvas is an amazing public art project that brings much needed colour and creativity to the streets of Dublin, Ireland. It transforms ordinary electrical boxes into vibrant works of art, creating a more interesting and engaging environment for everyone. 

FRANCIS BACON TRIBUTE

11/02/2024

BAGGOT STREET WAS HOME TO SOME INTERESTING PEOPLE [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART TRIBUTE TO FRANCIS BACON]

Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Focusing on the human form, his subjects included crucifixions, portraits of popes, self-portraits, and portraits of close friends, with abstracted figures sometimes isolated in geometrical structures

Baggot street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen's Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections:

Lower Baggot Street  - between Merrion Row and the Grand Canal. It was called Gallows Road in the 18th century.

Upper Baggot Street  - south of the Grand Canal until the junction with Eastmoreland Place, where it continues as Pembroke Road.

Lower Baggot Street is distinguished by Georgian architecture, while Upper Baggot Street has mainly Victorian architecture with a few buildings of 20th century vintage. The Royal City of Dublin Hospital, Baggot Street, opened in 1834, is on the east side of Upper Baggot Street, just south of the junction with Haddington Road. Cook's Map of 1836 shows the north side of Upper Baggot Street and Pembroke Road almost entirely built on.

The Sheares Brothers, members of the Society of United Irishmen, who died in the 1798 rebellion, lived at no. 128.

In 1830, Thomas Davis, the revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organiser and poet of the Young Ireland movement, lived at 67 Lower Baggot Street.

Catherine McAuley, a nun, founded the Sisters of Mercy order in 1831 and built what is now the Mercy International Centre on Lower Baggot Street where she later died in 1841.

In 1909, Francis Bacon was born at 63 Lower Baggot Street.

The poet Patrick Kavanagh frequented Baggot Street and regarded it as his favourite place in Dublin. In his poem "If ever you go to Dublin Town" Kavanagh addresses Dubliners 100 years after his own time and tells them to "Inquire for me in Baggot Street/And what I was like to know".

Singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor has a property here. 

GRA BY EOIN BARRY

28/01/2024

FUNFAIR CARNIVAL BOX [PAINT-A-BOX STREET ART]

According to the label attached to the actual cabinet this is "Love Mor" by Eoin Barry but it is described by Dublin Canvas  as 'Gra' by Eoin Barry. I photographed another box by the same artist on Canal Road in Ranelagh on the other side of the city and it similar and is titled "Love Mor"

Eoin Barry is an artist living and working in Limerick City. He graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2013 with a Masters in Social Practice and the Creative Environment. During which he began a project entitled Cathair Gra an urban art initiative devised to combat the dominance of commercial language in urban space. One medium which he uses to achieve this is street art, by integrating art into the urban landscape Eoin one day hopes to create a visual utopia free from persuasion and manipulation derived from capitalist ideology.