Windsor·Photos

Latest mural from 'Denial' tells downtown Windsor's 'immigrant story'

A Windsor-based street artist has almost finished work on another mural in the city's downtown — one which provides a visual account of the city's 'immigrant story.'

'Strange Detour' located near the corner of Wyandotte Street and Ouellette Avenue

Downtown Windsor is getting another mural, courtesy of internationally-renowned street artist Daniel 'Denial' Bombardier. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)

A Windsor-based street artist has almost finished work on another mural in the city's downtown.

Daniel Bombardier — a.k.a the internationally-renowned Denial — is nearing completion on his next piece, near the corner of Wyandotte Street and Ouellette Avenue.

He said a mural of its size would normally take one week to finish, but constant summer rain added two weeks to his timeframe.

"This one's called Strange Detour. I wanted to do a mural based on a bit of my story in Windsor and a bit of the immigrant story here," he said.

The mural lies on the exterior wall of the former World Cottage — an import gift shop store. One of the focal points of the piece is a Polaroid, bearing the first names of the immigrant couple who owns the building.

'Strange Detour' also includes a section for people to take pictures. The building owner's son suggested the idea of giving the mural an interactive flair. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)

"As an artist, I have to speak to what I see and I've definitely seen the change in Windsor over my lifetime," the 43-year-old said  "Just seeing an influx and a change in the city."

"I just wanted to talk about that visually with this mural. So I did a lot of street signage and directional kinds of things, because it's all about movement and how things affect each other and move together."

If you've ever walked around downtown Windsor, you've probably passed by the work of Denial. Take a look at the photos below:

Denial has been doing more than simply looking busy. He's hard at work applying the finishing touches on his latest mural. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)
This mural is located in downtown Windsor's iconic 'Graffiti Alley.' (Sanjay Maru/CBC)
An alley off of Maiden Lane showcases two of Denial's works. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)
Denial worked on this mural with another artist in 2017. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)
Denial painted the mural on the left in 2014. He says it represents the resiliency of people 'not to give up' on downtown Windsor. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)
Denial says his next mural will go up on the currently-bare wall of Pho Maxim. (Sanjay Maru/CBC)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sanjay Maru is a reporter at CBC Windsor. Email him at sanjay.maru@cbc.ca.