Archive for the ‘locations’ Category

go east, way east…..

Posted: November 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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I had heard about a mural at Lawrence and Orton Park so this morning I thought I’d check it out.   I ventured out Lawrence Avenue to just east of Markham Road.  As I drove I was reminded of how big this city really is.

below: This is the community mural that started my adventure this morning.  It was painted in nine sections and then assembled on the wall.   It is the work of Ted Hamer, Rowell Soller and Skratch Wonder.

a mural on the side of a building that has the words Lawrence Orton in blue and orange. There is also a blue jay in flught, a fox and a squirrel and a robin standing in the grass.

below: As I left Orton Park, I saw this mural from a distance.  Of course I had to stop and take a picture.  I got some strange looks.  Tourists are probably not too common in this part of the city.

vertical mural on a multirise building (about 15 storeys tall perhaps).

below:  While I was looking for the best angle from which to take the above photo, I noticed some markings beside the road.

red painting on concrete wall barrier beside sidewalk on bridge over Highland Creek, in red, a girl's head and the words, What I love about the city is there are all kinds of cultures and faith groups. There is a lot of trees and sunshine.

below: As it turns out, these are from the summer of 2011.  Lawrence Avenue is 6 lanes wide and at this point it crosses Highland Creek and Morningside Park – a long bridge, a rather barren stretch of concrete and pavement.

red picture of a boy on a concrete barrier beside a sidewalk as it passes over a bridge. The word welcome is written beside him.

below:  Bridges were meant for going under, right?   Luckily there was an entrance to Morningside Park right there, and luckily I left my toboggan at home  🙂   Morningside Park is part of a network of parks that follow the Highland Creek.  It starts near Markham Road and the 401 and runs south to Kingston Road near Guildwood station.    A search for an answer to the question, “How many ravine parks does Toronto have?” has yielded no results yet.  I’ll keep looking.

paved path leading down a hill to a ravine park, apartment buildings in the distance. Sign beside path says no skiing or sleigh riding on the slope.

below:  The answer to another question, “Is there graffiti under the bridge?” was more easily found.

in a park under a bridge, grassy area, some trees on either side, 2 concrete support pillars with street art on the bottom of each.

below: The bottom of the pillars were painted back in 2010 and 2011.

street art on a concrete support pillar of a bridge, a man upside down, large head with top of head on the ground, feet up in the air. moustache, smiling mouth,

below: Hope takes flight over the city.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to see but the word hope is written on the city at the bottom of this small mural but it is behind the weeds.

small mural on the bottom of a concrete pillar, a bird takes flight over a city at sunrise. The word hope is written on the mural

below:   Personified Hope, from the picture above, wraps around to another side of the pillar as he/she moves upward.  Also seen here is one of the feet from the upside down man.

side of a concrete pillar with light blue line drawing of person looking upwards, abstracted.

below:   Another pillar has a painting by elicser.

street art by elicser in blue of a family. Man with red hat, woman and kids huddled together, fall park scenery in the background.

street art on the bottom of a concrete pillar, two black men. One is Mohammad Ali.

park with grass and autumn foilage trees, apartment building in the background, a large bridge passes over with four or five concrete pillars. SUnny blue sky day

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge of a young man in a blue hoodie and brown baseball cap

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge, wispy picture of a woman with long hair, hair swirls upwards to a satelite dish and a flying bird

bridge over a park and creek

geometric shapes abstract many colours street art

below: There were also a couple of paintings on the other side of the creek. There was water in the creek. Too much to cross safely.
Or at least, too much for me to cross safely!

graffiti on a pillar in the park with weeds and small shrubs growing around it.

It was a very quiet place to be this morning.  I saw a couple of people on the path, including Batman, but they were silent.

line drawing in black of Batman's head and shoulders, drawn on a paved path in a park

large chalk drawing of a man's face in black, white and pale purple, on a paved path in a park

One last photo, taken as I was driving home across Lawrence.  I guess it’s somewhat appropriate for the time.  Not sure why one would be sporting such a sticker in Ontario though.   C’est la vie.  To each their own.

red car with a sticker on the back that says Donald Trump 2016 Make America Great Again.

I saw many people at bus stops waiting for the 34 Lawrence bus and I wondered how long it took them to get to the subway.  Lawrence is 6 lanes wide and I tried to picture it with an LRT running down the center.   (but that’s a whole other blog post, perhaps another day).

Coxwell tiles

Posted: November 11, 2016 in locations, public art
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mosaic artwork in greens and yellows

Coxwell subway station is still in the midst of its renovations and upgrades.  As part of the project, the wall on the west and south sides of the station have been painted a bright yellow.   This yellow was then the canvas for a large number of mosaic creations.

some of the mosaic medallions on the Coxwell mosaic mural

below: The new mosaic mural covers the wall alongside the pathway that leads from Coxwell station to the Danforth.  The murals painted on the side of the Sunset Grill restaurant, on the opposite wall of the path, were there previously.

yellow Coxwell pathway mosiac mural with the murals from the restaurants beside the pathway

below: A beaver made from bits and pieces – with round eye and two large teeth.

a beaver made with mosaic tiles and pieces of glass

below: At the corners of the mural are seed pods that have released their seeds to the wind.

mosaic representation of a large seed pod that hs released its seeds.

below: The south side of the subway station is adjacent to a Green P parking lot on Danforth.  Along this wall, a quote by Agnes MacPhail has been added below the mural.  “We meet all life’s greatest tests alone”.  Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons where she served from 1921 to 1940.  After her time in federal politics, she represented the provincial riding of York East in the Ontario Legislature.  In 1951 she was responsible for Ontario’s first equal pay legislation.

A wall with a chainlink fence above it, a large green construction crane is behind the wire fence. The wall has been covered with a mural, yellow background and mosaic pictures on it. A quote runs along the bottom at ground level, white letters on black background, quote by Agnes MacPhail

A wall with a chainlink fence above it, a large green construction crane is behind the wire fence. The wall has been covered with a mural, yellow background and mosaic pictures on it. A quote runs along the bottom at ground level, white letters on black background,

below: West side of the wall, looking towards Strathmore Blvd.

west side of the mural, yellow wall, Coxwell station, mosaic pictures

below: A mosiac bee amongst the flowers…

a circular mosaic picture of a bee amongst white and orange flowers on a blue background, all on a yellow wall. Part of a larger mural

below: … and a real bee sitting beside a mosaic red rose.

mosaic picture of a red rose with green foilage, with a real wasp sitting on it.

below: Two mosaic pieces, a circle with the names of the artists and a semi-circle rainbow with the names of those who contributed to the creation of the mural.  The transcription of the words is given below.

on a yellow wall, some circles made of mosaics. One is the list of people who made the whole mosaic mural and the other is a semi-circle, rainbow colours, of people of contributed to the mural

Lead Artist: Cristina Delago,
With Boloebi Charles Okah, Bronwen Parker, Holly-Jo Horner, Jing Tian, Karen Roberts, Melanie Billark, Robin Hesse, Sarvenaz Rayati, Shae Stamp, Shashann Miguel-Tash, Skyy Marriot, Somayeh Nasiri, Victor Fraser, Will Spratley.

Special Thanks: Woodgreen Community Services, Dulux Painter, Tomasz Majcherczyn, Cathy & Barry Joslin, Cercan Tile, Jacqui Strachan, City Councillor Janet Davis, Jeff Billiard, John & Ed at Danforth Brewery, Mark Wrogemann, Clara Lou, Eleanor Ryan, James & Cooper, John Kenneth & Cherie Daly, Lowe’s, Maisie Fuss, Melanie Morris, Michelle Yeung, S. Dimitrakpoulos,  The Vogls, The Zeelie-Varga Family, Wyatt & Teagan, as well as Laurie, Chantal and Gavin

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Regent Park athletics

Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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At one end of the new sports field at Regent Park, there is a large mural by elicser.

green soccer field and clay track in the foreground, small trees and a mural along the end of the field, new apartments being constructed in the background.

below: The west end of the mural, waiting on the sidelines with basketball at the ready as well as watching the soccer game.

mural by elicser elliott on a fence between grassy field and new apartments being built, people watching a soccer game, a person sits on a bench with a basketball between their feet.

part of a large mural, large letters that spell Regent Park

below: The cricket players are between the words ‘Regent’ and ‘Park’ as seen above.

mural showing two male cricket players

part of a larger mural, a man and a woman walking on a street, the man is drinking with a straw

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below: The mural continues behind the basketball court.

outdoor basketball court, with a mural in the background, and construction beyond that.

below: Basketball players both on and off the court.

mural of basketball players playing, mural is behind a basketball court, also mural of close up of players feet with running shoes on

mural of a woman, and some text, on a fence behind some outdoor picnic tables

below: The east end of the mural

two text street art pieces, one in yellows and oranges with the man in the moon in the middle

 

birdo and getso in circles

Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Cranes and construction hoardings, not much new there.

below: On Dundas East, as part of the ongoing Regent Park revitalization project, there is another crane over another construction site.  The hoardings around this project feature paintings by two street artists, birdo and getso.

A street, Dundas East, with construction hoardings painted with street art pictures inside large circles ona black background, cranes in the background.

below: These pictures were taken back in September.  The hoardings are in a covered pedestrian walkway so they are in a shaded area.  The railings make it unsafe to stand in the street to take close up photos, or at least I didn’t feel too safe the morning I was there.

construction hoardings, painted black and on that, large circles with paintings on them. A bird head, one with green and pink squiggles, and one with a zebra striped sphere in orange and blue and the fourth with diagonal stripes making a gradient from yellow to dark red

large circle on black wooded construction hoardings. In the circle, painted light green is a brown horse head and neck, with a red and blue striped scarf around its neck, painted by birdo

A street, Dundas East, with construction hoardings painted with street art pictures inside large circles ona black background, cranes in the background. A couple of cars

street art painting of a racoon's head, on wood construction hoardings.

painting of a mouse head on pink background, beside a sidewalk that is closed to pedestrians.

sitting contentedly

Posted: October 19, 2016 in history, locations, public art
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It’s been a beautiful October to be walking around the city!  With lots of sunny days and above normal temperatures, it’s been a great autumn to be outside…. outside exploring or just sitting contentedly enjoying the sunshine.

below: Life size statue of Dr. Norman Bethune sitting outside the Medical Sciences Building at the University of Toronto (close to Queens Park Circle).   It is the work of Canadian artist David Pelletier.  Bethune is depicted writing in his journal.  Across the bottom of his apron these words are written:

I am content
I am doing what I want to do
Why shouldn’t I be happy – see what my riches
consist of.  First, I have important work that fully
occupies every minute of my time.  I am needed.

a statue of a man sitting is beside a rock and a light post, they are in front of a large tree and an old stone building, on the University of Toronto campus.

Norman Bethune was born in Gravenhurst in 1890.  He graduated from medical school at U of T in 1919, after taking some time off to serve in WW1.    He also served as a doctor during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937.   The following year, 1938,  he went to China  help the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war.  It was here that he died of septicemia in November of 1939.   He is credited with helping to bring modern medicine to rural China during his brief stay in that country.

hanging around Wilson station

Posted: October 18, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Wilson subway station is nestled between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Allen Expressway.  It’s functional, but not pretty.  All that concrete!

below: Wilson subway station from the parking lot on the SW corner of Wilson and the Allen.
view od Wilson station from the south side of Wilson, directly opposite the bus loop.

If you look closely at the above picture, you might be able to see that one of the pillars holding up the Allen has been painted purple.  That’s part of the latest mural painting project by Shalak Attack, with help from Bruno Smoky.  What you can’t see is that the mural covers all of the underpass supports on both sides of Wilson Ave.

below: The mural on the south side of Wilson Ave has been painted on all sides.  Here, a face is between two hands gripping the poles.

painting on bents on an underpass, a face in the middle and a hand on either side, holding onto the concrete pillars, entrance to subway TTC station in the background,
close up of an eye from a face on a mural by Shalak Attack

below: More pillars on the south side.

a woman's face in a mural, eyes closed, by Shalak Attack, other pillars painted with green, red and orange petals.

below: A large spider on a web is in the center of the mural.

part of a mural, a large blue and red spider with orange legs, on a verylarge spider web

a Shalak Attack face painted on a concrete bent under the Allen Expressway on Wilson Ave., other bents have geometric patterns and a large spider web on green.
view along the sidewalk leading from the Wilson subway station to Wilson Ave., grass covered embankment on either side of the sidewalk, Expressway higher up on either side of sidewalk as well as straight ahead.

below: The back side of the supports have also been painted.  Just be careful not to bump your head on the road above if you want to get a closer look!

bright and bold pink flowers and green leaves and vines are part of a mural on concrete supports of an underpass.

geometric designs in a mural on concrete pillars on an underpass, by a TTC subway station

below: The north side of the underpass is being painted at the moment. Stay tuned for updates!

a ladder, people working on a mural of a blue face,

part of a mural, two purple fingers on yellow background.

new neighbours at Underpass Park

Posted: October 15, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I first blogged about the murals and street art in Underpass Park last summer after the pillars and bents on the east side of Lower River Street (at the skate park) were painted.   The newest paintings are on the west side of the street.

painting of a toddler on a concrete support, street art

Street artists Troy Lovegates and Labrona are in the midst of painting 16 portraits of 16 east end residents – one on each face of four pillars that help support the Eastern/Adelaide/Richmond overpass.

street art murals on 4 bents holding up the ramp of a highway, underpass park, the paintings are of people, in the foreground is a woman with a yellow T-shirt and a hat with little flowers

mural of people on a bent of an underpass

a man stands on a lift as he paints a mural, in the foreground is a man in a shirt with red triangles all over it that has already been painted.

a mural of a group of people linked together with their arms.

a street artist (Troy Lovegates) is on a lift and painting a mural on the concrete supports on an underpass. Other supports are in the picture, they have already been painted.

paintings on a bent holding up a ramp. Two men standing on the pillar, and a group of people with telescopes looking upward and pointing.

The pillars on the east side of Lower River street were painted as part of the Pan Am Path and were completed before the Pan Am Games started last summer.

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below: From inside the skate park, looking westward.   Lots of people!

elicser painting of a basketball player in a red hoodie on a pillar in underpass park, other pillars and bents are in the background, all of which have been painted with pictures of people, painted by different street artists.

below: Looking beyond the park and out over Bayview Avenue, train tracks,  and the Don River. Two faces by anser.

two line drawings of faces by anser on posts holding up a road

The murals on the pillars in the park are part of the StreetARToronto initiative.

say it ain’t so

Posted: October 15, 2016 in locations, public art
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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.

people are walking on the sidewalk, a woman is sitting by a sculpture by Henry Moore, the Art Gallery Of Ontario is beside the sculpture, street and other buildings in the background, street scene,

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?

fence around a construction site, a park that is being renovated

fence around a construction site, a park that is being renovated, the blue wall of the Art Gallery of Ontario is in the background.

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.

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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.

evening Oblivion

Posted: October 7, 2016 in events, locations
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I missed Nuit Blanch this year.  While I was away, I heard lots of good things about the installations at Nathan Phillips Square, including the fact that they will remain until the 10th of October.

Silly me went during the day.  It didn’t look too impressive then!
There were lots of tourists taking pictures.

a man is taking a picture of his wife and young son in front of the water and 3D toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square, a girl in a stroller watches.

and schoolkids hanging out by the 3D Toronto sign.

a group of teenagers, school kids, after school, hanging out behind the letters of the 3D Toronto sign.

Oh right, it’s a night time, after dark sort of thing.  Come back after 7 p.m.

So last night I went back at 7 p.m.  …. but last night was also the first game of the Blue Jays playoff series against Texas and it was playing on a large screen in the square.  I watched the end of the game.  There wasn’t a very large turnout, but the atmosphere was great.  Everybody was in a good mood as the Blue Jays won 10 – 1.

people watching the Blue Jays baseball team playing a game on a large TV screen outside.

Shortly after the end of the game, the large 14 metre globe that represents the sun lit up.  “Death of the Sun” by Director X (Julien Lutz) began.

The sun starts as a swirling orange and yellow globe.

looking through the O of the Toronto sign to the yellow and orange projections on the large globe in front of City Hall, art installation from Nuit Blanch

It then turns orange before the colours die out and fade to nothing.

the 3D toronto sign lit up in white, city hall behind it in purple lights, and a large globe representing the sun glows orange as part of an art installation, night time photo.

At one point the sun lets off steam, gas, fog (whatever you want to call it) before it goes silent.

large white globe lets off steam or fog in Nathan Phillips square.

The end of the sun signals the start of “Pneuma”.  Images by Floria Sigismondi were projected onto a wall of water under the arches in the square in what appears to be a short film full of  symbols.

people standing around with their backs to the camera in the foreground, with a picture projected onto a wall of water under the arches at Nathan Phillips square in the background. The picture is of a blue woman on a red background.

images of people in triangular shapes projected onto a wall of water as part of an art installation, night time, lights of buildings in the background.

‘Oblivion’ is the name given to the collection of installations at City Hall.  Both of the artists come from the world of video.  Sigismondi has previously made videos for the like of Rihanna, David Bowie and Marilyn Manson while Director X has worked with Rihanna and Drake.

It was an interesting installation….  well done technically and fascinating to watch.

two hands silhouetted on a large yellow globe representing the sun, night time.

We tried to push the sun back into the sky, but we failed.

#nbTO2016 | #DirectorX | #pneuma | #floriasigismondi

Florence Street hoardings

Posted: September 9, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There is a vacant lot on Florence Street that is now mostly hidden behind a wood fence.
These hoardings are now home to a mural by Adrian Hayles.

chain link fence with barbed wire above it on the left side and then a wood fence on the right, wood fence has been painted with a mural and here in the mural is a man walking a dog past a building

 The black letters in the mural spell the words Brockton Village.

a car is parked in front of a mural painted on wood hoardings.

part of a mural, stylized woman in high heels with seemingly no clothes, walks past silhouette of buldings

The blackness and the shininess of the mural makes it quite reflective.

two old mattresses lean against a fence that has been painted with a mural in black, red and light blue. Along a sidewalk with cars parked beside, a few small trees.

part of a mural, man walking a dog

 

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