public art | as I walk Toronto

Archive for the ‘public art’ Category

legs, we walk on them

Posted: May 15, 2015 in locations, people, public art
Tags: art, CONTACT, installation, Isabelle Wenzel, legs, Metro Hall, pedestrians, photography, photos, Toronto, walkers, walking by, women

Figures and Models of Surfaces,
by Isabelle Wenzel,
on King St. West at John (by Metro Hall).
Part of CONTACT Photography Festival.

“I’ve got two legs from my hips to the ground
And when I move ’em they walk around
And when I lift ’em they climb the stairs
And when I shave ’em they ain’t got hairs.”

“I’ve Got Two Legs” by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam

That’s the sort of thing that went through my head as I took these photos.

All photos are self-portraits of the photographer.
Legs as sculptural elements – colour, shape and composition.
Legs as objects – objectification of the legs is now complete.

These legs were made for walking. Not.
Just walk on by.
More silly thoughts as I watch people walk past the pictures.

below: The blue tones of Metro Hall provide a backdrop.

Fun. Great installation.

Edouard’s Toronto

Posted: May 15, 2015 in locations, public art
Tags: 1970s, city hall, CNE, CONTACT, ferris wheel, historic, photography, polaroids, Toronto, Union station

Edouard
a CONTACT photography festival exhibit,
VIA Rail Concourse (i.e. where the trains depart from)

Edouard LeBouthillier documented his life in Toronto in the 1970’s and early 1980’s with Polaroid pictures. On the back of the photos he noted dates and places. He also took pictures of Toronto buildings and landmarks that were newly constructed or in the process of being torn down (e.g. the old Eatons store at Yonge & Dundas).

There are two exhibits of his work being shown at CONTACT this year. The first, shown below, is on the east side of the VIA Rail Concourse of Union Station where a number of large prints are on display. If you have trouble finding them, look for VIA platforms 12 and 13.

A second Edouard exhibit is at Art Metropole (1490 Dundas West) and it consists of some of the original polaroids that show his domestic life.

below: At new City Hall.
In front of the tulip garden on the left and lying by the fountain on the right.

below: Edouard was at the CNE on the 17th of August 1977.

below: On the left is Ed’s Wacky Wirld store, 1977

Douglas Coupland goes condo

Posted: April 29, 2015 in locations, public art
Tags: condos, Don Mills, Douglas Coupland, Four Seasons, public art, Sheppard Ave., tall

On the southeast corner of Don Mills and Sheppard (across Sheppard Ave East from Fairview Mall) some striped poles have sprouted. Running southwest, at a 45 degree angle from the streets, are 4 tall striped poles with pointy tops; they look like tall skinny cylinders. They are part of Douglas Coupland’s latest public art installation in the city, ‘Four Seasons’.

below: Looking southeast, the four poles representing the four seasons rise up in the public space between buildings. Autumn, of which you can only see a little, is in the foreground, and is followed by summer, spring, and in the distance, winter.

If you have seen the Douglas Coupland exhibit either at MOCCA or at the ROM, you will realize that bright coloured stripes seem to be part of his trademark. The first time that I saw these poles I thought of Douglas Coupland and I wasn’t surprised to find that he in fact was the artist who designed them.

below: Also part of the art installation are three poles that stand next to the new condo development along Don Mills Road.

below: The ‘winter’ pole is mostly white stripes.
It is the farthest from the intersection of Don Mills and Sheppard.

It was a damp grey day when I took the photo below. The result is a grey photo of a grey intersection. It is also an example of Toronto suburban planning, or the lack thereof.

Best Beach, and others, on Bay

Posted: April 21, 2015 in locations, public art
Tags: Bay St., CONTACT, downtown, Harbour St., Ivan Kostov, Judith Schwarz, photography, public art, Queens Quay, sculpture, Toronto

The last block at the south end of Bay Street is closed to traffic at the moment because of the continuing, i.e. never ending, construction on Queens Quay. In that block there are now three pieces of public art. The most recent addition is a large photograph by Sarah Ann Johnson that covers a large portion of the west wall of the Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre.

‘Best Beach’ is a welcome addition to the bunker-like structure of the Westin Hotel. It is part of this year’s CONTACT photography festival and it is scheduled to remain here until the end of December. StreetARToronto and Partners in ART also played a role in bringing this project to life.

UPDATED: There is now a youtube video on this installation, produced by the City of Toronto.

Two small sculptures are also on this block, one on the SW corner of Harbour and Bay and the other on the NW corner of Queens Quay and Bay. Both are difficult to take photos of!

First, ‘The Wave’ by Ivan Kostov

Second, ‘Nautilius’ by Judith Schwarz

Toronto has a habit of cluttering up its sidewalks and public art like this one tends to become just another part of the mess. There is no overall plan. Placement of public art might look great on paper but does anyone take into consideration all the other stuff? Stuff that doesn’t appear on architects’ drawings – the garbage bins, newspaper boxes, TTC signs, phone booths, no parking signs, hydro poles, and such things like that.

And lastly, I couldn’t resist this little guy who’s stuck on a Bell payphone.

hanging around Union Station

Posted: April 20, 2015 in locations, public art
Tags: construction, drawings, glass, glass panels, men, mirrors, people, platform, public art, sitting, Stuart Reid, subway, TTC, Union station, women, zones of immersion

If you have recently stood on the platform at Union subway station, northbound to Finch side, you will have seen the new artwork being installed there. The platform is still under construction and not all the art panels have been installed but this is what it looked like this past weekend.

There are 166 glass panels, each just over 2m high (7 feet) and when it’s finished it will cover the length of the subway platform, a length of 170m (about 500 feet).

At the moment they are installed in such a way that they act as mirrors as well as pictures.

The piece is titled ‘zones of immersion’ and it is the work of Canadian stained glass artist Stuart Reid. The people on these panels are based on drawings that Reid made as he rode on the TTC.

I’m not sure they will be so highly reflective once the installation is complete and the construction behind them finished. But in the meantime, a little fun can be had!

Allan Garden hoardings

Posted: April 19, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: Allan Gardens, animals, Anishnawbe, beaver, community, deer, First Nations, graffiti, heads, indigenous communities, long hair, men, moon, mural, rocks, stars, street art, turtle, woman

UPDATED: Construction here has finished and the hoardings have been removed. These murals no longer exist.

A couple of years ago, the city started a project to replace the water mains that run under Gerrard Street. As part of that project, a section of Allan Gardens was dug up to provide access to the underground mains. The site was barricaded by wood hoardings. These hoardings have since been covered by a large mural titled ‘Nindinawemaaganidok / All My Relations’. Twenty one artists contributed to the painting of the mural.

The north side of the wall:

Four themes appear in this mural, Community, Water, Anishnawbe Teachings and History of the Land. Animals such as buffalo, deer, wolves, turtles, and beaver are common motifs.

The east side of the wall:

below: Sky Woman

South side (along Gerrard Street):

West side:

If construction goes according to plan, the hoardings should come down by the end of May 2015. As to whether or not this deadline will be met is anyone’s guess.

The artists: Tannis Nielsen, Phil Cote, Natasha Naveau, Rosary Spence, Gwen Lane, Angela Malley, Judy Rheume, Gary M. Johnston, Amanda Murray, Rebecca Baird, Cotee Harper, Graham Curry, Briana Stone, Lyndsey Lickers-Nyle Johnston, Isaac Weber, Honey Smith, Shelby Rain McDonald, Paula Gonzalez-Ossa, Kalmplex, Adrion Corey Charles, Ron Razor and Steven Henderson.

Link to more information (as well as a video) about this project

Garrison Creek mural

Posted: March 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: animals, Cecil Harbourfront Centre, city, community, fox, frog, Garrison Creek, graffiti, graffiti transformation project, King St. West, mural, painted, street art, Toronto, turtle, urban, youth

Quickly, before the leaves grow back and obscure the mural!

The Garrison Creek mural is on King St. West at Sudbury Ave.,
close to the railway overpass.

A mural is painted on a retaining wall at the bottom of a small hill that separates some row houses and the street. Many small trees are in front of the mural but it is winter time so there are no leaves on the trees. The mural is a stylized creek that flows through hills with some animals standing beside it - fox, frog, turtle and beaver.

On the north side of King St. West

Cecil Harbourfront Community Centre,
a Graffiti Transformation Project,
painted in 2004

a man and his shadow

Posted: March 19, 2015 in public art
Tags: alone, bare feet, bronze, figures, George Boileau, Lineal order, man, overcoat, passive, public art, sculpture, shadow, Simcoe St., standing

Lineal Order

Part of an art installation by George Boileau, 1990,
on Simcoe St., between King and Wellington.
A bronze statue of a bare footed man wearing an overcoat.
Behind him on the wall is ‘his shadow’.

Not seen in this photo is another figurative sculpture. A small boy stands on the other side of the stairs. He too is bare foot and wearing a coat. He is looking toward the shadow on the wall.

the Great Wall of Chinatown

Posted: March 18, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: alley, BlincStudios, brick wall, China, Chinatown, Chinese, Dundas West, great wall, lane, mural, painted, public art, Toronto

In an alley to the southeast of Huron St. and Dundas West is a mural of the Great Wall of China. It is 147 feet long (almost 45 m) and 12 feet high.

Chinatown BIA.
Mural painted by Blinc Studios artists: Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Rick Sauve, Brian Broders, Jesse McQuaig and Ming Lau.
Painted in the summer of 2013.

Regent Park hoardings

Posted: March 13, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
Tags: animals, boy, colorful, colours, community, construction site, diversity, Elicser, faces, graffiti, hands, hawk, heads, hoardings, men, mural, painting, Patch Project, people, public art, Regent Park, renewal, St. David St., street art, stylized, take flight, Toronto, women

Located at the northwest corner of Regent Park Blvd and St. David St.,
(which is south of Dundas East and east of Sackville)
painted on the wood hoardings around a construction site.

This wall was painted as part of The Patch Project
PATCH = “Public Art Through Construction Hoarding”

Unfortunately, one photo that is missing is one of the section of the wall that is a large section that says “Conquer Adversity with Diversity”, the title of this work.