Harbord at Bathurst

Posted: September 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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If you walk along Harbord Street, just east of Bathurst Street, you can’t miss the colourful paintings at the entrance to James Hales Lane.  Most of them were painted by street artists Shalak and Smoky.

large street art painting of a snail with a tiny house on the back of its shell. The piece is signed by Smoky

Looking down along a wall in an alley on which there is a large crocodile and a bear's head painted on the wall. Multicoloured. Bright colours.

Intricate street art painting of a crocodile or alligator on a wall in an alley. Alley animal.

Close up of some new growth, new leaves, on the stump of a small tree. The stump has been covered with spray paint, because it against a wall on which a street art painting was done

below: This bear is painted on the west side of Bampot Bohemian House of Tea & Board Games which explains the floating tea cup above his head.

The face of a bear, perhaps panda bear, but in purples and greens. It is in water up to its nose. A steaming tea cup floats above its head.

below: This peacock is on the other side of the tea house. Signed by MXP, 2004.

street art painting of a peacock. The feathers make a circle shape and are made of houses and trees.

below: This tiger is also on Harbord.  It faces the peacock.  Parts of the picture are washed out because of the angle of the afternoon sun on the day I saw this mural.

A shalak painting of a large tiger head with mouth open and teeth showing. Multicoloured, painted on a wall in an alley. The sun is shining directly on part of it so its a bit washed out in places.

James Hales Lane is short and it is a dead end.  There isn’t much more graffiti or street art in the lane.

A shite garage door in an alley, on the concrete block wall beside the garage door is a line drawing of a rose that is as high as the garage door.

Renfrew Place

Posted: September 23, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Renfrew Place, near Queen Street West and University Avenue.

Another alley, another collection of graffiti and street art.

below: Lovebot strides over speed bump warnings.

A yellow sign warning of speed bumps in the lane has a big lovebot sticker in the middle of it. Buildings in the background.

Street art on an alley garage that covers the whole of the front including garage door and entranceway. On the entrance door is a greenish horned three eyed, big teeth monster

rasr tag on the upper story of a building in an alley . another tag under it that also covers a door.

door in an alley is covered with a street art piece in golds, reds and white

back of a building in an alley, beside a parked car, is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

back of a building in an alley is covered with swirls of pink, orange and yellow street art. There are a couple of abstract faces in the swirls.

Two signs on a wall covered in street art in pinks, yellows and oranges. One sign is a Tow Zone sign, i.e. no parking. The other sign has an arrow pointing to Queen mother bar garden.

below: The Korean Grill House restaurant is at the corner of Queen West and McCaul.

The back of the Korean Grill House restaurant, and the alley that its in. There is lots of street art on it. Two red garbage bins are also in the picture and they too have graffiti on them.

below:  This mural by elicsr is on the corner of Renfrew Place and John Street.

a mural by artist elicsr on the side of a convenience store. The side of the building faces an alley. A large man and woman are in the mural and they are wearing red crowns. The woman has a young girl sitting in her arms. There is another man in the mural, he covers the back entrance to the building.

two pictures, both part of a mural by elicsr. On the left is a man in a brown and olive green adidas jacket. He is wearing a brown baseball cap with the letters ELX on it. On the right is a picture of a woman with her arm wrapped around a young girl. She is writing a letter.

A painting of Frida Kahlo on a wall. Larger than life size. She has a purple shawl around her shoulders.

line drawing of a dinosaur on a wall beside a door.

A street art piece in grey tones with some black and white, by gino.graffiti (that is how he has signed it). Done in 2015. In an alley beside a black metal door.

The back of a couple of buildings in an alley, covered with graffit, mostly tags. One says Herbs and another says Near. A beige car is parked there too.

A street art painting is wearing away revealing the red brick underneath. A pink bunny is still partly visible. The word gwap is written above the rabbit's ears.

the demolition of a building has made it easier to see some street art and signs on the upper part of the side of a building. One is the word Alveno (or maybe Alvend) written in large block letters. Another is a colourful geometric design.

Reggae Lane

Posted: September 22, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Toronto’s newest street sign

A blue and white Toronto street sign that says Reggae Lane. Some stores and a tree are in the background.

Reggae Lane is a small lane on the south side of Eglinton West, between Marlee and Oakwood.
It is home to a new mural that celebrates the many reggae musicians from Toronto.

below: A Heritage Toronto plaque marks the spot.  It tells the story of Jamaican immigration and the reggae music they brought to Canada with them.   A transcription of the plaque appears at the bottom of this post.

plaque with the title "Toronto's Reggae Roots" with three photos as well as a story of Jamaican immigrants to Toronto and the story of reggae music in Toronto

 

The mural was painted over the course of three weeks by Adrian Hayles with the help of some young painters.

below:  Appearing in the mural: Reggae musicians from Toronto – Pluggy Satchmo, Bernie Pitters, Leroy Sibbles, Lord Tanamo, Jay Douglas, Stranger Cole, Johnny Osbourne, Jojo Bennett, Nana McLean, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Brown, Otis Gayle, Joe Isaacs, and Carol Brown.   Bob Marley is also in the mural as are the Skatalites, one of the groups that started it all; they began recording ska music in the mid 1960s.

View of a 1200 square foot mural by Adrian Hayles that depicts many different reggae musicians. This photo was taken from the second floor of the building next door so the camera is looking down across the parking lot towards the mural. Eglinton Avenue is seen behind the mural.

below: “Reggae, The King’s Music” is a reference to Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) who was born Tafari Makonnen.   Before becoming emperor, he was known as Ras Tafari where Ras means Duke or Prince (depending on the translation).  Hence the name Rastafari.   The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica after the coronation of Haile Selassie.  To them, Selassie was not just a black king, he was the messiah.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians -

Although it didn’t become a musical genre until the 1960s, reggae also has it’s roots in Jamaica. Reggae and Rasta have become closely linked.   Reggae has spread the Rasta message and Rastafari musicians like Bob Marley have popularized reggae music.

below: The radio station CFRB once had a Sunday evening reggae program.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A large hand with a finger pointing to the right with the letters C F R B above it. Two musicians are also in the picture.

below: The Lion of Juda is a Rastafarian symbol.  It comes from the fact that as Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sealssie’s full title was “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah”.  The lion also appears in the middle of the Ethiopian flag.

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - a black man in a green hat, a lion's face and the words, Adrian Hayles production

Part of a very colourful mural depicting various reggae musicians - A man wearing headphones and a baseball cap is playing a guitar.

plaque: “Toronto’s Reggae Roots

In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 100,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Canada. Many settled in Toronto on Eglinton Avenue West, between Oakwood Avenue and Allen Road, in “Little Jamaica”, which became the centre of one of the largest Jamaican expatriate communities in the world.
Among these immigrants were popular reggae artists who brought their music to Toronto. Reggae record stores and recording studios began opening up in this neighbourhood. Leroy Sibbles (the influential bass guitar player and lead vocalist of The Heptones), Jackie Mittoo, The Cougars, Ernie Smith, Johnny Osborne, and Stranger Cole all performed and recorded in Toronto during this period. Despite the rich talent in and around Little Jamaica, early Canadian reggae struggled to find mass appeal. However, later generations of Toronto reggae artists achieved mainstream success, including Juno Award winners Lillian Allen, Messenjah, and the Sattalites.”

 

The project was funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto program, with support from Metrolinx, Councillor Josh Colle’s office, the Macaulay Centre for Child and Youth Development, the Toronto Parking Authority and the York-Eglinton BIA.  It was also supported by the STEPS Initiative.

cross border shooting

Posted: September 21, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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I returned to Rochester New York this weekend to see, and shoot, more of their murals.   The resulting pictures have been added to the collection of photos that I took earlier this year.

 

banners on Queens Quay

Posted: September 18, 2015 in public art
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 Waterfront Outdoor Photo Exhibit

For the past four years, the Waterfront BIA has organized a photography contest.  East year fifty finalists are chosen.  This year they have organized a photo exhibit of a different kind.  One hundred and fourteen images were chosen from the 200 finalists from their previous photo contests.  These images were used (and cropped!) to make vertical banners, 5 ft x 2 ft in size.   The banners are made of vinyl and the same image is on both sides.

below: You can see many of the banners on Queen’s Quay between Yonge and Bathurst.

Looking west on Queens Quay towards Bathurst street. New TTC streetcar is in the photo as well as a number of condos and other buildings on the north side of the street

Picture of round orange life ring on the edge of the waterfront in Toronto.

Three pictures in one. Each of the pictures is of a banner hanging from a pole outside. On the left is a picture of seagull, in the middle is a picture of two houses and on the right is a winter waterfront scene

A pole with a vinyl banner with a colourful picture of boats. Also on the pole is a street sign that says Yo Yo Ma Lane

looking towards the waterfront. A banner with a picture of the Canadian flag is on a post by a tree in the foreground. The old silos for Canada Malting Company are in the background as is a boat moored beside the silos.

A banner with a picture of a seagull on it. In the background of the banner picture is the CN Tower. In the background of this photo, there is also the CN Tower.

 

below: Sometimes it’s difficult to see the banners amongst all the other things along Queen’s Quay

TTC streetcar on Queens Quay

below: There are also some banners on Lakeshore Blvd between Bathurst and Spadina.

A woman is walking on a sidewalk, away from the camera, beside the Lakeshore Blvd in Toronto. There are a few cars on the road. There are skyscrapers in the background. The elevated highway, the Gardiner Expressway, is also in the picture.

A composite of three pictures, each of a vertical banner hanging from a pole outdoors along a street. One banner is a kayaker in the harbour in front of the Toronto skyline. Another is a sunset over Toronto skyline on a cloudy day

Leafs expansion

Posted: September 16, 2015 in history, public art
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Two new additions to the statues in Legends Row outside the Air Canada Center showed up on this past weekend.  Mats Sundin and Borje Salming have taken their place alongside Darryl Sittler, Ted Kennedy and Johnny Bower.  Salming is cheering from behind the boards while Sundin is on the ice.  I’d say that was Sundin was ready for action but he needs to get his stick on the ice first.  Maybe the game is over and the Maple Leafs have something to celebrate?

Three of the bronze statues of hockey players outside the ACC, Legends Row. Matt Sundin, Borje Salming and Darryl Sittler are in the picture, or at least their statues are.

below: Mats Sundin, born in Sweden in 1971.  He joined the Maple Leafs in 1994 and played 13 seasons for them.  He was captain for 11 of those years and with the exception of 2002-03, he led the team in scoring points every year.  He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

A close up look of the face and upper body of the statue of ex Toronto Maple Leaf player Matt Sundin

below: Salming cheers while Darryl Sittler goes over the boards.  Borje Salming, also born in Sweden, played defence for the Maple Leafs  between 1973 and 1989.  He played over 1000 games.  He has been a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1996.

A man in a purple t-shirt and jeans is sitting on the boards that are part of the sculpture at Legends Row outside the Air Canada Center. He is sitting beside the statue of Borje Salming

A little boy stands beside a statue of a hockey player where only the legs and skates of the player are in the picture. The boy is holding onto the end of the player's hockey stick

The first three statues, Darryl Sittler, Ted Kennedy and Johnny Bower, were installed earlier this year.

Camera Atomica

Posted: September 15, 2015 in galleries
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Camera Atomica
a photography exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: The first photograph of the bones of the hand, by Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895.    Rontgen was a German physicist who discovered x-rays (or Rontgen rays) in 1895 and he produced this image of his wife’s hand shortly after.  The green in the picture below is a reflection of the chandelier that the AGO has hanging in the room where this exhibit is being shown.

An xray picture of a hand.

The exhibit consists of more than 200 works that all fall under the category of nuclear – topics such as atomic weapons, Cold War politics, nuclear energy, and the mining of uranium.  The photographs cover the history of these topics from 1945 to the present, from the development of the atomic bomb to the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan in 2011.

below: Hiroshima Japan, photo by Yoshito Matsushige, taken 6 August 1945.
The first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity test site in New Mexico USA on 14 July 1945.  Shortly after, American bombers dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.  The first bomb was dropped 6th August 1945 on the city of  Hiroshima and second one three days later on Nagasaki.

An old black and white photo taken in Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb during WW2

below: Photo by Dean Loomis, 7 May 1955 of scorched male mannequin standing in the desert 7,000 feet from the 44th nuclear test explosion at Yucca Flat Nevada.  Photo taken the day after the blast.  Apparently mannequins were used to test the effects of the nuclear blasts on people and this photo shows that people at 7000 feet from a blast could be burnt but alive.

Picture of a black and white silver gelatin print from 1955 by Dean Loomis showing a male mannequin in a black suit who has been partially knocked over by a nuclear test blast in the Nevada desert.

below: Mushroom clouds on a wall

A collage of photos of nuclear blast mushroom clouds. There are about 25 colour and black and white photos hanging on a wall of the Art Gallery of Ontario

below:  Part of  ‘Uranium Tailings #2, Elliot Lake Ontario’ a photograph by Edward Burtynsky.

Eliot Lake was established in 1955 as a mining town after uranium was discovered in the area.  In the early 1990’s the mines closed because of depleted reserves and low prices for uranium.

Tailings are the materials left over after the valuable part of an ore has been removed.  The uranium ore found at Eliot Lake had very little uranium in it, only about 0.1% of the ore was uranium.

Close up of part of a photograph by Edward Burtynsky titled Uranium Tailings #2, Elliot Lake Ontario. It is a picture of a desolate swampy looking terrain where all the vegetation is dead. The trees have been reduced to dead poles.

below:  Inkjet prints by David McMillan, part of four on display from his series of photographs of places abandoned because of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.   The photograph on the right is of the nursery at Pripyat Hospital taken in 1997.   Beside it is a picture of a classroom in a Pripyat nursery school.

Pripyat is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine.  It was built in 1970 to service the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant.  Following the explosion and fire at Chernobyl on 26 April 1986, the city’s 49,000 people were evacuated

Two photographs on a wall. The one in the foreground shows an abandoned hospital nursery in Pripyat Ukraine, abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

A young man is half squatting as he leans back to get a better look at the words on the wall of an art gallery that accompany three black and white photographs.

The exhibit continues until 15th November.

#atomicAGO

NDP and Bill C-51

Posted: September 14, 2015 in events, people
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On Saturday afternoon there was a small rally under the trees of Queens Park.  It was attended by a number of Toronto federal NDP candidates and it was about repealing bill C-51.   C-51 has been called the Anti-Terrorism Bill although it’s full name is:  “An Act to enact the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act and the Secure Air Travel Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.”

It was passed in June of this year by the Conservative government with support of the Liberals.  The NDP and Green party have been against this bill since the beginning.  Part of the NDP platform for the present federal election is the promise to repeal Bill C-51 if they are form the next government.

A group of NDP candidates from the GTA including Andrew Cash, Peggy Nash, Akil Sadikali, and Jennifer Hollett,are standing together. Olivia Chow is addressing the small crowd that has come to the rally to repeal Bill C 51. One of the candidates is holding a Tom Mulcair sign.

A woman reporter is talking to another woman at a protest rally. The woman being interviewed is holding a sign that says Thought Police, looks like you've had too much to think

Some people at a protest rally. Two young men are holding signs. One sign says Dump Harper Scrap CSIS. The other sign says People's needs not corporate greed.

Two women are holding up signs protesting Bill C 51.

A statue of the Canadian poet Al Purdy sitting in a park. A girl looking at a smartphone is standing by its feet.

 

 

Jesus in the city

Posted: September 13, 2015 in events, people
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Jesus in the City parade 
They walked north from Queens Park to Bloor, south on Yonge, and then back across College to Queens Park and they walked with exuberance and joy.

A young black man is holding a banner in a parade. He is looking upwards. Other people around him are also holding banners. The banners are gold and each one has the name of a book of the bible on it.

Many people holding a long banner at the start of a parade. The banner says Jesus in the city. This is the name of the parade.

below: The man who played Jesus was very good
The cold hard pavement couldn’t have been easy on his body.

Four men are reenacting Jesus being taken by the Romans for crucifixion. A man is on the ground while the Roman soldiers whip and beat him. A cross is lying on the ground too. A group of upset women onlookers (part of the acting) follow behind. Part of the Jesus in the city parade.

A group dressed in red t-shirts blowing horns

Four women wearing long ruffled skirts in white, red and yellow, swishing their skirts side to side as they walk in a parade

Two women in blue t-shirts are holding a banner in a parade. Others are walking with them. The banner says Jesus Christ in large red letters. There are smaller words in blue below that are a verse from Matthew that starts with Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. The group is from the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry

Three girls riding on a float in the Jesus in the CIty parade.

A man wearing a t-shirt that says Jesus in the City Celebration on the back. He is holding a young girl who is wearing a jacket with a hood that has little ears on it.

A woman poses with a red, yellow and green striped flag as she walks in a parade

A black man is wearing a yellow sign around his neck. It says Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Three young women pose with a heart that they have made out of two long skinny balloons.

A group of young people are walking in a parade. Some are waving to the camera. One girl is holding a banner with just the word Jesus on it.

Two young black women on a float in a parade. One has her arms outstretched wide as she sings along with some music. Under them is a sign that says Jesus is the Rock.

Some women are waving large coloured flags. A purple flag, and a green flag are the ones in the foreground.

some people wearing white robes and large gold angel wings are walking in a parade. Three of them are holding signs. The first signs says Jesus Saves. The second sign says Jesus is the only way to heaven. The third sign says Avoid hell repent trust Jesus today.

An older black woman with a very big smile is holding a sign that says Jesus is the Savior of the world. She is walking in the Jesus in the City parade in Toronto.

Kids dressed up in colourful costumes and walking in a parade

A group of people, mostly young and mostly Asian, are walking in a parade. One is holding a sign that says Jesus loves you. Another person is holding a sign that says Jesus is Savior.

A line of Japanese women in kimonos are carrying large open fans above the heads. The fans have big pink flowers on them as well as a pink feathery border.

An Asian man driving a truck waves to the camera.

Two boys are holding a brown banner that says Jesus is holy, love, rightousness. A group of Asian people are walking with them in a parade.

That backs of 4 young women. THey are all wearing sweaters and yellow sashes. The sashes have Korean or maybe Chinese lettering on them as well as a red cross.

Two women in a car. The driver is making a smiley face. The women in the backseat is holding a sign out the window that says

A woman is holding a shiny turquoise fabric sign with the word jehovah on it. #jitc2015

stalking Martians

Posted: September 12, 2015 in events, people
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Today was the first day of TIFF.

A middle aged Asian woman poses in front of the orange tiff 3D sign on King Street. A girl is sitting on the corner of it, looking off the picture to the right.

Happy 40th birthday to TIFF!

Three people walking past a bright poster for TIFF's 40th year. A burst of pink and orange colour around the number 40, all on a black background.

King Street is closed between University and Spadina for a few days so I thought I’d wander through the TIFF party to see what was happening.   I played ‘follow the crowd’.

below:  Who are we looking for?  I wasn’t sure, but hey, why not wait and see?

A crowd of people is waiting by the side entrance to the TIFF Lightbox theater.

Close up of a policeman's face. He is wearing reflective sunglasses and the crowd is reflected in them.

below: Widmer Street was closed to traffic

line of people waiting by a barricade at the end of a street. Queen Street west stores are in the background.

…. except for a few black Cadillac Escalades.

two lines of black Cadillac Escalades, looking down the lines to a group of people behind a barricade with a policeman standing with them.

below: I’m not sure who he was but he seems to be taking pictures of the crowd
(or is he taking a selfie?)

A short man is taking pictures of a crowd (directly towards the camera) or else he is taking a selfie with a lot of black Cadillac Escalades behind him.

 below: Sean Bean (aka Ned Stark in Game of Thrones – thanks to the woman beside me who knew who he was) in the burgundy coloured vest.   As it turns out, the movie ‘The Martian’ had just finished playing at the TIFF Lightbox and many of the cast members had been in attendance.

The actor Sean Bean (Ned Stark in Game of Thrones) is walked to a car with a security guy in the lead and a couple of other people with them.

below:  I think it’s Danny Glover; I could be wrong

actor Danny Glover being directed towards a car.

below:  Jessica Chastain, also in ‘The Martian’ worked the crowd.  She was generous and let many people take selfies with her.   Not in the picture, the three security guards who stayed close to her the whole time.   Also not in the picture, any selfie with me!

A group of fans in a crowd. One man is taking a selfie with the actress Jessica Chastain. Other people are taking photos of them.

Once Jessica passed by me, I moved away from the crowd and headed back along King Street.
I didn’t far when I spotted another, smaller, crowd.

below:  Can’t be a badass security guy with a shaved head and dark glasses!

Two security guards stand on steps outside a building. One has a dark suit on, the other is wearing jeans and a grey vest. Both have shaved heads and dark sunglasses.

 I struck up a conversation with one of the Escalade drivers.   He told me that Matt Damon was due to come out in about 20 minutes after some sort of press event.  That’s when I clued in to the fact that the people who got into the big black SUVs two blocks back had only been chauffeured to this place!  Since I missed Matt Damon the first time around, I decided to stay.   Besides, the crowd was friendly and chatty and I was having a good time.

blog_groupies_straining

below: Sebastien Stan walks to a car after signing a few autographs.   When he first came out the door, there were a few, “Who’s that?”.  The answers were almost all, “Captain America”.

blog_groupies_sebastien_captain_america

blog_groupies_window

blog_groupies_policeman_crowd

  below: Naomi Watt made an appearance too.
Hey, she’s not in “The Martian”, but I didn’t know that at the time!

Actress Naomi Watts signs autographs while a security guard looks on.

Okay, okay, you all just want to know if Matt Damon let me take his picture.

below: One burly security guard stepped in front of me and almost destroyed the moment.
Note the shaved head. No sunglasses though.

The back of the head of a security guy. His head is shaved except for the top part. He is wearing a wire. Matt Damon and another security guy are out of focus in the background.

Matt Damon is directed towards a vehicle by a driver and a security guard.

Apparently George Clooney, Sandra Bullock and Helen Mirren, were at TIFF today.
I missed them; they’ll have to wait until next time.

#TIFF15

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