Last week I spent a few days in southern California where I found a lot of graffiti, street art and murals.
I have started to put together a collection of photos from this trip and you can find them on their own page or by using the menu at the top of the page, Worldwide → USA → California murals
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.
The last time I ventured into a Toronto ravine on my own the path was a icy so I didn’t go far. Now the ravines are clear of snow and ice – just watch out for the mud! I was under the railway bridge at Summerhill (just east of Yonge St) this past weekend and I encountered a number of people and faces.
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.
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!
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
On a warm sunny Saturday in April.
People out and about in Kensington enjoying the day.
On Dufferin St., just north of Eglinton there is a bridge under the Beltline Pathway.
The old railway bridge crosses the road and metal culverts provide passageways for the sidewalks on both sides of the street. It was painted in November 2014.
One of the sidewalks is closed because of construction on the north side.
In fact, the area looks a bit messy at the moment.
This was a project by STEPS (Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Spaces) in collaboration with artists Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson, local residents, Friends of the York Beltline and local Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Josh Colle.
The mural was funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto program with support from area businesses and associations.
Link to a video on the making of this mural.
Street art and murals
close to the intersection of Niagara Street and Graffiti Alley.
below: A mural on the side of a house on Niagara Street.
Some of the paint is starting to peel but otherwise it is in good shape.
Signature at the top right seems to be Robert Rian Cruz. Other names are written on the bottom left: doz, nose, cora, anto, wizwon, flur, and markis
below: Make It by Aaron Li-Hill
In Graffiti Alley but visible from Queen St. West at Niagara.
Graffiti and street art murals seen in Cyril Lane recently.
below: Rear entrance to Kaisar Guesthouse and Spic & Span Laundry
below: Annie doesn’t look very pleased to be behind bars!
below: Lee Matasi, aka Avers, was an artist and skateboarder from Vancouver.
In 2005, just before his 24th birthday, he was murdered in downtown Vancouver.
as I walk Toronto 