The Place

Posted: March 28, 2015 in locations, old buildings
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The Place, believe it or not, is here,
where Howard Park Ave and Lynd Ave meet Dundas West.

The new next to the old… the old square top, two storey brick stores built in rows that are still common in Toronto even though many are being replaced.

 

A row of two storey brick stores on Dundas West. A convenience store, a laundromat, a cafe, and a boarded up store. On the exterior walls of the convenience store are the words "Believe it or not, this is the place"

 

Garrison Creek mural

Posted: March 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
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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

 

Part of a mural showing a fox standing beside a creek. A bare tree is in front of the mural

Part of a mural showing a large green turtle swimming in a creek. A tree with no leaves is in front of the mural

Part of a mural showing a large green frog sitting beside a creek. A tree with no leaves is in front of the mural

signature, or label, on the garrison creek mural

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

a stroll inside Honest Eds

Posted: March 26, 2015 in history, landmarks
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Honest Ed’s

 In 1948 Edwin Mirvish opened his ‘Honest Ed’s Famous Bargain House’ on the southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets.  Honest Ed’s was not only one of the first department stores in the city but also one of the first to offer discount prices on its merchandise.

below: Honest Ed’s, from across the intersection of Bloor and Bathurst streets.

Looking across an intersection of Bloor and Bathurst streets towards Honest Eds store with its big orange, yellow and black signs on grey cladding. Running around the store, about the level of the top of the first storey, are signs (red lettering on white background) that read "Only the Floors are crooked" , "There's no place like this place, any place", "Come in and Get Lost" and lastly, "A Bargain Centre like this happens only once in a lifetime"

photo taken 25 March 2015

 

below: The same intersection in 1948 when Honest Ed’s Famous Bargain House opened.  As you can see, the exterior was covered with signs with humorous sayings from the beginning.

historical black and white photo of Honest Eds store at Bloor and Bathurst.

photo from Honest Eds store via a 2013 article in The Grid TO

Along with the discount merchandise, Ed Mirvish filled his store with pictures and posters, especially movie posters.   The stairwell walls are covered.

movie posters as well as other kinds of posters in a stairwell at Honest Eds, including a large red poster with a picture of 'Honest Ed Mirvish'.
reflections in a round mirror in a staircase at Honest Eds store showing the stairs, railing and various pictures and posters hanging on the walls

A stairwell at Honest Eds store with a large black and red sign that reads "Honest Ed's an Idiot, his prices are cents-less"
You can buy almost anything at Honest Ed’s!  Clothes, shoes, toys, household items, groceries, hardware, prescriptions, souvenirs, … and so on.

Interior photograph of Honest Eds store with its eclectic mix of merchandise. Big No Smoking sign on the wall, some old movie posters on the wall too.

aisle in a discount bargain store. White wooden shelves and bins, lots of red signs, cashier sign as well. Honest Eds interior, ground floor, kitchen ware,

There are hundreds of pictures of actors and other famous (and no so famous!) people.

kitchen wares for sale laid out on white table like shelves. Large pillar in the middle of the store with a sign warning you that you are on camera. Seven pictures of movie stars adorn the pillar. Lots of merchandise for sale in the background.

Jeans for sale, on tables in Honest Eds store. Large black and white posters on the wall along with a colour full length portrait of a woman in a long dress.

All of the signs in the store are hand painted.  In March 2014, Honest Ed’s had a sale of all their signs and the profits ($17,000) from this sale were donated to Victim Services Toronto.
Another sign sale is scheduled for 11 April 2015 starting at 8 a.m.  If you want to buy a sign, arrive early and expect to wait as it is a very popular event.

Sandals for sale at Honest Eds, on white shelves. There is a mirror behind and in the reflection is most of the shoe department of the store.

bins of panties for sale, a wall display and long horizontal mirror in the background. Beside the bin in the foreground is a white pillar on which there is a black and white picture of a man from the shoulders up.

Signs in a store window. One says "Honet Ed can't cook but his customers never get a raw deal" and the other is a page showing all the special prices available at the store. It is printed like a newspaper page and there is a lot of information on it.

A bin full of brightly coloured kids running shoes in greens, blues, reds, etc

In October 2013, the property was sold to a developer but as you can see from the sign in the photo below, the store is still open.  It will remain open until the end of 2016.  It’s been open for 67 years and will remain open for another 21 months.
The southeast corner of Markham and Bloor. The corner of Honest Eds store with its red framed windows and loud garish signs.

birdo on Borden

Posted: March 25, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Birdo street art on the side wall  of Amato Pizza,
corner of Borden and College Streets.

birdo street art on a rust coloured brick wall. Two animal like creatures in greens, blues and rusts. They are larger than life size, taking up most of the side of the building, up to the second storey level.

birdo street art, close up of multicoloured creature over a doorway. Belly and legs are visible in the photo

birdo street art on a rust coloured wall. Yellow stylized bir with wing, claw and head in the picture

alley bunnies

Posted: March 23, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Back to Graffiti Alley for the first time this spring…  well, for the first time since the snow melted since I’m not sure you can call it spring yet!

Here are a few poser and abm crew bunnies that I saw.

large greenish brown poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on pinkish purple background. Bight yellow, pink and blue tag to the right and a door covered with small tags to the left

three black and white poser bunnies on red background with black and white tag in front in Graffiti Alley. They are beside a doorway on which a man has been painted - red hair, white T-shirt and blue pants. Stylized, shrugging his shoulders and holdin his hands at waist level.
light brown poser bunny in Graffiti Alley - about 30 cm wide and 75 cm high on a wall that is perpendicular to the alley, Graffiti Alley is in the background. Signed ambcrew 2014
black, grey and white poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on a wall that is perpendicular to the alley. Graffiti Alley is in the background.

small black and white poser bunny in Graffiti Alley on a wall beside a metal exterior staircase

eyes in the alley

Posted: March 23, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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I went back to Graffiti Alley the other day.
When I was just east of Niagara Street I noticed these eyes looking at me.

One very realistic eye in a partial circle, in a boarded up window above head level so it looks like it's looking down at you.

A small blue Stickman sneaks into the photo too!

 

A wall with a door in the middle of it. There is a street art piece of three heads. Two very stylized men and a more realistic looking woman. Bright colours.

Three faces painted on a garage door by Jon Todd.

Close up of a stylized and slightly abstacted man's face on a wall in an alley

close up of a street piece that is very red, with one whitish grey eye. Some faint swirly white lines demark the face, or at least the upper quadrant that is visible in the picture

A sticker on a pole with green in the background. The sticker is of a man's head. He has a beard and big brown moustache and he is wearing a red toque with a label on it that says 'checo'

slightly abstacted painting of a face in white orange, yellow and brown, in 3/4 profile

Some stickers or slaps on the side of an air conditioner. One is of a frog head with its tongue out and eyes closed. The other is of a green man's face, also with his tongue out.

A garage covered with a large abstract and very colourful painting, swirls and geometric shapes, along with at least three or four eyes. Signed @jchiale

by Jimmy Chiale

Close up, and a side angle shot, of colourful graffiti on a door, door frame and wall. Bright colours, geometric shapes such as white circle around brown, pink zig zags.

…and a mouth too!

Graffiti painting of a bright red pair of lips slightly parted to see shiney white teeth. On a garage door, in an alley.

 Links for more information

Jon Todd

Jimmy Chiale

Obsolescence

Posted: March 22, 2015 in galleries
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Obsolescence, by Shelagh Keeley, 2014
at The Power Plant, Harbourfront Centre

A man is looking at a large art piece on a wall. A collage called Obsolescence by Shelagh Keeley,

The piece covers a wall that is 25 x 40 feet in a room that is only 10 feet wide.

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall

The large collage includes photographs taken inside an abandoned textile factory in Monchengladbach Germany.

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall. One of the pictures is of a typewriter

A dictionary definition: “Obsolescence: being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete.“

close up of part of a large collage art piece on a wall

One of the inspirations for this piece was Marshall McLuhan’s 1970 “Notes on Obsolescence” which opens with the lines:  “When print or the motor car is referred to as “obsolete” many people assume that it is therefore doomed to speedy extinction. A casual glance at the historical record indicates the contrary. Gutenberg did not discourage handwriting. There is a great deal more handwriting done even in the age of the typewriter than was ever done before printing”.

And it ends with: “Obsolescence is a very large and mysterious subject that has had very little attention in relation to its importance.” The present paper may … thus help awareness of the role of obsolescence in sparking creativity and the invention of new order.”

A woman is looking at a large art piece on a wall. A collage called Obsolescence by Shelagh Keeley,

Like all art, it is subjective.   Like good art, it has the potential to make you want to linger in front of it and even to reflect and think.

The upper part of a collage by Shelagh Keeley at The Power Plant gallery. This is the top part of the piece which is 25 feet high.

This piece is scheduled to remain at The Power Plant until 17 May 2015.

Sanko wall

Posted: March 20, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Mural on the wall of the Sanko Trading Company
(a Japanese Canadian business, since 1968),
corner of Claremont and Queen St. West,

Looking across a city intersection to a store on the corner that has a large mural painted on the side of it. Many Japanese motifs, many colours too.
There are many Japanese motifs in the mural including sushi.

sushi street art, part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

A robot is at the door.

Street art, part of Japanese-Canadian mural, of a robot looking down at the door.

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. left part of the mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. Arched bridge over a stream with a fish jumping out of the water, Japanese maple tree beside the water, street art, large mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. A girls face. Her hair is pink and blue and she has big green eyes.

blog_sanko_awning

looking up the side of a two storey building to the underside of the overhang above. part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

Painted by Ken Galloway, Timothy Fukakusa, Mitsuo Kimura, Takashi Iwasaki, Darcy Obokata, and Shogo Okada in the winter of 2013-2014

More on the Japantown Mural

a man and his shadow

Posted: March 19, 2015 in public art
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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’.

Close up of a bronze sculpture of a man. In this picture you can only see his head and shoulders. Behind him on a wall is a black silhouette that looks like his shadow. A large white planter is also in the picture although there is nothing growing in it.

A bronze sculpture of a man in bare feet. He is wearing an overcoat. He is standing with his arms passively at his side. Behind him on a wall is a black silhouette that looks like his shadow. A large white planter is also in the picture although there is nothing growing in it.

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.

animals and birdo birds in Roncey

Posted: March 18, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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On Queen St. West, just before it meets Roncesvalles Ave., is the Corona Restaurant and Nightclub.  Along the wall of this building are a number of pieces of street art.   Only a small section is visible from the street.

Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces. The Corona Restaurant with a yellow awning is on the right and James Dys Antiques and Collectibles is on the left. is on the left.

Close up of Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces.

If you follow the alley that runs behind Queen St., you will find more street art alongside the same building.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,
The back part is a mural entitled ‘Destination Mammal Cabana’ by Birdo, Spudbomb and SKE1.  It was painted in 2012.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, middle part, large baboon wearing a party hat, a giraffe, a crazy looking zebra and a green turtle, street art on a wall.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, purple ostrich, screaming baboon and a giraffe,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, hairy creature with mouth wide open and wearing suglasses and a rhino by a beach umbrella, street art, graffiti,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, upright yellow tiger, antelope wearing yellow and green stripe beach wear and some other hairy creature with sunglasses on.

blog_mammal_sign

On the north wall of the same building…..

metal stairs to a small landing outside a door on the second storey of a concrete brick building. The walls of the bottom floor are covered with graffiti. Immediately behind the stairs is a large blue letter Z.

If you look closely at the above picture, on the right hand side metal pole supporting the landing, is a sticker.  Below, that sticker up close.

A small yellow bird on a small sticker. It is an Uber 5000 bird, wearing glasses and holding a red book. He's on a metal pole.
three murals on alley walls

mural by birdo, red background, a man's head and an creature with an animal face and a body that looks like a blue checked sweater

a mural by birdo, a small black and grey bird that is holding a geometric shape in blue and white diamond shaped sections.

Looking west along the alley towards Roncesvalles Ave.

looking west along an alley in late winter. Street art on the walls on the left, garage doors on the right. Buildings on Roncesvalles can be seen at the end of the alley which is about a block long.

but if you walk slightly west, away from Roncesvalles, you will encounter two more pieces by Birdo.  The ‘Dreamer’ is on the same building as the Destination Mammal Cabana that is pictured above.

A street art piece painted in a small stairwell, down from alley level. The door way is the head of a woman and her arms extend over part of the stairwell walls. She is dressed in red and blue including a birdo hat.

A birdo mural on a dirty light grey wall of a stylized bird and the word "dreamer" written in large black letters.

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