Kensington graffiti – January 2024 edition

Posted: January 16, 2024 in graffiti and street art
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Yes, another Kensington post … to make it three in a row.

below:  A group with all eyes on their phones and perhaps all connected to the cloud.  But it’s a dark angry cloud, even a nuclear mushroom cloud, but nobody notices.

small paper graffiti stencil of a group of people in 3d glasses, all looking at their phones

below: On a Kensington pole, Visual Noise, Urban Ninja Squadron‘s T-bonez dressed as the farmer’s wife standing beside a very sturdy looking Sailor Dude Farmer from Ty Pro. A luchadore from Bruho waits below, ready for a fight….  “Bruho raced to fight the fascists.”

stickers on a pole in kensington

below: T bonez, this time with Bruho in a psychadelic pink and purple haze on a mushroom.

urban ninja squadron t bonez coloured picture, with a little catchoo

below: Catchoo’s little blue disc says save me but perhaps that’s what Tweety Bird should be saying – does he realize that the tiger is right behind him?! That’s no ordinary puddy cat! Paste-up by tweet_streetart (aka Tweet).

square catchoo face in pale blue and white on a pole with another slap of a tiger chasing tweety bird

below: Running ninjas , The Chosen Few

urban ninja squadron visual noise sticker, running while holding hands with bird

below: … and then he takes to the air.

t bonez graffiti slap, holding onto red helicopter whirlie blades

below: Another 33wallflower33 piece this time it involves kids and a horse.  I don’t want to know what the worm is up to or what might be going through it’s head (assuming worms have brains?).

33 wallflower 33 paste up of two kids on horse back, along with a catchoo worm sticker with its tongue stuck out

below: This threesome has seen better days.  On the left, in the original the woman is serving up Doug Ford’s head in a frying pan (33wallflower33).

33wallflower 33 black and white paste up besie a catchoo worm sticker along with a tweety street art cat holding a teddy bear

below:  There’s that worm again!  T-Bonez is now standing beside a cute koala and the woman in the 33wallflower33 piece is stripping down to her panties.  No frying pans or horses here!

graffiti on a pole along with street signs

below: “Death is just the beginning” Don’t you wonder what it’s the beginning of?

two text graffitis, small, on wall, one is written on brown tile and says death is only the beginning and the other is a white sticker written in blue

below: Sentient cookie (aka Cecil Tian) man with heavily tattooed arm, smoking…  with the poor fellow below crying his eyes out, almost literally.

below: Rubber Ducky

sticker, little yellow rubber ducky

below: There is another Sentient Cookie sticker at the top.  The red in the middle is the creation of Fernando Chamarelli

below: Markus

below: Stay hydrated!

sticker, black and white, man is drinking from an oil or gas container

below: Golden crown on blue painted metal, Rocky Zenyk.

metal, crown, on utility pole

below:  Hands holding a solid structure, home, from which nature, flowers and leaves, flourish.

engraved and coloured brass rectangle street art, beside part of a black and white mural

below: Grey metal this time, and words say” Forsan Miseros” across the top, above what appears to be a man praying.  He is surrounded by flames, beseeching the gods.  The full text is “Forsan miseros meliora sequetur” and it is Latin; the internet translates it as “For those in misery, perhaps better things will follow”.  Latin scholars may disagree.

below: completely covered

back of a traffic sign on dundas, completely covered with stickers

below: Little green paint roller army man running into battle, somewhere on the streets.  More political is the “Free Palestine” sticker above it (from them from whom?).

three stickers on a pole, a green army man with a paint roller in his hand, a free palestine sticker, and another

below: Hello my new friend

written on red on top of a black and white graffiti painting, the words, hello my new friend

Previous two Kensington street art posts:
1. blues, and more in a Kensington lane
2. Is everyone nice?

 

blues, and more, in a Kensington lane

Posted: January 13, 2024 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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My previous blog post was about graffiti on a wall on St. Andrew Street  (Is everyone nice?) which is in the Kensington neighbourhood.  Also in Kensington are quite a few alleys and laneways, and in most of them you can find graffiti and/or murals.  This post is a short tour down one of these alleys.

below: The garage door with the UBER 5000 painting of dogs playing cards marks the entrance to the alley.  Lucky the little yellow birdie points the way.

part of an uber 5000 mural of dogs playing cards, with a little yellow birdie in the top left corner, entrance to alley, other graffiti and street art can be seen including a large piece by Rowell Soller

part of an uber 5000 mural of dogs playing cards, with a little yellow birdie in the top left corner, entrance to alley, other graffiti and street art can be seen

below: The first blue is a man with the start of a beard and mustache by Phillip Saunders

portrait of a blue man with a mustache by Philip saunders, on a wood fence

below: A poser bunny

poser bunny street art on a wood fence

below: A long term resident now is this woman with the purple lips and Jamaican flag.

portrait of a Black woman, purple lips, Jamaican flag under her

below:  One eyed red daisy painted large by Life©️(aka Life in the streets)

large text street art painting in yellow and green

street art mural of a large purple fish with billowy tail, swimming,

murals on garages at the end of the lane with other murals on the buildings on the side of the alley too

below: Some of the pieces are mismatched but she’s still intact.

portrait of a woman in blue painted on a wood fence

below: Another blue face keeping an eye on the alley

a bike leaning against a wall in an alley, a street art mural of a woman in blue paint in the background

below: Cats on garages, both by Mankaur Arts (aka Manpreet Kaur) because the world won’t save itself…. but maybe we can score a goal or two in the meantime.

murals on garages, one of the right is cats playing hockey and on the left is a cat with text saying

an old mattress leaning against a fence in an alley, murals on some of the garages,

below:  Another shade of blue, a bit more teal this time.

painting of a teal coloured man on a wood fence in a Kensington alley

below: Center part of a mural by Rowell Soller.

 

mural by Rowell Soder in an alley, part of a face, mouth and nose, surrounded by red, yellow, and white shapes

graffiti stickers, faces

graffiti stickers, faces plus my name is marene

is everyone nice?

Posted: January 11, 2024 in graffiti and street art
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graffiti in Kensington

There are two very different pairs can be seen on opposites sides of an old window on St. Andrew Street.

graffiti on a blackened window of an empty store in kensington, three pieces of graffiti on it, including a df606 david bowie in the center of an old rotary phone

below: On one side,  City Kitty is asking,  “Canada, Why is everyone so nice?” while sitting beside a D7606 David Bowie in the center of a rotary phone.  Is he waiting for a call?  Can you hear me Major Tom?

NYC based artist City Kitty cat reading a book about Canada and saying Canada why are you so nice beside a second pasteup of a rotary phone with David Bowie's face in the middle of it

below: On the other side two men, white on black, by Adeyemi Adegbesan (Yung Yemi), masked? or blinded?  in chains? or in armour?

black and white street art by Adeyemi Adegbesan of two Black males with elaborate jewellery and chains joining them, also a collar that looks like a metal jaguar or tiger roaring,

below: Close up of a kitty of a not so gentle nature.

black and white street art by Adeyemi Adegbesan of two Black males with elaborate jewellery and chains joining them, also a collar that looks like a metal jaguar or tiger roaring,

Sarindar Dhaliwal’s Oscar, Frida, and many flowers

Posted: January 7, 2024 in galleries
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For more than 40 years, Sarindar Dhaliwal has been creating works of art.  She was born in Punjab India but grew up in Southall London England.  The family moved again when Sarindar was 15, this time to rural Ontario.  Her work is colourful – vibrant and full of life.  Many of her pieces are being exhibited at the Art Galley of Ontario at the moment.  This is a sampling of them.

below: “Oscar and the Two Fridas”, 1991.  Oscar Wilde and Frida Kahlo are two artists that Dhaliwal admires.

 

painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal on the wall at the Art Gallery of Ontario, featuring a picture of Oscar Wilde in black and white in the middle, and two coloured portraits of Frida Kahlo in opposite corners, vase of flowers as well

Two women looking at painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal on the wall at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: The garden outside, and the window through which you can view it…  An interesting way to present perspective.

painting by Sarindar Dhaliwal, garden, window in a pinkish adobe wall looking out onto the garden, metal bars in the window

below: A part of “At Badminton” another mixed-media collage-like work on paper; here woman in traditional saris are playing badminton.

part of a mixed media collage, pictures of women as seen out a window, plus a line of flowers, the work is "At Badminton"

below: “When I Grow Up I Want to be a Namer of Paint Colors”.  If you look closely, the names don’t always match the colour.  There are pinks called ‘powdered baby lemon’ and ‘chalky eggshell’ while some reds are “imperial indigo” and “periwinkle”.  A work of imagination – ‘vanilla twilight’!  A work that ignores the rules and norms.

I want to be the namer of colours by Sarindar Dhaliwal, a chart in grid shape of various shades of pink, red, and orange, that she has given names to

below: “Indian Billboard” 2000.

mixed media collage artwork by Sarindar Dhaliwal, lots of billboards and a tiger,

From the words on the wall, “The idea for this work came from a trip Dhaliwal took to Bangalore India in 1996. Here she saw a feminist billboard in India for the first time. The hand-painted sign openly critiqued the dowry system used in arranged marriages and featured the slogan “Is Your Husband Worth the Money You Paid For Him?”.
“In this work, she recreates the same text a well as advertisements ranging from the refrigerators to beedies (a type of Indian cigarette). Images of tigers, paint swatches, and her ubiquitous flowers are peppered throughout. In some of the billboards, Dhaliwal depicts Hindi script. Unable to read Hindi herself, she wrote the letters backwards. When this was pointed out to her, she decided to write one of the English language billboards in reverse as well.”

below: Closer view of some of the billboards.

close up of a piece of art, a tiger,

A couple at the AGO, woman is seated, man standing behind her. They are watching a video on a screen mounted on the wall

below:  Dhaliwal’s work consists of more than these mixed-media ‘collages’.  There is video as you can see.  There are also large panels that tell a story.  This one in English and a second in .  The story starts with a sick child whose mother and aunt took her from village to village, “the embroidered cuffs of their baggy pants encrusted with…”.

a story written in red letters on a black wall, goes around a corner

below: These are some of the women whose photographs were incorporated into a work called “Hey, Hey Paula”.  What do they have in common?  They were all featured in the Sunday edition of the ‘New York Times’; they were the brides-to-be in the Engagement Announcements section between 1989 and 1992.

Grid of photos of young women, all red tones,

below: There were many women!  The wall most easily seen in the photo is a grid of 9 x 27 photos, with no duplicated that I can find.  That makes 263 women represented on that wall… and that’s only part of the whole.

man in white shirt standing in the middle of an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

below: If you pick up the receiver on the red phone you can listen to a recording of the 1963 hit song ‘Hey Paula’ recorded by Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson under the name of Paul and Paula.

an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

some people standing in front of, and looking at, an art piece of pictures on two sides of a corner, and a red phone in the middle Hey Hey Paula by Sarindar Dhaliwal

“…that [art] is a world that can belong to you and in it, you can make your imagination come alive.”
is a quote by Dhaliwal in an interview by the CBC.

This exhibit continues until mid-July 2024

the word about town

Posted: January 4, 2024 in general Toronto
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Many thanks to Sarah Serata who emailed me a few days ago with some photos that she had taken while out walking around the city.  The photos were of some of the graffiti signs that have been appeared in the past couple of years.  She wanted to know if I knew the name of the artist(s) responsible for the signs.  But unfortunately I don’t know the answer.  Instead, I have added a few of my own photos from the past few months and put them all together in this post.  If you can enlighten us as to who has posted these signs, please let us know!

below: Sweet Marie Variety on the corner of Queen and Sumach has been in decline for years.  Now it is also “Too Little” and “Too Late”.

text on posters, graffiti, on boarded up windows

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below:“Wish you were here”, Regent Park buildings before they were demolished.

painted sign posted outside old brick regent Park building before it was demolished

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: “Text”.  Words have always been a part of graffiti.  You see them hastily scrawled in marker or paint, or carefully stenciled on walls, signs, fences, or sidewalks.  Sometimes the text is silly or profane; often it is a protest.  But not usually do you just see the word ‘text’ like this sign that is mounted on the exterior of the old Consumers Gas Office building on Eastern Ave.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

below: “Gameover” was seen on the same building as the above.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

below: … and so was “Nice” which is a little fancier, and dare I say, nicer?

green sign with white letters that says nice on brick wall on old industrial building

below: Another “Nice” in blue and white.  All of these signs have obviously been painted/printed elsewhere.  You can’t call them paste-ups because they are more permanent than paper.  This one looks to be nailed to the plywood below it.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Peter Mickelson

below:  The circle within a square motif seen above also appears here – “Brawn” in the grass beside Eastern Avenue.  There was once a similar sign that said “Think” posted nearby.

sign saying brawn on a wood stake in the grass beside Eastern Ave

below: “Untitled” on  River Street.  Does untitled = unowned (as in holding a title on a piece of property)?

text on posters, graffiti, on boarded up windows

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below:“True to Form” – the next few are of a similar style and are probably by the same artist(?)

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: “Blood in the Water”

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: The downside of hanging your signs on abandoned buildings is that the weeds and shrubs grow freely there and your message gets lost.

printed sign obscured by many green leaves

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: Money is no …?  I like that fact that a sign about money is printed in gold on a green background.

printed sign, gold letters on green that say money is no, but then last word is hidden behind green leaves

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: Previously posted – located on the same row of boarded up houses on Broadview where Moises and Nick Sweetman painted a large mural with a raccoon, pigeon, and others (see Changes at Broadview and Eastern)

front door steps of empty house that has been boarded up, with sign on it that says so far so good

below: Around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, this sign appeared on the old foundry building near the Distillery District.  True, it’s a symbol not a word but the word “Ukraine” was also posted on the same building (and in the same blue and yellow).  I have a photo of it somewhere!

below: The one thing that all of the above signs have in common is that they are in the east end.   So far, I have only found one exception and that is this sign that was hung by the north side of the railway tracks on Front Street (near Bathurst).

Mounted on the fence separating the railway tracks from Front Street, is a long vertical brown sign with the words if you don't want to. GO train passing behind, condo development in the background

below: A final note – as I was putting together this post, I remembered this wall. A few years ago (2014?) if you were on Queen St. East near Church street you could see this wall on the north side beyond a parking lot (now a condo).

the word think written large in block capital letters, white on red, on a brick building in downtown Toronto, no longer there,

If you are interested in words written on walls, try “Positive words are never wrong!

Never tired of walking Yonge Street.

Posted: January 2, 2024 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations
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This is a walk that started with the Sherlock Holmes wall behind the Toronto Reference Library that I noted in a prior post.  After a brief stop at Balzacs, we continued south on Yonge to Dundas.  With all the new development on Yonge there was a lot to see.  For the most part this is a documentation of the changes on Yonge Street and perhaps one day it will be part of “A history of” the area.

christmsd decprations, pine and pine cones, on light standard with 4 globe lights, tall condo in background

new glass towers, condos, being built behind old brick buildings on yonge street

below:  Asquith Ave, looking towards Yonge with the Toronto Reference Library on the right.   New condos rise above the old brick facades from the 1880s.

looking westward on asquith towards yonge, toronto reference library on the right

yonge street toronto street sign with upper part saying Bloor Yorkville, also red and white no entry sign with a sticker on it that says free palestine from hamas

below: Looking south on Yonge Street from just north of Bloor.  Bloor Street West now gets lost in the canyon between tall towers.  The one on the southwest corner of Bloor and Yonge is planned 91 storeys but is now between 1.2 and 1.6 billion dollars in debt.  The ONE. Now with an uncertain future.  The project was taken over by a court-appointed receiver back in October.

looking south on yonge, west side, from just north of bloor

looking up to top of condo tower being built, cranes, other tall buildings, one bloor west

looking north up yonge street towards bloor

below: Looking east on Bloor from Yonge.

bloor street, looking east, southside, from yonge,

below: What was once new is now old.

sign in an upper floor window that says always something new except the word new is worn out and parts are missing

below: The old Church of Scientology building remains empty and derelict.  It’s boarded up at street level and many of the windows are cracked.  The building has been empty since 2010.   Back in 2014/5  there was talk that the organization was going to totally renovate the interior and exterior of the building; there are renderings online of the proposed changes.  At that time they owed the city close to $100,000 in back taxes.  “This building is designed in the International Style, with a clean facade and balanced proportions ” is the beginning of a description of the property on the ACO (Architectural Conservancy Ontario) website as it apparently has a heritage designation.

 

old church of scientology building on yonge street, boarded up a street level, cracked glass windows,

 

below: Vapes, vibes, and cannabis.  A brief summary of downtown Yonge Street?

store fronts on the west side of yonge, south of bloor, Vapes, Cannabis,

below:  The northwest corner of Yonge and St. Joseph Street.  Bake Code, Sacred Seed, and Pay2Day.  Richmond Hill’s number one cake store is coming to the store on the south end.  The pictures look yummy!

old buildings from the 1800s on Yonge street, two storey, store fronts, brick, at St. Joseph street , Pay2day, Sacred Seed,

 

below: Southwest corner of Yonge & Wellesley

southwest corner of yonge and wellesley with old store fronts,

below: Same corner as the photo above, but from a slightly different angle to show the new curvy condo on the south side of Wellesley.

wellesley street looking west from yonge street, convenience store on southwest croner, noew curvy condo tower in glass behind it

below: More condo development.  This time on the north side Wellesley just west of Yonge.  Centre Court.

truck parked in driveway of gate 2 of centre court construction site

below: A new park on Wellesley, Lillian McGregor Park, named for Dr. Lillian McGregor (1924-2012), of Whitefish River First Nation, who was a nurse and a community leader.  She received many awards including the Order of Ontario and she was the first Indigenous woman to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto.

green supports on white sculpture in park

below: Artwork by Winnipeg artist, a crane by  Kenneth Lavallee in Lillian McGregor park.

sculpture of long necked goose looking down at goose egg, in park on wellesley ave in toronto

below: Spotted along the way, two shiny small pieces of graffiti – shine shoes sir.   By Rocky Zenyk.

brass puck on stone, graffiti, words cut into it

small brass plaque on a post, words engraved into it

below: But does it work?

old open style phone booth on yonge street, covered with graffiti

below: Kiokii And, Unicorn Beauty, and ABC Books.

store fronts on the west side of yonge, south of bloor, ABC books, unicorn beauty,

below: Menu in the window – potato noodles and ramen and more.

menu in the window of a chinese restaurant

below: If Chinese cuisine is not your thing, there is always tandoori chicken or palak paneer nearby.  “Come and enjoy your festive season with our specials”.

sign in window for kothur indian restaurant

below: And then for something different…. for dessert you can try ‘chilled mango sago cream with pomelo’ or ‘the bath teddy bear’, or many other different taste sensations.  I think that I need to start stopping at more of these places and actually sample some of these foods!

food pictures of items on menu in restaurant

below: Kobi Korean restaurant and Metro Cigar along with one industry that is booming along with Toronto’s construction craze, the toilet rental business!

porta pottie truck parked in front of stores on yonge street

below: At the intersection of Gloucester Street and Yonge is this new red creation, a sculpture by Albert Paley

red metal sculpture on sidewalk on yonge street
below: 33wallflower33 graffiti

33wallflower33 slap graffiti on a pole, 3 ladies in period costume, black and white,

33wallflower33 pasteup graffiti on the corner of a building, woman in long dress

signs on stores on yonge street

below: Available…. one shiny red Christmas elf costume complete with silly hat.  She doesn’t look very happy having to wear it!

young girl mannequim with long black hair, wearing a santa claus costume, or elf costume

below: A cheerful little bear welcoming you to College Park

shape of a bear in red toque and scarf, in lights, christmas decoration at college park

below: Construction, and one lane blocked, near College

looking north on yonge from college, withone lane of traffic blocked because of construction

below: Looking north on Yonge towards College Street.

looking north on yonge towards college, west side, hoardings between sidewalk and street

below:  Different architectural styles.

old three storey brick buildings on yonge street
below: .. with a closer look at some of the brick and stone details

close up view of architectural details on some brick stores on yonge street

below: More old architectural details seen on exterior walls along Yonge Street

black, top of column details on exterior wall
old round stone medallion on exterior of building

below: Southeast corner of Yonge & Gerrard, now an empty shell surrounding a hole in the ground.

southeast corner of yonge and gerrard, old building now just a frame as redevelopment of the site begins

below: Reflection of the old Charles Tavern tower, now part of a new condo development.

looking south on Yonge

below: More construction, northwest corner of Yonge & Elm where the facade of a building on Elm is being preserved.

construction site behind chainlink fence

ink and marker scrawls on coloured hoardings around construction site

below: The Zanzibar remains standing amid all the changes happening around it.

Zanzibar tavern on yonge, beside a cannabis shop

below: Reflections at Yonge and Gould (looking north)

Yonge street, tall buildings, lots of reflections,

below: Another view from Yonge and Gould, this time looking south to Dundas Street.

yonge and gould, looking south towards dundas street

below: If you look closely at the photo above, there is a store on very right that looks like the name starts with Fun.  This is Funduk, and if you look in the window, this is what you might see… Top row closest to the window is Special pomegranate with hazelnuts.  Beside it is almond paste with raspberry.  What choices!!

in a store window, rows of red rolls, turkish delight for sale,

signs and store fronts at yonge and gould,

Yonge and Gould, international food

people getting on and off a TTC streetcar on Dundas, with pictures on the side of the bus shelter in the foreground
folding metal grate over shop window, word toronto in red is written on the window

I’ll end this post with a selection of the small graffiti that I saw

below: Be a hero … or

black and white slap graffiti on a pole, be a hero, a man is holding a black umbrella over the head of another men, both men in black suits

below: Ride a broomstick … or

graffiti sticker on a black pole, woman riding a broomstick

below: Comment on Republicans …

pasteup slaps on metal box already painted

below: …. And wash it all down with an ice cream cone.

pink and blue melting ice cream, sticker on a pole, graffiti

graffiti sticker

stickers, graffiti on a pole

Merry Christmas… and on to 2024!

Posted: December 31, 2023 in general Toronto
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Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season.

night time photo, house decorated with christmas lights on the tree, on the front of the house, star shapes, reindeer shapes

 

christmas lights totally covering a house and garage

Now that Christmas is over and 2023 is quickly drawing to a close, it’s time to focus on the new year.  Let’s see what 2024 is going to throw at us!  If cities made resolutions, what should Toronto’s be?  Maybe the Eglinton LRT will start running….

Wishing everyone a year full of walking opportunities, joyful discoveries, and a few great photos!

Sherlock Holmes hangs out behind the library

Posted: December 22, 2023 in graffiti and street art, public art
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Behind the Toronto Reference Library that is…..

The passage between Asquith and Church streets has been renamed Sherlock Holmes Walk and it now  features a large mural honoring the fictional detective first brought to life by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

hoardings, decrated with panels with sherlock holmes theme, painted by various artists. title sections,

“I am a brain Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix”, section by Bernice Lum

The mural was developed in partnership with the TTC,  the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto (StART) program, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) and the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection.  It differs from most street art in that the panels were produced elsewhere.   They also have a shiny finish on them so there are many reflections.

 

pathway behind library, with hoardings on right side, painted with images with sherlock holmes theme

The hoardings surround a construction site for the TTC’s Bloor-Yonge Capacity Improvements Project. The site will be home to a future fan building to enhance air circulation at the newly renovated station.

below: The Palace of Westminster (England’s parliament buildings) as Sherlock’s “Mind Palace”, an image created by EGR.  Other London scenes can be found in the background.

EGR image for Sherlock Holmes mural, Holmes with Westminster Palace in London as the top part of his head

below: A younger Sherlock Holmes playing with toy soldiers and toy dinosaurs, Jeff Blackburn

boy in blue pith helmet lying onthe grass playing with toy dinosaurs, painting in a mural by jeff blackburn

below: A collection of images from Heidi Berton,

mural by Heidi Berton, Sherlock Holmes related images

part of a long wall of hoardings around TTC property, at left is mural by Heidi Berton, Sherlock Holmes related images

part of a larger mural, fountain pen lying on white piece of paper, words written, ink blots on paper and table

below: Niiwin Binesi (Four Birds) – Brent Hardisty

part of a mural about sherlock homes, a section by indigenous artist,


A group of StART artists provided artwork for the mural – I haven’t been able to match all the artists to the sections (and I missed a panel or two?) As well as the artists named above, the following were also involved in this project:  Artists: Adrian Hayles, Annwin Arts, Fatspatrol, Brian Jiang,  Jasmin Pannu, Keitha Keeshig Tobias, Megan Oldhues, Melika Saeeda, Poser.

below: An image that makes me think of  “The Hound of the Baskervilles” novel.

 

Keith Haring at the AGO

Posted: December 14, 2023 in galleries
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One of the special exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario at the moment is a selection of the works of Keith Haring (1958-1990).   Haring started as a graffiti artist in New York City, drawing over advertisements in the subway.   Over the course of his short life he also had many solo gallery showings and participated in numerous group exhibitions.   After being diagnosed with AIDS in the autumn of 1988, much of his work was geared to raising awareness about the disease.

This is a small selection of the art on display at the AGO.

 

a group of five Keith Haring paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, mounted on a red wall

His figures are very stylized and simplified.  Lines show movement.

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, polka dot dogs jump through hole in middle of yellow human figure

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, many little white men building a mountain of televisions, each tv has a red x on the screen

below: By the look of it, capitalism is eating people, devouring the masses.

part of a Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, big blue monster with dollar sign on nose, mouth open and many little people partially in its mouth

part of a Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, red object going through hole in the middle of yellow stomach

Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

red and green painting on white

part of Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

a woman sits on a bench, looking at Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, a human figure is bent over backwards while other smaller figures use him as a bridge

a very large Keith Haring painting at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO,

two women standing beside a wall painted in orange and pink stripes

Clarence and Draper

Posted: December 2, 2023 in history, locations, nature, public art, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Almost 200 hundred years ago plans were made for a new park in a very new city.

old painting of Clarence Park in Toronto in winter, trees around a small fountain, a line of houses at the top of the picture

Colorized print, Clarence Park with houses on north side and a fountain in the middle.  Image found on a Heritage Assessment document for the park, no credit given there.

The park, named Clarence Park for the Duke of Clarence, was part of a planned community conceived of in the 1830s that included a church, a market, and building lots for houses.  The land that it was on was part of a military reserve (i.e. it belonged to the British).   In 1860 ownership of the land, already developed as a park, was transferred to the city by means of a  Crown grant containing a restrictive covenant to maintain it as a public square.

below: A map of the area circa 1833.  Lake Ontario to the south is at the top of the map.  Fort York, on the right was actually on the waterfront at the time.  On the left are some of the original streets – Peter St. and John St. being two of them that are still with us today.  The red square on the map is the location of the present day Clarence Park.

1833 map of Fort York and some streets in Toronto at the Lake Ontario waterfront

below: Clarence Park fountain these days.  I have mentioned before that I think that Toronto does a horrible job with fountains but this one probably wins an award for worst maintenance job ever.  And you say it’s been this way for at least four years?  Is the original fountain (see the painting at top) hiding under here?

boxed sculpture in dry fountain in clarence park

below: So nice of the city to provide more canvas space for graffiti.  Public art at its finest!

paper paste ups on plywood on boxed sculpture in clarence park

close up of paper paste ups on plywood covering sculpture in the middle of a dry fountain in clarence park

below: Not that long ago, this type of picture was not that common in the city. Now, this layered look is everywhere. The houses of Clarence Square, north side, built 1879 – 1885.

row houses on clarence square with glass condos behind

below: Part of the homeless encampment of Clarence Square.  Since this picture was taken (mid-November) some of the other encampments in the city have been cleared, specifically Kensington and St. Stephens church on College Street.  Yes, we have a housing problem.  No, we haven’t got any solutions, or at least none that we can agree on or are prepared to pay for.  Are tents in parks a good idea?  Probably not.  But they are there because it’s an “easy” solution that costs the city nothing.

homeless encampment in clarence park

below: Does anyone recognize this view?  There are a view clues that suggest this is just another view of Clarence Park. But when did those towers appear?  Turn around and someone alters the landscape while you’re not looking, playing tricks with your memory.

cluster of tall condo towers behind a park

below: Now turn 180 degrees, and the view changes…. sort of.  The new LCBO on Spadina that replaces the one at King & Spadina (that building is still standing and still vacant by the way).  Also, across the street is The Well that I blogged about previously.

LCBO store in brick building on corner, on Spadina, across street from new steel and glass development, the well, and other condos in the distance

below: Looking south on Spadina at Front Street – I love the way that Spadina seems to disappear into the distance.  Into the great beyond.

standing on streetcar tracks TTC and looking south on Spadina, at Front street, with glass tower condos on both sides

people waiting at streetcar stop at spadina and front in toronto,

below: If you walk through The Well, at one point this is the view to the north with an interesting jumble of roof lines, window styles, and brick patterns.

layers of midrise buildings, mostly brick, some with balconies, downtown toronto, north of wellington, west of spadina

below: Front St., putting the finishing touches on the sidewalk outside The Well development.

workmen in hi viz jackets laying concrete blocks to make sidewalk along Front Street in downtown Toronto, CN Tower in the background

below: Front Street, walking west towards Bathurst.

three people walking along sidewalk on front street towards portland street and bathurst street in toronto

below: “Dance all night till you can’t feel your legs”

back corner of white car, red light, stickers, rooster, mask, dakkar, and words that say dance all night until you can't feel your legs

below: So many possible captions!  Tossing happiness aside … Empty promises of happiness…

a pile of empty pizza boxes on the sidewalk beside some city of toronto rubbish bins and recycling bins

below: In the midst of all the new development along Front Street and the railway corridor, Draper Street remains.  It is one block of old houses, many of them heritage row houses.

old blue wood door on brick house, stone step, welcome mat with keith herrig image on it

below: Draper Street houses – a smaller version of the houses seen on Clarence Street (see above).  They are of a similar vintage with almost identical rooflines and window shapes.  The Empire Style.

empire style row houses from the 1880s, black mansour roof, with new condos behind

City of Toronto historic plaque for Draper Street

“DRAPER STREET – Draper Street’s Empire-style cottages were built in 1881 and 1882,  while its larger homes were constructed between 1886 and 1889.  The street – a Designated Heritage Conservation District – is unusual because its residential character survived the overall industrialization of the King-Spadina neighbourhood in the twentieth century.  Draper Street has been a haven for people of many backgrounds, such as Lincoln Alexander, who was born here in 1922 to West Indian parents, and who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1985-1991.  The name of the street honours William Henry Draper (1801-1877), a pre-Confederation lawyer and Conservative politician, who was the virtual “Prime Minister” of the United Province of Canada from 1844 to 1847.  He subsequently became a judge, eventually being appointed Chief Justice of post-Confederation Ontario in 1869. “

 

shadow of old light pole on brick wall of house, new condo being built behind, draper street

The new condos at The Well loom over a new park (2021), Draper Park.  It’s small, the equivalent of two housing lots; numbers 19 and 21 once stood here.  The original owner of 19 Draper Street (1881) was George Hickey, a railway manager.  It was demolished in 1942 and was replaced by a small factory owned by Farrell Plastics.  At that time, a factory would not be out of place as the area was more industrialized.  The building was destroyed by fire in 1969.

below: Draper and Front, looking east

intersection of draper and front streets, looking eastward

Since I mentioned the fact that this land was once owned by the British military, and the fact that Fort York was once “in the middle of nowhere”, I’d like to add a couple more photos that show much development has occurred in the area.

below: New development along Front Street.  The bridge is at Bathurst.  Draper Street is just outside the photo on the righthand side.  All the railway corridor and the lands to the south were not there in 1833 when Sir. Richard Bonnycastle drew his map – but that’s a whole other story for another day!

looking northeast across the railway corridor to Front Street and the new development along it at Bathurst St., Bathurst bridge over the tracks, and new condos in the distance

below: View from Bathurst – the white buildings here are part of Fort York while the new condos are just beyond, closer to Strachan Ave.

buildings at fort york in the foreground, new condo high rise buildings in the background, looking northwest from Bathurst and Front

buildings at fort york in the foreground, new condo high rise buildings in the background, looking northwest from Bathurst and Front

 

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