my go to places

Posted: April 29, 2025 in general Toronto
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Queen Street East, old brick building in front of new glass and steel condo tower

“My Go to Places” was recently a photo challenge from John at Journeys with Johnbo, another wordpress blog.  Because my blog is very Toronto centered, I don’t usually play along with such games but last week I thought that I would make an exception because “my go to place” is/are the streets and alleys of Toronto.

Every street has a story to tell, you just have to get out there and explore.

part of a mural on the Danforth, a larger than life person in white jacket and dark jeans, walking off the wall

On the Danforth, part of a mural by Monica on the Moon (aka Monica Weikler).

I enjoy finding the quirks of the city – humorous signs in store windows,  bizarre or funny graffiti, the quirky things people put in their front yards, and more.  I like stumbling upon surprises that make me smile (or wince!).

A happy face and poetic words on a TTC bus stop pole – “She lives to see the sun and feel the wind and drink the rain”.  Not bad words to live by!

But sometimes the joy is found in the ordinary.

a woman is crouching down on a sidewalk to get a better photograph of a garden full of bright yellow daffodils, with the stone buildings of Emanuel College, U of T, in the background

Bright yellow signs of spring, and hope, in front of the stone buildings of Emanuel College, University of Toronto.

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Out on the streets the cliche of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ holds true – it’s all there (have I complained recently about the street level ghastliness of some new condos?).  And not just the on the streets, but also underground, wandering through buildings, or crossing above

looking out an elevated pedestrian bridge, enclosed in glass, looking out to street, and downtown Toronto

Sick Kids Hospital, crossing over busy streets

below: Behaving well on the subway.

small white curly haired dog sitting on a blue TTC subway car seat, with a woman in a blur coat, red scarf, and large red bag, she is looking at her phone

White Hydrangeas (A haiku for each petal)
…
Ivory flowers
sprout in the graveyard near me
soil-bound miracle
…
This ground is neutral
apparently this is so all I know is not
…
Dirt sits on a son –
a boy, thousand times unearthed –
who looks just like me
…
Bouquets mask his name
this world is not meant for us
still, white hydrangeas

I walk through ravines and along the lakefront….. past places that everyone recognizes as well as places that are hidden away.

GO train on tracks, repair and maintenance trucks parked beside the tracks, CN Tower and downtown Toronto in the background

A GO train travels just west of the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. A small piece of the white roof of the SkyDome (Rogers Centre) can be seen at the base of the tower.

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two people walking along the side of the railway tracks, apartment buildings in the background,

Walking beside the railway tracks, somewhere in Toronto.

I’ve seen the streets where we work, where we play, and where we live.

 

workman, cutting pavement, or sidewalk, outside, making lots of dust,

three brick duplex houses in a row

Duplexes on Eglinton

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large inflatable Santa Claus on a front yard of a large house with dark blue shutters

Santa Claus visits the west end.

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downtown row house with larger apartment building behind

Urban living downtown

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And I know that good things usually happen when you get out and be a part of the city.  Of course we have problems (that Eglinton LRT is a mess isn’t it? and it’s a shame about the Science Centre, right?)  It’s a friendly place.

pedestrians and one cyclist crossing on a green light at college and spadina

Pedestrians, a few cars, and one cyclist, crossing at College and Spadina.

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beside uber 5000 mural on the side of the Toronto Humane Society, people crossing Queen Street towards THS, people standing in bus shelter beside the mural, big orange cat and large dog, both in the mural

At River and Queen East, cats and dogs in a mural by Uber 5000.

Like all story tellers, I bring along my history and my biases.  If you were to walk with me, you might notice different things than I do.  Or if we see the same things, you might offer a different perspective. You would possibly write a different story but that’s okay.   Sometimes I wonder if I am writing stories about Toronto or if I am just writing my own story and Toronto just happens to be the setting!

A young woman in floppy navy blue hat and holding a cup of coffee, pushes a stroller along a Yorkville downtown sidewalk, bright red building across the street,

Yorkville

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man sleeping on a TTC streetcar

Riding the TTC

hanging on the walls of Hart House

Posted: April 29, 2025 in galleries
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Hart House, at the University of Toronto, has two photography exhibitions on at the moment. Both are in hallways and both are open to the public.

Please remember that these are photos of pictures behind glass – don’t judge the quality of the image on display by the quality of the photo here on the blog! As usual, the real thing always looks better.

The first is “Interwoven Identities, Unraveling Diaspora Narratives” with the goal of tracing “the threads of memory, migration, and identity that shape Asian diasporic experiences and mental health.” This quote is taken from the Asian Art and Culture Trust website.

below: Fangdan Chen’s photo seems like a collage of many different kinds of faces, some natural and some not.

Untitled photograph by Fangdan Chen, on display at Hart House

below: A photograph by Sarah Jihae Kaye titled, “I’ve Begun to Distrust my Body”.

Photograph by Sarah Jihae Kaye, on display at Hart House

below: “Gourd” by Phoung Nguyen

photograph by Phoung Nguyen, title is gourd, on display at hart house

below: “Imagined Ricefields” by Reginald Balanga  – a barren winter scene that is possibly as far away from any rice field as possible.

a photo of a blacket draped over oa chainlink fence, winter scene, snow on the ground, small leafless trees.

The second floor hallway has an exhibit that features work by the Hart House Camera Club. The winners of the 103rd Annual contest, in 9 categories. A sample below. If your favorite photo isn’t here, don’t take it personally, it’s probably because I had trouble with reflections in the glass of many of them.

below: Cosmo Chan “Home”

colour photograph of a large multi story building

below: “Gently” by Jacob Lee

Photograph by Jacob Lee, two people reaching out to touch each other, with focus on the hands

below:  A surreal blue scene by Ongphat Piyabenjarad titled, “Parallel Worlds”

surreal photo, all in blue, two people floating or swimming underwater, with cityscape, highrises, in the background,

below: “Veiled” by Jasmine Lu, part of a photographic essay.

photo of a woman with light clothing, standing knee deep in water, part of a series by Jasmine Lu

below:  A young man sitting on a bench in what might be a bus shelter.   This is “How to Start your Digital Detox” by Gerald Lerchbaumer.

colour photo, man sitting on bench with back to camera, street scene in front of him

below: Albert Huang, “Camel Man”

black and white photo of a man with two camels, by Albert Huang, title The Camel Man, on display in the hall of Hart House at University of Toronto

below:  “The Strongman” by David Williams.

A black and white frames photo on display on a brick wall, The Strongman by David Williams

below: Playing with reflections, in another David Williams photo.  Who is watching who?

black and white photo of a man looking out a window, by David Williams, with reflections of the photographer and the wall behind

two framed colour photos hanging on a brick wall, interior, as part of an exhibit by the hart house camera club

below: Auden Cole “Phone Hunch”

colour phiotograph, black silhouette of a man behind clear glass or plastic that has graffiti on it

The Hart House Camera Club exhibits ends 30th of April.

The “Interwoven Identities” show continues until 18th May. If you are interested in the subject, there is another exhibit at the STACKT Market during the month of May called “Interwoven Identities: Healing in Community” – information at the Asian Arts and Culture website.

of wisdom, patience, and other things…..

Posted: April 27, 2025 in events
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This past week there were some intriguing posters on a few utility poles around the St. George campus of U of T, all to promote this year’s Philosothon.  This is/was a two day event (April 26 & 27) to promote critical thinking as well as creative thinking.

below: “What wisdom hides in what you’ve allowed yourself to forget?”

poster on a utility pole on university of Toronto campus, asking a philosophical question. source - philosothon U of T.

below: “Where does you body truly end?”

below:  top: “What worlds exist in your peripheral vision?” bottom: “What have your eyes forgotten to see without help?”

below: “When did patience stop feeling like a virtue?”

below: top: Where in your body do you feel time passing? bottom: “When was the last time you felt truly irreplaceable?”

behind Ossington

Posted: April 13, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

For a number of years now, there has been a lot of street art and graffiti in an alley that runs behind the east side of Ossington starting at Queen Street and ending one block north at Humbert. Some of it is interesting; some is not. A few garages and walls look the same as they did 12 or 13 years ago so some of these photos may look similar to older photos used in this blog.

building in an alley, northeast corner of queen west and ossington, street art and graffiti on the walls

below: In the background, an untitled piece by Caratoes.  It was one of 5 murals painted in Toronto in 2016 for the “Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans” series.  In total, there were over 500 murals in 20 countries in this series.

graffiti on a wall in many colours, with a large grey tones mural in the background.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in the alley dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: Looking south. The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west

street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

below: At the north end of the alley

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.

weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

purple line drawing in spray paint of a man, with yellow wings, graffiti added to it, alley

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece

below: And lastly…  Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

below: Looking north

alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti

garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

Posted: April 12, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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Running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side.  The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago.  Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to put graffiti.

alley, long low building on right hand side, painted blue, with windows,

below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.

below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on.  Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.

below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers

below: Holding tight to that red rose.

stencil on a wall in an alley, a fist holding a red rose

Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….

below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold

below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?

below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around.  Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado

below: “Tell me its all going to be okay?  Not sure if I can do that buddy…..

graffiti on a black garage, white drawing of a person with fingers in peace sign, with text Tell me it's all going to be okay?

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

murals on a fence in an alley including one by hello kirsten, design patterns, also a woman in purple,

murals in an alley, a garage painted all orange, paintings on fence, face and cacti painted in side a car port under an apartment

motorcycle parked in front of blue fence, beside a garage in a lane, near Queen Street West and Lansdowne

mini cooper car parked in an alley beside a garage with street art and graffiti on it

green spray paint and black drippy paint graffiti on red brick wall

alley views

below: Enough!  Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

close up of painting on a wood fence, abstract shapes and colours, with texture

This post also appears on my street art blog, Eyes on the Streets.

some Parkdale doors and windows

Posted: March 31, 2025 in doors, stores, windows and walls
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below: Have a seat!  Let me show you a few interesting and colourful doors and windows that I have seen along Queen Street West.

2 wood chairs outside a coffee shop

below: We’re all in this together. Recognize the font? the style?  It’s a throwback to Honest Eds.

sign in window that says we're all in this together

outside wall painted bright blue, window,

below: Passing in front of Bone & Busk store.

Front window with two corsets, one white, and one red, of bone and busk store on queen west

below: Art frames the windows

part of a street art mural that frames the windows in a store, reflections in the window

below: Facial time, with love from Pepe!

old black mailbox on a white wall, with poster above showing a woman getting a facial, black scrawl graffiti below the mailbox

below: An abstract painting of a musician in hot reds and oranges covers this door.

dark wood door frame, abstract painting in hot colors, reds, orange, and some yellow, covers most of the door.

below: Welcome, but closed.

metal gate in front of door of store with closed sign, also a sign that says welcome

below: Luigi plays Tetris

in the window of a store, a figurine of Luigi from Mario brothers, with a toy tetris game

below: Grocery Coffee

from across the street, front of Grocery Coffee with a table and two chairs outside

reflection of woman looking at pastries for sale in a bakery window,

two men talking outside a tattoo parlour on Queen West, both wearing toques

below: In a quiet niche, a guitar player finds a place to play.

man plays a guitar in doorway of closed restaurant and cafe, guitar case on ground, pictures in window

a woman walks past Lee's Variety on Queen West, store is painted red, with large window in front,

below: Advertising their wares, phone accessories, backpacks, incense sticks, cat dog food, ice, beer, and key cutting… and many more inside!

window of convenience store, key cutting, with ads on boards outside on sidewalk

below: T.dot Variety

t dot variety store with a tree growing in front of it

below: Gumby lies in the window of Tammy’s wearing white boots and pink thong.  Not the Gumby of your childhood!

rainbow coloured bench in front of Tammys window, Gumby with white boots and pink thong, holding a microphone,

below: Mailboxes and stickers

2 doors on a building, the one on the right is covered with stickers

below: A peachy scene

doorway alcove painted with abstract person's butt in the shape of a peach

green door, with 2 green milk crates sitting on the doorstep

below: Mary stands outside a window of Our Lady of Lebanon Church

part of a dark red brick church, with arched window, white statue of Mary in front of the church

looking in a restaurant window, plastic pink flower, with reflections of street

I have chosen to focus on the content or the character of the windows and doors at street level. There is at least one, and probably more, stories that could be told about the doors and windows of Parkdale from an architectural perspective (commercial, and then residential…). I will leave you with a couple of examples but I will have to save the rest of the subject for another post.

upper level of 2 storey building, brick, with six windows, and pattern of yellow bricks,

toronto city street sign, Queen Street West, Parkdale, showing the upper level of the buildings across the street

everything’s for sale

Posted: March 26, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, windows and walls
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below:  Signs. I always read the signs.  As I approached the fence, I was preparing to read about yet another condo so I was pleasantly surprised to read, “building with Electronic Gaming and Bingo Hall”!   Apparently Dolphin Gaming has submitted a number of applications for developing this site over the past few years and finally, back in November the plan for a lowrise building with plenty of parking was approved.

blue and white city of toronto development notice sign,

I came across the above sign a few weeks ago when a small group of us explored a rather forlorn section of Scarborough. “Forlorn” can be fun because often it equals interesting photography opportunities.  It was still winter then; back when there was still snow on the ground.

do not enter sign on chainlink gate, in front of light industrial, storage facility

Many people react to seeing a group of people with cameras walking in their neighbourhood.  Some of the natives are friendly and want to talk, even if it’s just a minute or two of small talk.  We can be a chatty group.  A number of times during this walk we were asked if we were looking to buy.  When we asked if what they had was for sale, the answer was frequently, “everything is for sale”.  I can not vouch for how true that is, but in this section of Scarborough it certainly felt possible.

city street signs on a stop sign pole, cleanside road and warden avenue, vacant lot behind

a yellow digger and a full blue dumpster on a snowy vacant lot, behind barbed wire fence

cars and other junk stacked three levels high, outdoors,

small plastic santa claus beside a mail box

large 18 wheeler truck cab, with three mirrors on drivers side

looking between the backs of trucks that are parked close to each other

below: Signs!

below: Oh no!  I can picture the driver jumping out of his Cybertruck already for his shift in a school bus!

Tesla cybertruck parked by Stock school bus office building, small yellow school buses in the background.

below: Most of the architecture is one storey brick buildings, long and low.  This type of roof over the entrance probably has a name, canopy? awning? – it seems very 1960s or 1970s.

one storey light industrial building in scarborough, with zigzag roof over entrance

below: Largest in Canada!  Pink windows say: Open to the public…. We can finance your kitchen for a few dollars a week….Big or small, we auction it all…  (and more)

building housing a company that specializes in liquidation, buying and selling of items unsold or unwanted by others

below: Old style bus shelter with no ads.

Warden Ave in Scarborough, bus shelter in front of low rise red brick building with green roof,

below: Railway tracks cross Warden Avenue at a level crossing

private property, no trespassing sign beside railway tracks in scarborough

 

hoardings with photos of city buildings with blue sky backgrounds, behind chainlink fence

broken front headlight of a purplish coloured van

old purple van with patchy bodywork

pile of stuff outside a red brick building, including a gatorade vending machine, green plastic chair, two shovels, a metal container, a red plastic gas can, and more

stuff being stored outside behind a gas station including a sign that says hand car wash, yellow dumpster,

gas station in winter

wood chair with old beige cushion sits on a snow covered sidewalk in front of a building under construction

below: A large pile of old used wheel rims
pile of old wheel rims, other piles of scrap metal and metal for recycling

large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

looking through chainlink fence at large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

behind chainlink fence, old cars parked bumper to bumper

locked gate, steps leading up to gate, mound of dirt behind gate, winter, snow on ground

rusty barbed wire drooping down across chainlink fence,

signs on the side of a building, one of the signs is partially fallen off

a red brick building with two tall skinny windows is beside and slightly in front of a yellow clad building, picnic tables in the space between the two, snow on ground,

two piles of pallets sitting outside a brick building with graffiti on the walls

below: “Puzzle” created by Elaine Teguibon, Tara Dorey, Raymond Cho, as well as  youth employment program artists, 2011.  Funded by the City of Toronto.  It covers the front of the Youthlink building .

youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

kids playing cards, youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

below: It has a couple of Mediah murals and a Scarborough 3D sign, and now its for sale…. (more details at: Scarborough Mediah blog post)

building for sale. mediah murals on two sides, big for sale sign in front, bus stop, painted storage container in front, warden ave in scarborough

below: More for sale!  All one storey.  This is steps  the new Eglinton LRT (we think!).   It is zoned M4A-225 which is industrial.  Also sneaking into the picture –  You might recognize the large white city of Toronto water tower near the corner of Warden and Eglinton.

large for sale sign beside stores and businesses on warden ave., toronto water tower in the background, snow,

below: Domestic Tank & Equipment with its wall of small panes of window glass.  There must have been hundreds of these types of buildings in Toronto once upon a time.

gates of Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

I tried to find some history on this building… instead I learned a lot about “liquid storage solutions since 1952”.  Industrial use tanks are actually quite interesting!

part of wall of windows at Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

below: Where an Electronic Gambling & Bingo Hall just might go …

vacant lot with concrete barrier blocking entry

old roller gate, open position, driveway now blocked and lot now vacant

old faded and rusty metal sign on chainlink fence

As I was taking the above three photos, I had my back to another very large abandoned site which happens to also be the place where I ended the walk. A large and very empty Rona store occupies a large chunk of prime real estate.  It was made redundant when  Lowes and Rona (both were big box hardware and building supply stores) merged a few years ago.  A second, but very active, Rona store is only a block or so away.

below: It is quite a large piece of property.  Present asking price is just over $50,000,000.

snow covered field in front of empty rona store in scarborough

side view of main entrance to rona store

view of empty loading bays at empty rona store

billboard in empty parking lot of a now empty rona store

below: Although I know that big box stores are big, they look even bigger when they are empty.  There doesn’t seem to be much to them – some beams to make a metal frame, add a few pipes and some wires, and wrap it on all sides.  An engineer or a contractor may disagree, but it looks so simple.

interior, empty Rona store

interior, empty Rona store, looking in through window with reflections of exit door and parking lot

below: Over and out!

exit door from old abandoned rona store

Thanks to the usual Wednesday walking group for letting me join them once again – All bundled up for walking on a winter day!

backs of people walking on sidewalk, past shiny reflective hoardings, with new housing in the background

Light Years and Modernism

Posted: March 19, 2025 in galleries
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A quick, and very selective, look at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), focusing on two exhibits, “Light Years, the Phil Lind Gift” and “Moments in Modernism”.

below: Rodney Graham, “Media Studies ’77” . This large installation (lit from behind) will bring back memories if you are of a certain age!

below: Welcome to Vancouver

below: A series of images by General Idea (There are actually 4 pieces in this series).  General Idea was a group of 3 Canadian artists, Felix Partz (aka Ronald Gabe), Jorge Zontal (aka Slobodan Saia-Levy) and AA Bronson (aka Michael Tims).  The three men met in Toronto in the late 1960s; their collaborative work then continued until the mid 1990s. They were pioneers in the field of conceptual photography.

below: William Kentridge, “Drawing for Another Country, Flooded Street”, 1994.   Kentridge was born in South Africa in 1955)

below: “River Road” by Canadian photographer Jeff Wall. The photo was taken along the Fraser River in Richmond BC and was taken in 1994.  It is shown here as a transparency over a lightbox so that it is lit from behind.

The “Moments in Modernism” exhibit is a re-working of artworks owned by the AGO.  Some of you may have seen one or two pieces before.

below: “Delta Tau” by Morris Louis, 1960.

below: “Abstraktes Bild”, 1986,  by Gerhard Richter (b. Dresden Germany 1932).

below: I have seen this before (and possibly shown it here?) and I like it as much as ever.  It takes a certain amount of audacity or gumption to create a painting like this. Robert Motherwell painted this – title: “Open No.37A: in Orange”, 1971, charcoal and acrylic.

Robert Motherwell painting, orange, with three thin black lines, like an unfinished square, top open

below: Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), mixed media on panel, 1964 (only part of it is shown).   Rauschenberg made pieces like these that he called ‘combines’ and they were for stage decorations for performances by an experimental dance group (Merce Cunninham Dance Group).  In 1963 they did a world tour  called  “Story”where they made a different ‘combine’ for each performance.  This particular piece was made onstage at London’s Phoenix Theatre in August, 1964.

Robert Rauschenberg, combines, artwork,

The modernism exhibit is more extensive than I have made it seem.  I didn’t take many pictures of pieces that I had seen before which may or may not have been the right call.  Andy Warhol’s large silkscreen image of the 4 identical Elvis Presley’s holding a gun ready to shoot is on display –  the one where two Elvis’s are in bright colours and the other two are in black and white.     You can also see Alex Colville’s “Woman in a Bathtub” if you want (I think that it is the worst of Colville’s otherwise wonderful paintings).   In addition, there are works by Canadian artist Rita Letendre and Norval Morisseau, plus others.

Light Years continues until November 2025,
while Modernism continues until March 2026 (another year)

all about Murray

Posted: March 16, 2025 in galleries
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This past week there was an exhibit at Gallery 1313 that paid tribute to Murray McKay.  Murray started modeling for college level life drawing classes in the 1990s.  Between then and his passing in 2024, he had a large impact on Toronto’s art community.  More than forty artists contributed their drawings or paintings of Murray to the exhibit which was simply titled “Murray”.

three brightly coloured paintings, on gallery wall, gallery 1313, all three are portraits

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

Gallery 1313 Murray McKay tribute exhibition

This exhibit was only on between 5th and 16th March (now ended)

intersections – King and Queen

Posted: March 15, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, memorials, old buildings, stores, transportation
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… and Roncesvalles and Queensway.

King Street merges with Queen Street twice, once in the east at River Street and once in the west when King turns north and joins Roncesvalles.  At this point Queen becomes the Queensway.

below: Queen streetcar traveling westbound (center of picture) while a King car makes the turn north into the intersection (right side).

intersection of Queen, King, Roncesvalles and Queensway, looking east

If that King car continues north, it travel up Roncesvalles to Dundas West station.

looking north on Roncesvalles from Queen, sidewalk planter decorated with fancy lettering says Roncesvalles village

below: Looking west on the Queensway with all the overhead streetcar wires because….

looking west along Queensway from Roncesvalles, lots of overhead streetcar wires

below: … the TTC Roncesvalles Carhouse is right there.  It is 28 streetcar tracks wide and is used for storage and maintenance of part of the TTC’s streetcar fleet.

Queensway TTC streetcar yard

below:The Queensway also runs parallel to (and within sight of) Lakeshore Blvd, the Gardiner Expressway, and Lake Ontario.

view from pedestrian bridge over lakeshore blvd and gardiner expressway, traffic on the roads, etobicoke and mississauga in the distance, lake ontario

below:  There is access to the waterfront is by a pedestrian bridge.

pedestrian bridge over the lakeshore and gardiner expressway, towards lake ontario, street art and graffiti on the lower concrete parts of the railing, lamp lights along the way, blue sky day, no people

below: Also at this intersection is a memorial to all the Polish citizens who died at the hands of the Soviets during WWII.

monument in a park, large stone with a plaque on it,

Plaque reads: “1940-2000, In Memoriam … Lest we forget… May the tragic deaths of tens of thousands of Polish citizens in Soviet forced-labour camps, political prisons and execution sites, always remind the world that freedom is bought with great sacrifice.
Dedicated to the memory of over one million seven hundred thousand Polish soldiers and civilians arrested in EAstern Poland by the Soviet secret service (NKVD) in 1940-1941, for the only reason that they were Polish citizens and were deported to the far reaches of the Soviet Union (siberia), where many were executed or died of hunger, cold, disease, and exhaustion during World War II.
[words in Polish]”
Alliance of the Polish Eastern Provinces in Toronto, February 10, 2000.

The rest of this post are images of some of the sights along Queen West and in the alleys behind.  Some of them may look like photos that have appeared in prior blog posts….  Many things have changed over the years and yet many things remain the same.

below: North side of Queen West, looking towards Roncesvalles.

queen street west, north side, looking west towards roncesvalles

below: South side of Queen West, looking towards Roncesvalles

brick buildings, low rise apartments, on south side of queen, near roncesvalles

Some of the old architecture remains – Volumes could probably be written about all the old architectural features that can still be seen out Queen West and King West.  Many of which date from when Parkdale was an affluent suburb of Toronto.

three storey house on king street

man standing in front of an older brick apartment building three storey brick buildings on queen west, stores at street level, windows with little turrets on the top floor

below: An old Royal Bank of Canada building (now used for other purposes).

old royal bank of canada building, red brick, with stone dorway, including arch over door

below: An old Second Empire type of building, that is now home to the Easy Restaurant as well as Rosa’s restaurant.

below:Back of the building – King Street side.

back of easy restaurant with black and white mural, old red brick building,

below: The original mural with its yellow convertible once seen on the back of the building is still there, it’s just hidden by a more recently built structure to store garbage bins and other stuff in.

old Easy restaurant mural, now covered over by storage shed for garbage containers

below: If you have passed by this intersection, you may have noticed the yellow motorcycle rider on the King Street side of the building.

yellow painting of a man on a motorcycle, on wall outside Easy Restaurant, King street side

below: Dancing in the window

figurines or sclpture in a store window, thai dancers in traditional costume, head dresses on, gold accessories and highlights

below: A doggie in the window!

neon light art in a store window, a white dog with blue glasses riding on a blue skateboard

below: Ford among the light fixtures.  Who is the dimmest bulb?

inside a store window, light fixtures, shades, and other bits and pieces, along with some campaign literature from Doug Fords recent provincial election

old paint by number paintings of boats, two of them, in frames, on display in a shop window on Queen West

below: An anchor, many stickers, and a red skull and crossbones

a door to a tattoo parlour, part of it is covered with stickers, as well as blue anchor and red skull and cross bones

bright red door with glass panel, number 1635, junk store, vintage store, antiques, all cluttered in windows of the store

signs on a store door, glass door, one says closed, another says parkdale shop local and last, proudly parkdale

collage, graffiti, on a wall on queen west, man's face made up of 6 pieces of paper

below: Potato sack racers in a mural by Jim Bravo.  The sacks all say “Eva’s Fine Deli” on them so perhaps this was once the wall of said deli?  Now it is the Dosa restaurant on Roncesvalles.

mural by Jim Bravo in a lane off Roncesvalles, close to Queen, children in a greenfield, running potato sack race, hopping,

looking west towards roncesvalles in an alley behind queen west on the north side, brick buildings, some street art,

below: Dreamer

alley view, back of building, with door and windows, one mural of a bird with the word dreamer, one abstract blobby street art

below: Birdo paintings that have faded and weathered.  Check out an earlier post if you want to see what they once were like (Animals and Birdo Birds) This post was from March 2015, ten years ago!

 

birdo street art painting in an alley, bird with blue and white body

birdo street art painting in an alley, koala head, old man with white beard in profile

pink tags on garage in lane

exterior stairs leading to basement level door, door has street art painting of a blond woman's portrait, wearing a red hat

below: Still Alive! It’s always marvelous to encounter Lovebot the Robot in the wild.

a very big lovebot the robot street art, on a black building, white lines, faded red heart, on legs the words still alive are written

concrete steps up a small hill in front of a highrise apartment building, houses in the background

Parkdale mural on mini mart, beside house, with highrise apartments in the background

Parkdale mural on the side of Parkdale mini mart convenience store

below: More alley backyard views…. another house with a rooftop terrace or deck. I have mentioned before in other posts with other alleys, that this type of renovation/expansion has become very common throughout the city.

laneway view, back of houses, one red brick, the other blue cladding, garages, with tagged and graffiti covered garage doors, red truck,

large painting of a rabbit, street art mural, in alley behind queen street west

street art painting on garage door in alley

 

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