Max Dean’s “Still Moving”

Posted: May 6, 2018 in galleries
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Tucked away in part of the old Lever Brothers (then Unilever) soap factory there is a small exhibit now showing.

below: Follow the yellow caution tape to find the installation…..

yellow caution tape marks a path through an old industrial space, sign on a post that says Danger no pedestrian traffic.

below: This is the sight that greets you when you first walk into the room…..   A large industrial sized funnel left behind when the factory was decommissioned dominates the room.  A few figures stand on the other side of it.

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls - three of them stand around a net on a circular frame, a large industrial funnel above them.

below: Moving closer.  Above the figures is a bubble making machine – how appropriate for a soap factory!

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls

As it turns out, these figures – mannequins or automatons – were originally made back in the 1980’s as props for the Wilderness Adventure Ride at Ontario Place.  When Ontario Place closed, these guys were abandoned.

below: He looks very intent on something. .. like destroying my camera if he could.

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls - solitary man with half an arm missing, staring straight ahead, beside a net to catch soap, a large soap bubble dropping from above him

Toronto artist Max Dean rescued their remains, cleaned them up and brought them back to life.

below: … and into the 21st century.  Playing Candy Crush to pass the time? Or checking his Tinder messages?

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls - sitting on a stool with a phone in one hand, a real woman behind him with a phone in her hand taking a picture

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls - an older man standing on the stairs and looking down

mannequin automatons as part of an art installation in the old Unilever soap factory, concrete floor and walls - the likeness of Andy Warhol, white hair, glasses on head, hand up, finger pointing

The Unilever factory site is now owned by First Gulf (a development company). Access is at 21 Don Roadway which also the DVP ramp from the Lakeshore. There is parking. Getting there by public transit is not easy as there is no access directly from the north (the railway tracks & DVP are in the way).

 

“Still Moving” continues until the 3rd of June.

wonderful!

Posted: May 5, 2018 in general Toronto
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Today.  Wonderful

back of an audi with the licence plate 1drful, or wonderful,

and Shiny.

wavy reflections of a building in the windows of another downtown building

I am not usually a morning person but how could I resist not getting up and moving on this gorgeous spring day?  With my metropass in my back pocket….

looking out the open doors of a TTC streetcar, as they start to close, see reflection of the streetcar in the window of the store beside the streetcar

… and my walking sandals on (Yes! Sandals!) I headed out to explore the day.

a foot, standing on pale brick red lockstone, crumbling kerb beside the foot, some weeds starting to grow up between the cracks.

(early enough to beat the crowds!)

interior of a TTC streetcar, looking towards the back, red covered white seats, no one else on the car.

The early morning criss cross shadows and reflections.

light and shadow patterns produce by low morning sun shining on downtown glass skyscrapers, on the street below with its white lines adding to the pattern

The soft greens, and almost yellows, of new leaves.

a park with green grass, trees just beginning to bud, in front of a number of glass and steel condo towers in downtown Toronto . willow trees and other kinds of trees.

The flowers – tulips, daffodils and hyacinths – that have spring up in planters around the city.

pink tulip growing beside a shiny metal sign, reflected in the sign, other spring flowers in the background.

Oh no.  The geese are back (or did they never leave?).

A lone Canada Goose walking on a small stretch of grass beside a busy road and the onramp to the DVP. head down, looking for food.

The dogs are still waiting for the water to be turned on.

statues of dogs around a fountain that is dry at the moment.

On Yonge Street (near Wellington), there has been too much water.  The street has been closed while water main issues are straightened out (it has since been opened).

road closed sign, black arrow on orange sign, ornage and black striped traffic cones, blocking Yonge street, with trucks in the background.

wet road, water gushing out of a large hose, feet and legs of some men.

While Yonge was closed anyhow, workmen install a new sign at the corner of Yonge & Wellington.

workmen on a lifter install a new sign on the outside of a Rexall drug store.

Also needing fixing – yesterday’s wind storm left a lot of damage around the city including this very large tree that lost a very large branch.    Actually the whole tree has come down.

large sections of an old tree lie on the ground where they fell during a wind storm. They landed on a chain link fence that is now broken. in a park .

Lots of wires were down too.

a large pole with a myriad of wires (hydro wires) has started to fall over. wires draping low across the street. hydro trucks on the scene

Not everybody was up with the sun this morning.

a man under a white blanket is asleep in the doorway of the old Kingsbrae restaurant, with a can of beer beside him

I hope that your day was shiny and bright too!
I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

below: The reigning champ and I!

a man in a black tshirt crosses the street towards a large indow with lots of reflections in it.

A short CONTACT walkabout

Posted: May 5, 2018 in events, galleries, people
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This little walk starts with the artwork of Marleen Sleeuwits and her ‘Not the Actual Site’ exhibit at Brookfield Place (Allan Lambert Galleria).

A short walk from Brookfield Place westward along King street towards Metro Hall….

where pictures from John Edmonds ‘Hoods’ series are on display (as are the people who walk past!).

Across the street from ‘Hoods’ is Caroline Monnet’s, ‘History shall speak for itself’.  These photos are the south and west wall of TIFF.

caroline Monnet's large mural on the side of TIFF building, King street, people walking past, bikes parked in front of the art.

Just a bit farther west (at Spadina) you can find a large purple hued image by Felicity Hammond on the north wall of 460 King St. West.

A few more smaller works by Felicity Hammond are in the Contact Gallery at 80 Spadina – the building immediately north of the parking lot where you can find the image above.    The gallery glowed in pink and purple light.

below: Object shapes are cut outs from a thin sheet of acrylic on which photos were printed.  These shapes are held up by clay blobs.

And that’s our tour for today!

Khalsa colours

Posted: May 1, 2018 in events, people
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Revelation Day of Khalsa celebration at Nathan Phillips Square.
Fabulous colours and smells.
And LOTS of people! The people came from around Ontario as well as some from New York state.

man sikhs in colourful turbans and saris crowd into Nathan Phillips square, and are around the 3D toronto sign, which is backwards in this photo (taken from behind the letters)

women in a crowd, smiling and talking, wearing sunglasses and colourful saris and head scarves

an older sikh man stands in front of Henry Moore's sculpture, The Archer, at Nathan Phillips Square, he's wearing a yellow turban, white shirt and beige vest. Sitting around the base of the sculpture are many people - men with turbans and women with long saris.

below: There was free food for everyone.

male and female volunteers serve food to people at khalsa celebrations.

a man in a blue turban and with a long black beard carries a tray of french fries to serve to people

shoes inthe dorground, people sitting on a green mat, people standing in line waiting to pray beyond that

below: There was a place for prayer

sihks in turbans and saris praying at a khalsa event outdoors

men seated on the ground, back to camera, all wearing turbans, dark blue, orange, and light orange,

Under a tent covering, a man from Punjabi TV is filming khalsa prayers and celebration at Nathan Phillips square

statue of Winston Churchill at city hall in Toronto, hands on hips, in the background, many people are on the upper ramp around the city hall building

crowd of people at nathan phillips square, as seen from above

a group of sikhs, men and women, sitting and standing outside

sikh women in pink, orange, and yellow saris, standing outside and socializing

black jeep decorated as a float in khalsa day parade in toronto

a young sikh woman stands in front of a crowd of people, yellow sari, black leather jacket and green and gold scarf around her neck

a young man carries food in styrofoam packages as well as a drink, as he walks past people sitting around the sculpture, The Archer at City Hall

an older sikh man with a long grey beard and an orange turban holds a younger boy in a blue jacket and hood

two young men in turbans, one blue and one yellow. one is wearing reflective sunglasses

the back of a jacket being worn by a young man, white jacket with red map of canada and the words Canada 150, wearing an orange head scarf tied at the back.

Ryerson CONTACT

Posted: May 1, 2018 in events, galleries
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May is CONTACT Photography month in Toronto and like in previous years, some galleries start the month early.  One of these galleries is the Ryerson Image Centre.  This year, in the main gallery they are featuring the work of Shelley Niro, the 2017 winner of the Scotiabank Photography Award.  You may have seen some of her work at the AGO where her shirts series of photos is also on display.   Outside the building, in Devonian Square, there are large colourful abstract images glued onto large rocks.  These are the work of Scott Benesiinaabandan, a Montreal-based artist from the Obishikokaang Anishinabe First Nation.

below: First, the poster/sign at the entrance to the Ryerson Image Centre.  The four images on the left are from Niro’s shirt series of pictures – the full series is shown inside the gallery.  There is also a video from 2003 that features this woman and the T-shirts standing in this location.

4 photos by Shelley Niro, of indigenous woman wearing a white t shirt with words on them, plus aboriginal/original pictures of the artist.

below: A series of three photos framed together titled ‘Mohawk Worker’.  It is one of a series of six triples called ‘This Land is Mime Land’ (Apparently there are 12 in the series, but only 6 are on display here).  Each set in the series has an old sepia toned black and white photo in the center, a casual posed photo on the right (of the same woman in each), and a posed, hand coloured ‘parody’ photo on the left.  In this case, she is dressed in working clothes and a hard hat, but she’s applying lipstick and has a small compact mirror in her left hand.   Other works in this series include,  ‘Love Me Tender’ with the woman dressed as Elvis, and ‘Final Frontier’ with the woman dressed in a Star Trek outfit.

three pictures frames together, on the left is a woman in workmen's clothes and hard hat but putting on lipstick, in the middle is a vintage black and white photo

below: One of another set of pictures.  Hand painted black and white photos of these women posing (hamming it up) for the camera.  They are on the yellow brick road, and like Dorothy on her way to see the Wizard, they are wearing red shoes.  “Red Heels Hord” 1991.   It, like a lot of her work, challenges the stereotypes and cliches of Native American women.

a colourized black and white photo of three women hamming it up for the camera. All wearing red shoes and walking on a yellow sidewalk, beside a metal fence. by Shelley Niro

Shelley Niro was born in 1954 in Niagara Falls NY and grew up on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve near Brantford.  She graduated from OCA and a masters in Fine Art from the University of Western Ontario.

below: Four photos from “Are You My Sister?” 1994.   This is only part (4/12) of the series.  The glass was very reflective so you can see the shirt series that was on the opposite wall.  Like most of her work, the matte has been hand decorated.  In this case, patterns are made with performations in the matte.

four pictures of women, standing, matted in orange, orange tone to the photos, relfections of other photos in the glass, art by Shelley Niro

Scott Benesiinaabandan’s installation, ‘newlandia: debaabaminaagwad’  is in two parts.  First, on the sidewalk in front of the statue of Egerton Ryerson, the man who founded the University, is an image that has been glued to the ground.   Parts of that statue have been used in the making of the image – it’s not too easy to see in this photo, but the top part of the image is the same shape as the top of the statue of Ryerson.  Maybe you can see the purple draped head and the outstretched arm.  It’s like the statue has been draped with cloth and/or pictures.  In fact, the images used to create this were taken from photographs that Benesiinaabandan took of three First Nations flags.

below: The other part of ‘newlandia: debaabaminaagwad’ consists of large images adhere to rocks in the square, taking on the texture of the rocks.

Devonian Square in Toronto, large open area with wading pool (empty at the moment) and large boulders, small trees growing around the edge of the pool, two people walking through the pool area, a woman walking her dog on the sidewalk beside, rocks covered with artwork

rock covered with a digital image, glued on it, outside, trees around

Both of these artist have their own websites:
1.  Scott Benesiinaabandan
2.  Shelley Niro

rock solid, working out in the shadows

Posted: April 29, 2018 in public art
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subtitle: Finding treasures

Hidden behind ivy, on a building at Ryerson University, are three relief sculptures of men in athletic poses.   There’s also a line of trees beside the building that they are on.  No wonder I’ve missed them on previous walks down Nelson Mandela Way.  Today the light was shining on them just the right way .

below: Javelin thrower.  Does his left arm look a little awkward?

on a wall, covered with ivy plant (early spring so no leaves), relief sculpture of a man from the side, about to throw a javelin,

below:  Man with a ball, and covered with ivy vines which was designed in 1962 by Elizabeth Wyn Wood (They are all the work of the same artist?)

on a wall, covered with ivy plant (early spring so no leaves), relief sculpture of a man with legs spread apart, with a ball on his shoulder, arms bent upwards at elbow

below: Lifting weights.

on a wall, covered with ivy plant (early spring so no leaves), relief sculpture of a man with legs spread apart, and holding barbells across his shoulders, weight lifter,

Elizabeth Winifred Wood (1903-1966), also known as Elizabeth Wyn Wood, was born in Orillia.  She graduated from OCA (Ontario College of Art) in 1925.  Throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, many new buildings in Toronto were decorated with relief sculptures on their exterior walls.  Although many of these buildings have since been demolished, you can still see some sculptures as you walk around downtown.   By the time that Wyn Wood designed these (and other) sculptures for Ryerson in the early 1960’s, the use of relief sculptures in this context was fading.

the morning after

Posted: April 24, 2018 in general Toronto
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Yonge Street was quiet this morning

camera, and lights on tripods abeside Yonge Street, yellow police tape blocking the street, police car in the background, no traffic

 

In a small park near the SE corner of Yonge & Finch,

in many languages but with one voice,

a memorial wall to those who lost their life, or who were injured,

in yesterday’s tragedy.

 

white bristol board taped to a stone wall, condolences and other heartfelt messages written on them, flowers laid across the top of the wall

white bristol board taped to a stone wall, condolences and other heartfelt messages written on them, flowers laid across the top of the wall

white bristol board taped to a stone wall, condolences and other heartfelt messages written on them, flowers laid across the top of the memorial wall

white bristol board taped to a stone wall, concolences and other heartfelt messages written on them, flowers laid across the top of the wall , people, reporters, and photographers standing in front, a man is writing a message

a woman is writing condolences messages on bristol board that has been taped to a stone wall

There were many reporters with their cameramen at the site this morning.  It was rumoured that Mayor John Tory was coming.  I had an appointment, which is why I was in the area, so I couldn’t stay.  As it turned out, both Tory and Kathleen Wynne (Ontario Premier) paid the memorial wall a visit.

dots and lights, infinite souls

Posted: April 23, 2018 in galleries
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Dots, dots, dots.  Millions of dots? Dots and lights worth waiting for.

‘Infinity Mirrors’, Yayoi Kusama, AGO

on a mannequin, a white t-shirt and a polka dot scarf. The t-shirt has writing that says, My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots, Kusama

Kusama’s polka-dot paintings were based on visual hallucinations she has experienced throughout her life, often based on “a miserable childhood as an unwanted child born of unloving parents.”  These hallucinations often involve repeating patterns that engulf her field of vision, a process she refers to as “obliteration”.  Painting has  helped to keep her demons at bay, to obliterate her anxieties.

In 1968 she returned to Japan.  In 1977 she checked herself into the Tokyo mental hospital where she has lived ever since.  She has a studio where she works during the day but she returns to the hospital at night.

below: In an effort to keep the waiting times down, the AGO is letting three people at a time into the rooms.   I’m not sure who the man is, but he seemed to put up with Joanne and I and our cameras!  This was the first room in the exhibit and it was a bit of a let down – it was the only one that wasn’t impressive.  Minor gripe – why not a mirror on the ceiling?

phallie fields, white with red dots, mirrored room, mirrored walls, people,

below: 30 seconds per visit.  All timed – note the stopwatch!

a woman is entering Kusama's room with many lights and mirrors

below: Stars and planets into infinite.  Small specks in the vastness of the universe.  Obliteration of the self as we become just a very tiny, minuscule dot in the infinite of space.  This exhibit is “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” and is made with hundreds of hanging LED lights.

dark room with lights that look like planets and stars, mirrors on walls and ceiling.

below: The words on the wall say, “The souls of millions of light years away”. This is the line-up for the room above. It was one of the shorter lines.

people lining up inside an art gallery

Kusama was born in Japan in 1929 and trained originally in traditional Japanese painting. One of the only American painters that she knew of was Georgia O’Keefe, having seen her work in an art book. She wrote to Georgia O’Keefe asking for advice on how to break into the New York art world. In 1958 she moved to New York City where she became part of the avant-garde art scene. She was into pop art and hippie counterculture. She organized a series of anti-war public performances featuring naked people who were painted with brightly colored polka dots.

 

below: This room was fun especially since I got to spend a few seconds alone in it.  Dancing with pink balls.

in a room with mirrored walls and ceiling, many large pink balls with black polka dots on them.

below: Looking into “Love Forever” – a small hexagonal box with some mirrors on the outside and two small windows (peepholes!) as seen from the outside.  This structure/exhibit was first shown in 1966.

a woman is looking through a small window into a box with mirrors and lights.

below: Looking in the window…. It’s amazing what can be done with mirrors and lights in a small space.  Mirrors combined with the technology of LED lights that can change colours with computer controlled programs made for an impressive display.  An endless repetition of patterns.

lights, mirrors in a room with a window. Looking in through the window.

below: Same room, different colours

teal blue lights and mirrors, reflections, kusama infinite mirrors

below: Obliteration Room – multicoloured stickers that people have added to an all white room with all white furniture and accessories like wine glasses and dog dishes.  As more people pass through, the more colourful the room becomes.  The dots make it difficult to see the details in the room.  Can you tell what is on the table?

 

a room all white, including white furniture is covered with dots in many colours, stickers that different people have added to the room. Part of exhibit at AGO of work by Yayoi Kusama

Kusama also paints and makes sculptures.

a wall of bright lively paintings by Yayoi Kusama on the wall of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Some women are standing nearby, looking at the paintings.

dot covered sculpture in front of a dot covered painting

the windows on the staircase that runs behind the Art Gallery of Ontario back wall, from 5th to 4th floor, are covered with big red dots in honour of the exhibit by Yayui Kusama

Thanks to Joanne of My Live Lived Full for playing with me!

a week later, a season later.

Posted: April 22, 2018 in alleys, graffiti and street art, people, reflections
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Last weekend

a three D sculpture of a man's face, on a wall, outside, graffiti, forlorn expression on his face

This weekend

the word believe is written in yellow ribbon that has been woven into a chainlink fence around a tennis court, two women on a bench to the side of it, park,

I hope that you all had a great weekend!  It was fabulous to be out and about enjoying the warm weather – everyone is happier when the sun shines and the snow melts!  The following pictures were taken today when I was out walking along Queen West, people watching as I went.

street art graffiti that says vida in large letters along the side of a metal staircase, upper story of an orange brick building

below: Street artist SKAM and his graffiti tag.   The original was painted in 2012 and had not been tagged over or messed up too much.  Some of the paint was peeling so it was time for a make over.

street artist skam is painting text graffiti (his name, tag) in greens and blues on a wall in Graffiti Alley

below: Part of the latest Uber5000 mural is reflected in the window as SKAM paints.

two young women walking on the sidewalk, both with skateboards and Starbucks drinks, summer clothing,

a woman with magenta hair is standing on the sidewalk, back against a wall.

below: Trinity Bellwoods Park  (This is also where the ‘believe’ in yellow is woven into the chainlink fence – photo above).

an older couple sitting on a bench in a park, talking to each other, the man is using his arms expressively

below: The albino squirrel of Trinity Bellwoods Park – he’s up here somewhere!

a boy looks up a tree, a white albino squirrel is headed down the other side of the tree trunk

below: Found him!

a white albino squirrel is on the ground beside a small tree with daffodils starting to grow up beside, a young boy is walking towards the squirrel

below: Reaching for a coffee

a window with mannequins in long dresses, teal and magenta fabric, reflections of woman passing by with a coffee cup in her hand

below: Walking the dog!

a family goes for a walk in the park, dad is pushing the stroller, mom on phone, young daughter pulling a pink leash with a toy dog on it.

a man outside, standing on sidewalk, with a plate of food and a cup of coffee,, with his phone in his hands

below: It wasn’t a happy day for everyone.

An older Chinese woman is pushing a cart with a large clear plastic bag full of empty aluminium cans, a Chinese man with a similar cart is behind her, other people out walking on the sidewalk

below: Smoking room

an older woman in pink running shoes and leopard print fuzzy jacket is sitting in a bus shelter, smoking a cigarette,

two women standing on the sidewalk near lots of parked bikes. One is wearing a short floral skirt and the other is in skimpy white shorts and low necked white top

below: Supporting the locals.  It’s also play-off time of the year and this year both the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs are still in the playoffs in their respective sports.

three flags hanging outside a window, a Raptos flag (Toronto basketball) and a Maple Leafs flag (Toronto hockey) as well as a rainbow pride flag

Welcome spring!

a small black and white daisy drawing on a sticker on a wall that is covered with bright paint

420 rolls around again

Posted: April 21, 2018 in events, people
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April 20, 4/20, 420 day with its annual marijuana protest. The nature of the “protest” has changed over the years now that the fight for legalization is almost over. This year was more like a group of friends hanging out together at Nathan Phillips Square and enjoying the warmest day that we’ve had in a while. A few items, seeds, edibles, etc, were available for sale. The group didn’t have a permit for the event (they were turned down) but that didn’t stop them. The police (and other security) presence was very visible but confrontations were kept to a minimum – at least for the time that I was there which was early on. I left while Nathan Phillips Square wasn’t crowded.

a woman in a green hat smokes a joint behind the back of a policeman in a yellow jacket.

a man with multicoloured curly wig and police cap holds a banner (backside to the camera) that some people are reading

a woman with long braided red hair stands beside someone in bong costume,

below: Green whistles were distributed and there were times when the sound they made was quite loud!

two young women taking a selfie, one is blowing on a green whistle

a woman in green and clothes with marijuana leaves on them, sits on a bench at Nathan Phillips, a man in a walker is beside her and talking to her.

Nathan Phillips square, two security guys on upper level above the snack bar, people walking below.

a group of people sitting around the 3D toronto sign at Nathan Phillips, one man is in the O, on his phone, a book in his lap,

a young woman with sunglasses and a white scarf around her neck smokes a joint,

a man in a beige jacket, blue sunglasses and black baseball cap smokes a joint outside

a woman with a head band made of rope and fake daisies, wears round sunglasses, mouth with red lipstick, partially open and talking,

back view of a woman in lace stockings, maroon knee high boots, black hoodie, holding up a green banner, people around her are talking pictures on their phones.

woman with dark sunglasses and black and green dreadlocks smokes a joint, close up photo of her face

Indigenous man with cap on his head and medical mask under his chin, makes a face, a red head woman in on the right, partially cropped out and out of focus, she is laughing

two men in black parkas, outside, one has a very large marijuana cigarette in his mouth although it is not yet lit;

a young man with black hoodie, stands outside at Nathan Phillips square with a bong in his hand, smiling, 420 day event

two men in black fedoras, one is holding a cup of coffee, outside, jackets on

three men with dreadlocks and bright coloured toques, backs to camera, over one shoulder is an older man looking close to the camera

a black and white photo of two men at a 420 event.

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