apparel oft proclaims the man

Posted: February 17, 2017 in galleries
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“Apparel oft proclaims the man” Shakespeare in Hamlet I iii.
or as Mark Twain said, “Clothes make a man”.

“Workware, Abiti da Lavoro”  is an exhibit at the Harbourfront Centre Art Gallery.  It is curated by Milan-based designer and artist, Alessandro Guerriero and co-produced by the Istituto di Cultura of Toronto and Triennale di Milano.  A lot of the artists who participated in the show are fashion designers

below: “Dress for a Crop-Raising Girl”, 2014, by Elio Fiorucci

a straw hat hangs with a dress made of green fabric, sleeveless, with two big shiny red hearts that would cover the breasts of the woman who wore it.

Some of the words on the wall – “Some time ago, the cowl did make the monk, the metalworker and the lawyer. Our clothes were the direct representation of our role in society and its related image. Originally, however, clothes were something else altogether. In the Biblical story of the apple, as He cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise, God made garments of skin to clothe them, saying, “Go but remember that you are just a man and that you need protection because you are limited.””

below: Hanging on the wall were a line of dirty work coats, each labeled with a job: cobbler, draper, glazier, saddler, carpenter, and hatter.    None of these jobs would have involved a coat that looked like this, i.e. that got messy in this way.

a row of dirty well used workcoats that used to be blue are hanging on the wall of an art gallery. under each one is a label with a job name, draper,

below:  left to right – “Work Shirt to Paint Dreams” 2014 by Alberto Aspesi, “Dreamers Clothes” 2014 by Angela Missoni,  “Clothes for a Carrot-Picking Girl, 2014 by Colomba Leddi,  and unfortunately two that I forgot to take note of.     The red dress is just so little red school house – so literal.  Not quite as literal as the carrots for the carrot-picking girl…. so if she’s finished picking carrots and wants to pick beans next, does she change into her bean dress?

a row of designer clothes as part of an art gallery ehbiti, a paint splotched covered blue long sleeved shirt, a red mid-calf length red dress with white polka dots with little red school house shaped head on the mannequin, and and holding a small red schoolhouse in her hand, a sleeveless dress with carrots in many pockets

More words on the wall – “This original garment was a gesture of love – protective as well as representative and foundational of the human condition. But as society rather than the sacred came to define the balance of power, these two meanings were upset so that clothing changed from being a mark of fragility into a social function and sign. Today, our individualism has once more changed its meaning making clothing an expression of the self.  It is now a way of disguising our thoughts and of giving them a new shape.”

I decided just to repeat the words verbatim.  I will let you decide their worth.  I just can’t do it.

below: “Extreme Film, AW13 Collection”, 2013 by Issey Miyake

a mannequin in shiny gold pants stands with its feet apart, in between its feet are a pair of shiny gold boots

below: “Adam and Eve are Going Shopping in Costume” 2014, by Frederique Morrel.   Eve is standing in the shopping cart

two mannequins covered in patchwork of tapestry needlepoint with pictures that sort of match the anatomy of the mannequin. The faces dont quite line up, a man and a woman. the woman is standing in a shopping cart

below: Some of  tapestry placements are just a little too literal.

close up of part of a mannequin dressed in tight fighting fabric made of a patchwork of tapestry pieces. The piece shown in this image is of a brown cat

below:  “Clothes for a Dithering Monk” 2014, by Denise Bonapace.

black netting in the shape of a cross on a wall. within the cross is more black light weight fabric in the shape of a person whose arms in the horizontal parts of the cross.

below: Part of “Clothes for the Chaste Pornographer” by Gentucca Bini

a coat made of blue mesh hangs in front of a display of old dirty workcoats that are hanging on the wall

below: Close up of part of “Mirabelle Shining Star” 2014, by Melissa Zexter

part of a dress made of black and white pictures printed on fabric, and knitted squares in orange and red yarn

Last paragraph of the words on the wall – “This exhibition is not a display of “work clothes” but of garments for hypothetical, invented, coveted, imaginary jobs that actually invent new jobs for a new and different society. Today’s designers, including the 39 in this exhibition, work amid epochal changes – the decline of the myth of great masters and of the small factories of fine Italian design on the one side, and on the other, between the giant global entities of eastern virtual design and the complete subversion of centres of post-economic and post-industrial geography.  Nevertheless, there are those who attempt to discover new territories – empty spaces, experimental, staggering, radical and unknown. What would clothes look like not only for bakers, carpenters and tailors but also for an email eraser, a butterfly engineer, the one who looks for a needle in a haystack, a healer of the healthy, a survivor, or a quarreller?”

…. And now I think I am going to design an outfit for a ‘skeptical photoblog writer who has read too many words’.

Exhibit continues until 23 April

back on the streets again

Posted: February 16, 2017 in general Toronto, history, memorials, old buildings, people, windows and walls
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Another reason why I haven’t posted recently?  I’ve been sick.  Icky sick; can’t get out of bed sick.  This morning was the first time that I’ve walked Toronto streets in many, many days.

It was a beautiful blue sky morning but I made a mistake and stopped for coffee first.  Clouds rolled in and we were back to greyness by the end of the first mug.  Argh.   Maybe back inside for a secong mug?

In the end I’m glad I got my momentum back.  I walked streets I’ve walked many times before but I walked it with a long lens in hand.  I started searching for details that I’ve missed before as well as shots that are easier (and sneakier!) with a lens zoomed out to the max.

In no particular order….

below:  The front of Betty’s on King street.  These magnets have been here for a while now although their numbers may have magnified.  In hindsight, I should have gone over and written something like, “Hi my name is Joe and I’m the Prime Minister of Canada”.

store front, front of Bettys bar and restaurant, with grey door. Walls are magnetic and they are covered with kid's letters of the alphabet magnets.

below: The bright colours of this exposed wall caught my eye.  It’s been revealed because of the demolition of a building at Victoria and Lombard and I suspect that it will get covered up again in the near future.

a large construction site at Victoria and Lombard, one wall of a neighbouring building has been exposed that is orange and white

below: This is a closer view of the men in the photo above.  I hadn’t purposely taken their picture but I like the portrait look of the picture.  A kind of Mike Rowe’s ‘Dirty Jobs’ image comes to mind.

two men working on a construction site

below: Banner for the Pacific Junction Hotel.

banner made of flags for the Pacific Junction Hotel strung in a tree on the sidewalk

below: Drink Coca-cola

a red and white drink coca cola sign sign hangs in a window of a bar

below: Sitting together in silence.  Black and white.  Alive and not alive.
Both aren’t moving and both don’t see me.

a man sits on a bench in a small park, wintertime, a snowman is at the other end of the bench

below: I have always been intrigued by these vertical windows at St. James Cathedral, especially with the winter trees in front of them.  I’ve taken pictures here before but none have been satisfactory.  This one is certainly not perfect but the sense of scale that the woman provides is a big help.

vertical stained glass windows of St. James cathedral, from the outside in winter, a woman is walking past.

below: These two small ionic-ish columns help support an archway over the door.

a small column with an ionic like capital, embedded in a brick wall. The column looks to be supporting an arch over the doorway

below: A bit of a rant.  At one point did it become acceptable for people to be sleeping on the sidewalks?  How did we learn to walk past?  When someone walks past a person sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk, what thoughts go through their head?  Is there a solution?  Or is so normal now that we don’t consider it a problem?   This man was right in the middle, there was no easy way to avoid him, but avoid him we did.

people walk by on the sidewalk as a homeless man sleeps under blankets on the corner.

below: Trying to cross King Street.

a man in a red jacket is waking two dogs, waiting to cross King Street, with St. James in the background. traffic, and parked cars too.

below: An exposed support beam, two wood planks on end sandwiched between steel I beams.

on an exterior brick wall, the end of a support beam is visible. the beam consists of a wood beam on end between two steel I beams

below:  High on a brick wall he suffers in anguish as the pigeons keep pooping on him.

carved stone piece high on a brickwall, exterior of a building, relief sculpture of a man's face with his hair made to look like long leaves that surround his face

below: A bit of a cliche.  Walking the dogs in the park on a winter day.

a woman walks three dogs on the path through St. James Park on a winter day, snow, no leaves, some buildings in the distance

below: The Christmas lights are still wrapped around the trees in St. James Park.

a string of red LED Christmas lights is wrapped around the trunk of a tree

below: Two mis-matched windows side by side.  Old brick, rusty metal.

an old brick building with two windows.

below: Above 10 Toronto Street is this royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.   The unicorn represents Scotland and in the royal coat of arms for Scotland, the lion and the unicorn are reversed.  You’ll also noticed that the unicorn is chained.  Apparently this is because in legend, the unicorn is a dangerous beast.   I’m not sure what this says about Scotland!  The words on the banner below the lion and the unicorn say “Dieu et Mon Droit” (= God and My Right).  The words around the middle circle say “Honi soit qui mal y pense”.   This is the motto of the Order of the Garter and it translates to ‘shame upon him who thinks evil of it’.

sculpture of a coat off arms above 10 Toronto Street, a lion and unicorn and a motto in Latin.

below:  This is the building that used to house Starbucks on King Street near George Brown College.  Many months (more than a year) ago there was a fire in the building and Starbucks closed down.  The windows and doors were boarded up and then nothing happened.   That looks like the makings of scaffolding lying on the sidewalk so maybe some renovation work is about to begin.

a man walks past a boarded up doorway

below: A ghost building outline.

The ghost outline of a building, in white, on a black brick wall. Tree branches without leaves hang in front of the wall.

below: An octopus runs up the stairs. Or would it slither?

a blue drawing of an octopus on the second storey exterior wall, beside a metal stair case (fire escape?)

below: Passing by the five faceless naked men who silently and stoically watch over the intersection of Queen and Victoria.  A sculpture “Full Circle” by Peter von Tiesenhausen.

wood sculpture of naked men in a circle with their backs inward, at Queen and Victoria streets, two men walking past the sculpture

below: I also met James Beaty this morning.  He too stands silently but he is tucked away in a dull and quiet corner so he doesn’t get much to look at.   The original James Beaty was born in Ireland 1798 and came to Canada as young man.   He was a leather merchant, he established the newspaper ‘Toronto Leader’ in 1852,  and in 1867 he became a federal politician.

a black bronze statue of James Beaty, standing with a folded newspaper under his arm, about life sized,

below: Any idea what this might be?  Dancing figure?

small black and white stencil

below: It was a puddle jumping, slushy kind of day.  I’m sure that there are lots more of those ahead!

reflections of trees in a puddle on a path that has snow and ice on it was well

below:  There are always more paths to walk and more chances to see what’s around around the next corner and through the gate!

looking down a driveway that passes under a very high square arch to the street beyond. Cars are parked on the street and a pedestrian walks by

 

one reason is…..

Posted: February 15, 2017 in Uncategorized
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You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a while.  Quite a while actually.
Reason # 1?  I spent some time on a beach.  It was sunny.  It was warm.

Friars Bay and beach, St. Martin, Caribbean. palm tree, turquoise water, white sand beach, rocks in the foreground, sunny blue sky day. One boat in the water as well as a few swimmers

Not a Toronto beach!

 

Womens March

Posted: January 22, 2017 in events, people
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Thousands of people (50,000?), men, women and children, rallied at Queens Park and then marched down University Avenue past the American Embassy this afternoon.  This was the Womens March in Toronto, a march in response to Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States.  It coincided with similar events in Washington, most major cities in North America, and other cities around the world.  The Toronto marchers ended their walk at Nathan Phillips Square.  It was a peaceful, positive event.

a young woman holds up a large pink sign that says open hearts make open minds. Womens March, toronto

a sign at Womens March in Toronto that says The true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love,

It was also a family event.  There were a lot of kids walking with their parents (or being pushed in strollers).  Many of the kids had made their own signs to carry.

 

a young boy in a blue hat carries a placard that he's made that says Noooooo and has a picture of Donald Trump with a black Darth Vader mask on.

There were also many people that came as groups, whether as groups of friends or groups united in a cause.

a group of women carrying a banner that has been made of many crocheted granny squares and the words we can't keep up. womens march in Toronto, waiting at Queens Park for the march to begin.

There were a few signs using the “We The People” designs by Shepard Fairey.

a man holds a sign up in the air, above the heads of out protesters at the Womens March, a Shepard Fairey design of a woman in stars and stripes American flag head scarf withthe words "We the People"

Womens March, toronto - a group of people leaning over the edge of the upper level at Nathan Phillips, holding their placards and signs over the concrete. Two of the women are wearing white T-shirts on which they've drawn black outlines of breasts.

a young girl in a purple jacket is sitting on the branch of a tree. Her sign is strung over the branch and it says Teach me to see injustice teach me to act. People in the Womens March, toronto are walking past her in the background.

Donald Trump swings happily on a wrecking ball.

protest march and rally at Queens Park, large crowd of people with signs and pink hats. A man has a cutout of a naked Donald Trump swinging on a large wrecking ball.

I march for equality and peace.
I’d rather have a queen than a trump.

In front of the building at QUeens Park, a large group of people has congregated for Womens March, toronto . One woman holds a sign that says I march for equality and peace. Another woman has a flag draped over her back with says I'd rather have a queen than a trump

Womens March, Toronto, a young girl in a grey hat holds a white sign that says I may be small but my voice is loud.

There were lots of references to nasty women!

a boy holds up a sign that says Son of a Nasty Woman, #whyimarch, Womens March, toronto

Many people wore pink hats.  These mysterious two took it a step further, pink balaclavas.

two people wearing pink hats pulled down over their faces with three holes cut in it, two for eyes and one for mouth. At a protest rally against Donald Trump

a young woman amidst a crowd of others walking in the Womens March in Toronto, holding a large pink sign that syas what the fuck

a group holds a white banner as they walk in the Womens March, the banner says A woman's place is in the struggle.

Womens March, toronto - a woman holds a large pink sign up over her head that reads In yer guts you know he's nuts. She's walking with many other people

4 women pose for a picture, two are holding up a banner that says Catholic Network for WOmens Equality. Womens March, toronto . Lots of other eople, men, women and children, walking with them,

Love not fear, and a pink hard hat too!

a young girl carried a brightly painted sign that says Love not fear. She is walking with her mother in the Womens March on University Ave. She is also wearing a pink hard hat.

A person is up in a tree, looking over a crowd of people at Queens Park, Womens March, toronto

a white dog has a sign on its side that says Bitches Against Trump

Three black women, one with a head scarf on, hold a sign that says Don't silence women of colour, part of a crowd at Womens March, toronto

Womens March, toronto - a man holds up a sign that is a play on the evolution of man meme, as they walk upright they come to a figure of Donald Trump. The last man in the evolution chain turns around and says Go back, we fucked up.

Womens March, Toronto, a woman with a red sign saying This is my resting march face, hams it up for the camera

a man holds a sign that says Fight like a girl. and a woman beside him the march holds a sign that says complacency breeds inequality.

Free Melania | #freemelania

two boys watch protesters at the Womens March, toronto . One of the boys holds a sign that says Free Melania.

a young girl in pink holds a sign that says love love love. Womens March, toronto

a woman stands in a crowd at NathanPhillips Square, Womens March, toronto - she is holding a sign that says Keep your hands off our cuntstiutional rights.

girls are strong

a young girl holds a sign that says girls are strong. She's written it herself on cardboard.

Women have rights and we’re gonna use them!  … with rainbows.

a girl in pink is holding a sign that says WOmen have rights and we're gonna use them. She is shouting as she marches, Womens March, toronto . There are other kids with her

A loud hear us roar!

a woman stands beside the base of one of the statues at QUeens Park, she is holding a large pink sign with big colourful writing that says hear us roar. Womens March, toronto

camera man stands on a high level of ground along with some large black speakers. The heads of some women can be seen , all wearing pink hats for the Womens March

two women smile for the camera as they walk past. Both are wearing red heart shaped glasses.

Donald Trump was at the march too, even if only in effigy.

a person holds an effigy of Donald Trump on a stick up in the air diring the Womens March down University Ave.,

On University Ave., WOmens March, a woman holds a sign that is a merger of two symbols - female and solidarity. Lots of other men and women are around,

a young girl in pink sits on top of the War Memorial at QUeens Park, the parliament buildings are behind her.

a woman holds a sign up above her head. It says My husband wanted to be here but he is doing the laundry

The march stopped for a few minutes when it reached Queen Street.  There was much traffic confusion and chaos (and honking of horns) at the intersection of Queen and University until the police closed all traffic on Queen Street.

intersection of Queen and University, people standing on the sidewalk looking at the Womens March as it stops on University. Policemen trying to direct traffic on Queen as they prepare to close Queen Street for the march

Orange? No. I’m peach.   Great play on words.

a woman is holding a sign at the Womens March, toronto . Donald Trump's head is shaped like a peach and the words say Im peach.

kids walking together in Womens March, toronto hold signs that they have made on cardboard.

Make America gay again!!

A woman holds up a sign that says Make America Gay again. Lots of other people around her at Queens Park at the start of the Womens March, toronto

a woman walking in the Womens March, toronto holds up a read sign that says Make Empathy great again. Lots of other men and women walking in the same picture.

And that’s only part of the crowd at Nathan Phillips Square!

Taken from the upper level at Nathan Phillips Square, overlooking the square which is full of people attending Womens March, toronto . In the foreground are a couple of people who are also on the upper level.

a woman holds a sign that says patriarchy is for dicks

a woman holds up a red sign that says March like a girl, Womens March, toronto

Womens March, toronto - the head of the march goes past Osgoode Hall on QUeen Street. A woman with a megaphone is leading the chants and singing. A large group with a banner that says Womens March is the first group in the walk

standing behind the barricades by the stage at Nathan Phillips Square, a large group of people at the Womens March, toronto . Many signs and many people. and a reporter with a camera.

“Babies against Trump.  We don’t like it when people call Trump a baby – we act better than him.”

a man carries a baby in front of him, with a yellow sign that says Babies against trump, marching in the Womens March in Toronto with other men and women.

a group of people wearing black and holding red carnations is holding a large black coffin on their shoulders. Written on the coffin is the word patriarchy. The death of patriarchy.

a group of people with signs and placards in a crowd at Nathan Phillips Square. Womens March, toronto

Women’s rights are human rights.

two women stand on the sidewalk, one is drinking coffee and wearing a pink hat. The other is holding a sign that says womens rights are human rights in pink letters ona background of black and white photos.

an older womaloosely woven pink hat with wide brim, and a pink top, holds a sign at a march

Womens March, Toronto - women smiling and posing for the camera, wearing pink pussy hats

 

#whyImarch | #womensmarch | #nastywoman | #lovetrumpshate | #noh8

sweet sweat bee

Posted: January 20, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A few months ago I blogged about a large mural that Nick Sweetman painted on Queen Street East (Riverside Pollinator mural), a mural that featured a large bee.  That mural was actually Sweetman’s second gigantic bee in Toronto.  The first was at Bloor and Howland and it was painted in honour of National Pollinator Week back in June 2016.

large mural of a honey bee on a big pink flower hibiscus, with other yellow flowers growing, also a black skyline of Toronto, a large tee grows in front of the building and a van and a truck are parked close by. Photo taken from across the street.

The buzz of a green sweat bee (Agapostemon), covered in pollen as it fits itself into the center of a bright pink flower.

part of a mural, a large colourful bee covered with pollen, sits or flies in the middle of a big pink flower with pollen covered stamens

below: If you look closely, part of the globe is in its eye.  North America and the top part of South America with the blue of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

close up of a bee's eye in aa mural. A picture of part of the globe is in its eye - north america and the top part of south america.

below: The city of Toronto silhouetted against a  star filled sunset sky.

skyline of Toronto with the CN tower painted as a silhouette on a sunset sky, with some yellow flowers in the foreground of the mural.

part of a larger mural, yellow daisy like flowers growing on a black background with a large yellow, orange and red circle in the background.

Ice Breakers

Posted: January 19, 2017 in events, waterfront
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The finishing touches are being put on five installations for the new Ice Breakers event along Queens Quay West and the waterfront.  Everything will be up and running this weekend and the installations will remain until the event ends on the 26th of February.    Ice Breakers is the result of a collaboration between the Waterfront BIA and Winter Stations (the people that brought the winter warming stations installations to the Beaches)

below: The first installation that I saw was ‘Incognito’ which stands out in Rees Street Parkette on Queens Quay.   It is by Curio Art Consultancy and Jaspal Riyait.

a public art installation in a park, winter time but no snow, no leaves on the trees, muddy brown grass, condo in the background. Artwork is a series of shapes stacked in a pile, all shapes are painted in black and white wide stripes. The stripes are horizontal, vertical and diagonal in the resulting structure, called incognito, by Jaspal Riyait and Curio

below: Set your sails and round you go!  Sailboats that go in circles.  ‘Leeward Fleet’ by RAW design sailing at Canada Square.

with the lake in the background, art installation beside Lake Ontario on Toronto's waterfront, called Leeward Fleet, by RAW consulting, two (of three) round platforms with a small sail in the middle. The boom of the sail is the handle for turning the platforms round and round like a merry go round.

art installation beside Lake Ontario on Toronto's waterfront, called Leeward Fleet, by RAW consulting, two (of three) round platforms with a small sail in the middle. The boom of the sail is the handle for turning the platforms round and round like a merry go round. CN Tower in the background as well as some of the downtown condos.

below: ‘Icebox ‘ is a black box on HTO beach which is where the yellow umbrellas are.  Alan and Alex of Anex Works were putting the finishing touches on it when I walked by.   Polymetis designed it, but Anex Works built it.  In fact, they are the ones responsible for construction of most of these installations.   I didn’t take any photos inside the box in part because it’s not complete… but the inside walls are made from hardened spray foam insulation and that’s all I’m going to tell you.  This one will be more fun if it’s a surprise.   I definitely plan to go back later in the month to check out the finished product.   And yes, it is reminiscent of the black box that was one of the Warming Stations in 2015, Hot Box, because it was the same artist (or group of artists).

black box on a beach with muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas,

reflections of the yellow umbrellas of H T O beach on the black shiny sides of Icebox, an art installation at the beach

below: From across the street it looks like two hands gesturing like “It was this big!”
Or perhaps they are holding that grey building up?

looking across Queens Quay west to the buildings and condos in downtown, the edge of the Skydome (Rogers Center) is just visible, two large hands rise upwards as part of an art installation.

below:  The hands are made of wood.  The palms are covered in a shiny gold coloured material that will reflect the light that shines from the bottom of each hand.   “Tailored Twins” by Ferris + Associates.

two large wooden hands face each other, beside the sidewalk, condos behind, the plams are covered with shiny gold,

below: And last, an installation that probably looks much better in the dark when each diamond shaped module is lit from inside.   This is ‘Winter Diamonds’ and it was designed by Platant, a Danish design and artistic consultancy.  Their website is in Danish but it does have some interesting pictures on it, including an installation similar to this that was in Copenhagen last winter (I think!)

public art installation in a park along Lake Ontario, diamond shapes stacked in a pile, 10 pieces altogether, 5 on the bottom, 4 on the next row and one on top, grey in colour, bare trees and boats covered for the winter are in the background.

#TOicebreakers | #TOwaterfront

Note: Winter Stations returns to Balmy, Kew and Ashbridges Bay beaches on the 20th of February.

reflections of the yellow umbrellas of H T O beach on the black shiny sides of Icebox, an art installation at the beach

feeling hungry?

Posted: January 16, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, stores
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You can almost find it by following your nose!

I’ve been in many alleys where the smell has been less than desirable but today I was taking pictures in an alley that smelled wonderful!  A small alley running south from Bloor Street beside the The Dirty Bird restaurant….or more accurately The Dirty Bird Chicken & Waffles.

And the pictures that I was taking there?
Well, they were of chicken and waffles and people eating of course!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant

Elicser has painted a mural in the alley alongside the restaurant.

a man in a red baseball cap on backwards is drinking,

below: I love how the straw is placed!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a man is sitting at a table in the restaurant . he has a very large chicken and waffle sandwich in front of him as well as a pink milkshake. The red and white straw of the miclkshake is actually a venting pipe

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman and a man are sitting at a table in the restaurant eating chicken and waffle sandwiches

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant with a very tall chicken and waffle sandwich in her hands

 

kids and soldiers

Posted: January 16, 2017 in memorials, public art
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Sculptures by Ken Lum.

I was walking up Bay Street yesterday when I stopped.  Out of the corner of my eye I had caught a glimpse of a sculpture that I had never seen before.  It is ‘Two Children of Toronto’ by Ken Lum, 2013.

Two children, a boy and a girl, sit opposite each other, some distance between them.

two children of toronto, a sculpture by Ken Lum, two children seated on pedestals, about 25 feet apart, along the side of a walkay, with a concrete building beside them. The children are looking towards each other

What you can’t see in the above picture is that there are words in bronze mounted on the wall.  The words say: “Across time and space, two children of Toronto meet”.  The two kids are looking towards each but not each other.

sculpture, Two Children of Toronto by Ken Lum in a downtownwalkway with a concrete bulding beside it, girl's face

below: Both children are wearing clothes from bygone days.

sculpture, Two Children of Toronto by Ken Lum in a downtownwalkway with a concrete bulding beside it, looking towards the girl, with Bay Street and Canadian Tire store behind

below: But the boy’s clothes are more Chinese looking.

sculpture, Two Children of Toronto by Ken Lum in a downtownwalkway with a concrete bulding beside it, a boy is seated on a concrete pedestal.

After my walk the other day, I started researching Ken Lum.  I discovered that he has another sculpture nearby, and fortuitously, it was one that I took some pictures of back in December.  It is “Peace Through Valour” located at the NW corner of City Hall property.  Winston Churchill is standing close by.

a sculpture called Peace Through valour by Ken Lum, outside on a snowy day. A square piece with a soldier standing guard at each corner. On top of the flat squsre is a model of a town in square blocks (no details on the buildings).

It commemorates the 93,000 Canadians who fought in the Italian campaign of WW2 and was dedicated in June 2016.   A Canadian soldier stands vigil at each corner of the memorial.  The top of the 7 foot x 7 foot square is a topographical map of Ortona, a town in Italy that was a scene of a battle at Christmas time in 1943.  Ortona is on the Adriatic coast and its streets were narrow which made it difficult for Allied forces to liberate the town from Nazi Germany.

two soldiers stand vigil at the corners of a memorial, sculptures,

Money for the sculpture was donated by the Italian-Canadian community.

two soldiers stand vigil at the corners of a memorial, sculptures,

sort of Queen West

Posted: January 15, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, stores
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I started walking Graffiti Alley the other day but I didn’t stick to my plan.  I meandered and wandered through other alleys as well as I generally headed west.

below: A bright, vibrant, wonderful piece by birdo in an alley north of Queen Street West.

a birdo mural on a garage door of a woman in grey tones with a round red mouth in the shape of an O. she is holding her hand up near her face and a bird is sitting on it. The background of the mural is red and greenish triangles.

below: Another birdo nearby

birdo mural on the side of a building, a red high heel shoe, a brown circle, a grey head plus the colourful geometric shapes often found in a birdo mural, in reds and turquoise

below: Only remnants remain.  Was it a stikman?  Or was it something else?

a tiny bit of a stikman is left on a post that is covered with spray paint.

below: Auston Matthews already has his picture on T-shirts.
It can’t be easy having the hopes of all those Maple Leaf fans resting on your shoulders.

in front of a store that seels T-shirts, a blue T-shirt based on the famous Obama Hope poster, but this time the portrait is of a Maple Leaf player with the word hope below.

below: Of course normal is boring. What I need is a t-shirt that says “rather be walking”

Two t-shhirts in a store window, a grey woman's t-shirt with the words Normal is Boring on the front and a black t-shirt with the words rather be in bed.

below: This wall is not new but there is usually a car parked in front of it when I walk past.  King Reign and Son of S.O.U.L. were two Toronto hip hip artists who passed away in 2016.

a wall in Graffiti Alley, layers of different artist's work, some uber 5000, some elicser, plus a grey ton picture of two men wearing caps with the words son of soul king reign written underneath them.

below: Stickers on a box

stickers on a small metal box on a brightly coloured wall. almost the whole box is covered, a lovebot heart, a pink cat, a blue octopus, a shark, plus some stickers that are ads for music or records.

below: I love the juxtaposition of the car in the mural with the real cars parked in the alley. Also the alignment of the first two walls makes the painting look like one.

in an alley, a white car is parked between a blue car and a mural painting of a blue car. There is also a mural of three people with the words summertime in the city.

below: This is another painting that I saw in Graffiti Alley.
I think that it’s new, or at least I don’t remember seeing it before.

a street art painting on the back of a building in an alley, a surreal piece with a cube with one side as a face, two creatures are floating out of the top of the cube - they are tethered to each other. The bottom creature is half in the cube and the surface of the cube looks like liquid.

below: Your words of advice for today.

a street art piece in an alley that is purple background with with a dripping brownish circle with two eyes and the words don't forget to drink water. The alley is also in the picture with parts of a couple of other murals visible

below: Fake. as in Fake news. Fake people. Fake money.  Fake graffiti artist?

the man from the monopoly game is painted on a wall. Someone has sprayed a white x through his face and written the word fake on his top hat.

below: These grey paper paste-ups have appeared on top of a number of street art paintings in Graffiti Alley.
I’m not sure who did it or why.
a grid of grey paper paste ups has been put on top of a abstract street art painting on a wall in an alley.

below: Blowing bubbles. Looks irresistibly ready for someone to pop it!
It was painted by @wamurals aka WayneArt

on the corner of Queen West and a smaller side street, the Convenience Canada store with a small white picket fence outside of it. On the wall is a mural of a woman blowing a big pink bubble with gum and the words head candy written above her head.

below: Hidden houses. Being pushed out by the big boys.

three layers, in the background a high rise building, in the middle ground, the tops of three single family homes on Richmond Street, in the foreground, poster covered hoardings for construction on Queen Stree West.

below: Half of a lovebot in a doorway.

half of a large black lovebot painted in a doorway (one side of him). A black lovebot with yellow details and a red heart.

below: A whole lovebot mixing it up with another creature.  I think it’s by grominator but I’m not sure.
I like to think of it as lovebot fighting his demons.

a lovebot mural in an alley, he looks to be fighting a grominator monster

below: Look up, way up, to find the switch from love to fear.
Yikes!, it’s switched to fear now and it’s not going to be easy to change it.

high on a wall, a small 3D lovebot heart beside a light switch that is love on one side and fear on the other.

below: Lucy and trouble and a weird looking face in a messy dimly lit doorway that assaulted my nose.

in a dimly lit doorway, a lot of scribbles and graffiti including a roughly drawn face, the word Lucy and the word trouble

below: Many of the planters along Queen West have been painted including this tribute to Gord Downie.

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the head of a lion, on the side is the word courage and a picture of Gord Downie from the music group The Tragically Hip

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the roman numeral 4 and a red heart. On the side is a black cat walking on a red background.

below: A little astronaut floats away. But he’s not up in the air where you’d expect to find him. He’s way down low near the ground.  Perhaps he’s not floating away, perhaps he’s falling back to Earth?

a small paste up of an astronaut floating in space, on a black wall, close to the ground.

Don’t over think it though.  Just keep your eyes open and ready for the unexpected!

structure, lines, and a form or two

Posted: January 13, 2017 in galleries
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Keeping warm at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Below are 5 works of art that I saw recently when I decided to spend the afternoon inside instead of walking in the cold.  The AGO is definitely a great way to stay warm!

below: There is a room at the Art Gallery of Ontario that is home to four large metal sculptures at the moment.  Large structural pieces. These creations are the work of Sir Anthony Caro (1924-2013).  They are made of discarded metal pieces.  At one point in his career, he made scale models for a giant art project for Park Avenue in New York City.  When the project was cancelled, he took apart the models and used the pieces to make a new series.  Three of those on display here are from that series, ‘Sculpture Laid Bare’.  It would be interesting to see what the Park Avenue sculpture models looked like.

a woman with long hair walks away from a large metal sculpture made of cast off pieces of metal, on display at the Art gallery of Ontario,

In the early part of his career, Caro made modeled figurative pieces cast in bronze.  In the 1960’s he started to use prefabricated steel and aluminum, sometimes in bright colours such as the example below:

red sculpture by anthony caro, metal, 4 upright cylindrical tubes with metal mesh forming an X on top of them.

Red Splash, by Anthony Caro. Image found online at source.

If they were outside, they would invite interaction.  Touch them.  Climb on them.  In this gallery setting, there is a no touching policy.   The words on the wall says that: “He [Caro] meditates on the passage of time, processes of decay, the painful realities of aging, and the future of modern sculpture.”  Isn’t that why the gallery is doing their best to preserve them just the way they are?

below: ‘The Distinctive Line Between One Subject and Another’ by John McEwen, 1980.  Two steel wolves looking at each other across the room.  On the wall behind the wolves is ‘Folia Series #1 and #2 by Nobuo Kubota, 1976, representations of the wrinkles on the cerebellum in the brain.

two metal sculptures of life sized wolves looking at each other across the room, a large panel art work is on the wall behind them, half black and half yellow.

John McEwen is a Canadian sculptor.  A number of his sculptures can be found around Toronto.  He designed the boat hull like shapes for the Victory Peace memorial on the waterfront that I mentioned in a previous blog post – down to Coronation Park.  The three metal tubes outside the Air Canada Centre – the Searchlight Starlight Spotlight – are also his work.

below: More lines, this time its “Aforim” by Rita Letendre, 1975.  Which lines are parallel?  Is there a horizon line?  If so, which one is it?

horizontal lines, some parallel and some at slight angles, in blues and greys, painting on a gallery wall called Aforim by Rita Letendre

… And lastly, another reference to structure.  But not structure in the 3D, physical form, sense of the word.  Instead, it is a painting called ‘Number Structure II’ by Canadian artist Kazuo Nakamura (1926-2002).  Nakamura graphs out number-structure patterns and calculations and presents them as art.

below: One of the structures that Nakamura used was the Pascal Triangle.  This image shows the first 6 lines of the triangle.  Each number is the sum of the two numbers above it.  Can you figure out what the next line would be?   When expanded, it contains many number sequences and can be used to answer probability questions – as well as other mathematical things that I don’t understand.

the top 6 lines of pascals triangle, a mathematical structure of numbers

below: A small (maybe 1/8th) section of the painting … which unfortunately doesn’t give you much of an idea as to the composition of the artwork.  It does though give you an idea of the detail.  Some of the parts that I have omitted are triangle shapes that conform to Pascals triangle as pictured above.   Is it mathematics?  Is it art?  Where do you draw the line between the two?  Is there a line?

a detail picture of a painting by Kazuo Nakamura called Number Structure 2 which is based on Pascal Triangle. Lots of numbers written in white on blue and black background. the background is made into rectangles, squares and triangles.

It’s the kind of painting that a photograph can never do justice to.  It’s best seen in person.   Oh yes, the answer to the question above:  The next line of the triangle would be: 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1.

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