as I walk Toronto

between Pape and Donlands

Posted: August 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, animals, bird, Campbells soup cans, concrete, cool, creatures, cruz1, Danforth, doors, dudeman, East York, Einstein, faces, fence, fences, graffiti, lane, Mona Lisa, penguin, penguin with sunglasses, rust, signs, spud, street art, sunglasses, uber5000, woman, woman with sunglasses, wood, words

I decided to head to Pape and Danforth on Friday, on a very hot & humid afternoon. The Danforth was just beginning to get ready for the Taste of the Danforth weekend festival. I stopped for a bottle of water and tried to find a bit of shade while I figured out where to walk. The street was still quiet. The day was hot and humid and no one was moving quickly. Not many photos to be had there. Instead, I decided to walk a few of the alleys north of the Danforth between Pape and Donlands.

below: No famous graffiti artist has left their mark in your neighbourhood? No problem, make your own!
A collection of icons with even the bricks painted into the picture.

below: Three garage doors with street art including one by spud.

below: Cruz1art (aka Angel Carillo) and a girl power pink skull by dudeman

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky”

below: I’m used to seeing ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘Keep Out’ signs but not so many ‘Keep Off’.

below: A happy Uber5000 birdie knitting away, a close knit street art painting.

below: Another creature by Cruz1

below: Two more painted garage doors, very linear, very stylized and abstracted.

below: A play on the word ‘cool’. Snowy words and a penguin with sunglasses. Unfortunately it didn’t make me feel cooler but only slightly nostalgic for winter. Only slightly!

below: On the left is “destroy and rebuild” and on the right is “We are 1, [illegible] mi gente siempre”. The last bit is Spanish and translates to “My people forever”

below: I think there was a point to this picture, but I’m not sure what it is.

below: Since this stretch of the Danforth has been “Greektown” for as long as I can remember, it makes sense to find street art in Greek. In this case, Greek love.

below: A slight chuckle, the next garage door is the translation.

below: Insert a little rant about horrid TTC concrete fences here. At least someone has found a way to brighten one of them up. This one is right beside the entrance to Donlands subway station.

A few more pictures….

below: A survivor. A lone white rose amongst dead roses. May you all survive the heat of summer!

phlegm’s progress

Posted: August 5, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
Tags: feet, figure, head, knees, midtown, mural, old city hall, painted, painting, person, phlegm, public art, ROM, roots, scffolding, St. Clair, STEPS initiative, street art, Yonge

British mural artist Phlegm has been painting a large mural on the side of 1 St. Clair West. The first time I saw it, was on the 14th of July when it looked liked this:

below: The white background of the mural was painted first.

I have been watching it, checking up on it every couple of days. At first I took photos fairly frequently because I had no idea how long it would take before the mural was finished.

below: 19th July

As it turns out, there is a lot of detail in the mural! It slowly took shape.

below: 21st July

below: Fast forward to today…. the mural is almost finished. …
but wait! Isn’t that the CN tower on the shoulder?

below: Hey! It is the CN tower. And isn’t that the Gooderham/flatiron building? And that building with the little dome, isn’t that on Yonge street?

below: There’s the ROM and its ‘crystal’ too! This is the ‘bottom’ of the figure and in this photo two things become clearer. First, the scale of the project and just how big the mural is becomes apparent. Second, the mural is of a person coming out of the earth, being pulled out by the roots almost. But is it a person? Or is it a living city?

below: The head part – play ‘spot the building’! Is that old city hall?

below: Scalliwags is on one of the knees along with a lot of trees.

below: And last, the feet with more roots at the heels

This project is also a part of the STEPS Initiative program.

This post also appears in a blog about street art. Phelgm’s Progress.

strength in numbers

Posted: August 3, 2016 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: Art Starts, bicycles, bikes, bridge, city, concrete, cyclists, Dupont, future, industrial, Junction, locomotive, mural, public art, railway, road, sidewalk, stop, Toronto, urban, walls, worker

Just before Dupont Street ends at Dundas West, it passes under a set of railway tracks…
and of course another underpass means another mural.

It is an Art Starts project “honouring the Junction and paying homage to its industrial past rooted in the railway and celebrating its development as a diverse neighbourhood oriented community. ” Lead artists Joshua Barndt and Jamie Bradbury along with 5 youth artists took 4 weeks to complete the mural.

The mural was funded by the City of Toronto’s Graffiti Transformation Program.

Cycling is used as a theme and as a way of traveling from the past to the future in the mural.

below: The final panel in the mural, a future friendly city.

summer in the city, July edition

Posted: July 29, 2016 in general Toronto, people
Tags: boats, fun, games, kids, lake, Lake Ontario, men, people, police, pride, summer, sun, waterfront, watermelon, women

July is almost over – yes, summer is flying by.
So far, it’s been a good one!

below: Staying cool and having fun in the Yonge Dundas square fountains

below: A giant bite from a giant watermelon slice

below: A Bay Street hug and kiss.

below: An impromptu serenade

below: Watching the entertainment at the waterfront – it’s magical

below: Making comfort at Afrofest, Woodbine Park

below: A Canada Day kiss.

below: Leave your message by the outdoor facilities!

below: A mother and daughter stroll on the waterfront

below: Posing, Pride fun

below: Blowing bubbles by the lake.

Happy August everyone!

come pose with me

Posted: July 29, 2016 in public art
Tags: & M, arm, Bayview, bell, boot, bronze, Canary district, cannon, columns, faces, Front St., future follies, Hadley & Maxwell, hands, horse, legs, lion, men, people, public art, sculpture, sculpture garden, statue, women

The first time I saw the latest art installation in the Canary District I was in a car and only got a quick look at it. I couldn’t figure out what the mess was all about. It wasn’t until I went back on foot to take a closer look that I could appreciate what the artists were trying to do.

Located at Front and Bayview is the ‘Garden of Future Follies’ by Hadley Howes and Maxwell Stephens (Hadley & Maxwell and the Studio of Received Ideas). It is a sculpture garden and there are 7 sculptures in this garden. Each sculpture is a mashup of pieces from different sculptures around Toronto. Aluminum foil ‘molds’ were used to replicate portions of over 80 different monuments and architectural features. These portions were then put together in a whole new way.

From an interview with the artists:

“Sir John A. Macdonald’s nose is assembled along with the eyes of artists Frances Loring and Florence Wyle, the chin of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, and Northrop Frye’s hair; Jack Layton’s smile is one of seven that grace a figure lounging atop a reconstituted mantel from the library at Osgoode Hall; a bell from St. James Cathedral’s famous collection is perched on a cannon from Fort York; while nearby a suitcase from the Memorial to Italian Immigrants acts as a plinth for a collection of hats from various bronze heads.”

Now you can play spot the pieces! But you won’t find any hockey sticks.

So far I haven’t seen anyone taking selfies here but I think it would be a great spot for them!

below: No one will ever call it beautiful, playful yes, but not pretty.

underpass musings

Posted: July 28, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: druid, faces, graffiti, head, meet me, poem, pot of gold, rainbow, right and wrong, rumi, stencil, unity, words

There is a railway underpass on Dupont just before it meets Dundas West. Several years ago the north side of the underpass was decorated with some murals. Most of them are in bad shape or have been tagged or painted over.

below: Unity is one of the original murals here. It is the best preserved.

This wall has also become a place to comment on life in words and and poetry.

below: Through the fires of chaos, let there be light! ~ ” blessed be!”

“The man who misses all the fun is he who says it can’t be done.
With solemn pride he stands aloof and greets each venture with reproof.
Had he the power he’d efface the history of the human race
There’d be no motor cars or streets lit by electric stars
No telegraph nor telephone. We’d all linger in the age of stone.
The world could not be run by men who say it can’t be done”
– Druid
Been through rough times – keep your head up!

The poem in the above transcription comes from ‘The Book of Virtues’ by William J. Bennett with one little change. The last line in the original is as follows: “The world would sleep if things were run By men who say “It can’t be done.”

***

below: When I researched the source of the message below I discovered that it was from a poem by Rumi. He was a 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic amongst other things but apparently he’s also one of the most widely read poets in North America.

The lines of the poem are translated/shared in slightly different ways including

“Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there.”

and

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”

***

below: Things aren’t what they seem? I’m not sure if you noticed it, but someone has added, very faintly, “sometimes it’s a gold pot”.

below: Someone’s commentary on the world today.

“Teens fight but don’t know what 4.
It’s really sad 2 see them _e.
Teens killed at subway stations,
young innocent girls being stalked by perverted men.
When will it all end,
what will happen 2 us.
What’s Happining 2 The World Today?”

***

a lap around the tracks

Posted: July 27, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: blue sky, dream, Dundas West, fence, flowers, glass, graffiti, hearts, I have a dream, images, Junction, love, lovebot, mural, paint, photographs, photos, pictures, plants, Queen Anne's lace, red, restaurant, sidewalk, street, weeds, West Toronto Railpath, yellow

But not a running, or even a jogging, track! No, yesterday’s walk was an oval-ish loop at walking pace from Dundas West station, up one side of the railway tracks and back down the other.

below: Just past the subway station I saw the mural on “The Friendly Trini’s” which is now closed. If the mural is telling the truth, they once served butter chicken, curried goat roti, jerk chicken with rice and peas, as well as drinks in coconuts and pineapples. Feeling hungry already, and I’ve only just begun my walk.

below: Also on Dundas West, the King’z Convenience and Dollar Store which sells Filipino products and delicacies is adjacent to the Slovenija meat & delicatessen. Multicultural. I regret not taking pictures of the window of the Slovenian store – juice and beer brands that were unfamiliar to me.

below: Detail, boy riding an old fashioned bike on a little hook above a door.

below: And someone has decorated their balcony.

below: Just before I reached the bridge over the railway tracks I saw these words on a wall.

below: The dream theme continues on the metal steps up to the bridge. This one was small and I almost missed it. I’m not sure if it was painted black to blend into the background, or if the painting was an attempt to “clean up” the graffiti when prying off the letters proved to be too difficult (the D is broken so maybe someone tried). Insert words about killing other people’s dreams here.

below: From the top of the steps looking south. The minimalist new Bloor GO and UP (Union Pearson) station is finished, top left of the photo. Don’t you think we should call it ‘Get UP and GO’? The street is Dundas West and yes, that mural is new.

below: Helping to hold up the bridge, west side of the tracks. He’s carrying the weight of the world, or maybe just the bridge, on his shoulders.

After crossing the bridge, I walked north along the West Toronto Railpath. The fencing along the path has all been upgraded. There used to be some spots where you could get through the fence (non-railway side) but those are gone. Between the tracks and the path there is a new clear (glass? plastic?) fence. Of course it has already been ‘vandalized’ or ‘tagged’ – choose your verb. Because I was there on a sunny afternoon, the sun was shining through the ‘artwork’ and making interesting designs. A few thistles and other weeds added some compositional elements.

There were quite a few hearts on my route, especially around the Dupont exit of the Railpath.

below: Many hearts on the fence.

below: A heart for Hex and Nish wherever, and whomever, they may be.

below: Three heart balloons on the Dupont sign. You can get a good view of the fence here.

below: Part of the West Toronto Railpath runs alongside Planet Storage, an large old brick building. There used to be a lot of street art along the side of the building but it’s all been painted over. A few tattle tale remnants remain.

below: My favorite, little details like the bright yellow giraffe looking at the clouds.

below: There is one mural on the Railpath, the back of Osler’s Fish Market is covered with a fish and fishing themed mural.

below: Fish heads in the weeds. Queen Anne’s lace, that plant with the white flowers, was growing in abundance along the path. You might know it by its other name, Wild Carrot.

below: A splash of red on a street just off the railpath.

below: The sign on the table says: “Hi! La Witch Cat here. Enjoy the space, but PLEASE do not litter. I provided a garbage can. Use it! This includes cigarette butts. Put in trash once extinguished. Thanks! XXO”. Marvellous! I sooo agree with the part about cigarette butts. Why do people who don’t litter still consider it okay to throw cigarette butts wherever they please? I smiled but I didn’t stop to rest.

below: At one point I found myself at this intersection. What is a pedestrian to do? It’s possible I walked where I shouldn’t have, or at least where foot traffic is rare. All the roads in the photo are Dundas West; it’s where the street splits as it approaches Dupont and Annette. There was a small park behind me, called Traffic Island park. The name sums it up I think.

below: A lament for the streetscape. One more line in an elegy to public spaces. The result of a half hearted attempt. Massive hydro poles on the narrow sidewalk. A large ad. A green space that needs attention. If you look carefully, you can see a plaque on a small stand.

below: This is the plaque. According to the words, this strip of land was replanted in 2001-2003 with a number of native species with the plan that they would spread and “create an oasis in the middle of the city”. It mentions three plants – Nannyberry tree, Staghorn sumac, and Bottlebrush grass. Disconnect alert.

below: On my way back to the subway station I spotted this 24 hour lovebot.

…. that was where I walked yesterday but before I leave, a few small details. Ciao!

The Bentway

Posted: July 25, 2016 in locations, nature, transportation
Tags: bathurst, Bentway, canoe landing park, city, condos, construction, core, demolition, development, downtown, fences, fort york, Gardiner Expressway, Lakeshore Blvd., Loblaws, public space, railway, Spadina, strachan, urban, waterfront, western Gardiner

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly just called the Gardiner, has been in the news a lot lately. This 18 km stretch of road between the city and the lake was completed in 1965 after years of planning and building. At the time that it was built, Toronto’s waterfront was largely industrial and there wasn’t much objection to having a 4 to 6 lane expressway, with many sections elevated, built there. The railway had begun the process of dividing the city from its waterfront a hundred years previously.

As the city changes and grows, more and more people live in the downtown core. Industry has moved out and residents have moved in. For so long the land south of the Gardiner as well as under the Gardiner was neglected, especially from a city planning point of view. But now, the city is looking differently at that swath of land. The far east elevated section between the Don Valley Parkway and Leslie Street was demolished in 2001 and there have been calls for the next section (Jarvis to the DVP) to be demolished as well. There has been some controversy as to whether to demolish it or move it… and if move it, where to? I am not even sure what the plans are at the moment. On the other hand, the western section of the elevated expressway (Strachan to Spadina) will remain standing. Work is underway to refurbish the structure – the city doesn’t want any more stories of pieces of concrete dropping onto cars beneath! Plans are being implemented to use the land under the Gardiner much more efficiently. To make it work for the public.

The Bentway is the name that has been given to this new park, or public space, beneath the Gardiner Expressway from Strachan 1.4 kilometres east to Spadina. The first phase is due to open Canada Day 2017 and it involves the stretch between Strachan and Bathurst. Many of you have probably driven on the Gardiner but do any of you know what is under it now? Let’s take a look.

below: The Gardiner passes over Strachan Avenue which in turn passes over the railway tracks.

below: On Strachan Ave looking west. Condo development in this area has extended right to the railway line. The Exhibition GO train station is in the distance. You can also see the Gardiner to the left of the tracks. Here the north side of the under part of the expressway is walled in and the enclosed space is used by Exhibition Place. At this time there is no plan for the Bentway to extend this far; I have used this photo to provide more context as to the location of the park.

below: A closer look at the Gardiner on the west side of Strachan Avenue. Maybe there is potential to expand the park westward? to Exhibition GO station? And by the way, those concrete structures holding up the expressway – those are called ‘bents’ and that is why the park is called what it is.

below: This photo was taken as I stood on Garrison Common and looking towards Strachan Avenue. This will be the western end of the new park. You can see the underside of the Gardiner as it passes over Strachan Ave which in turn is also a bridge. This bridge once crossed the Grand Trunk Railway tracks that were built in the 1850s. New entrances to the park are planned that incorporate the present sloped embankment of the bridge.

below: A quick aside: It’s a slightly different angle, but here is a photo of the Strachan Avenue bridge from 1959, before the Gardiner was built. I suspect that there has been upgrades made to the bridge since then. Photo credit: R.L. Kennedy, found online (also a good source for the history of the Grand Trunk Railway in Toronto). Garrison Common is to the right.

Garrison Common is the green space surrounding Fort York. It will abut (be continuous with?) the new Bentway. Fort York is a National Historic Site and on its 43 acre site are original buildings from the War of 1812 as well as an 1813 battle site. Did you know that the Americans beat us here in 1813 and controlled the city of York (as Toronto was known then) for a few days?

below: The new Fort York Visitors Centre is now open. There is still being work done both inside and outside, but it is open to visitors. For so long the fort was hidden away and difficult to get to; it is nice to see it receiving more attention.

below: Jake from Park People, one of the groups helping to design the new park, stands under the Gardiner as he talks to a group of us on a tour. Here, by Fort York, the Gardiner is the equivalent of 5 storeys from ground level, the highest it reaches as it crosses the city.

below: Standing on the grounds of Fort York. The Bentway will be beyond the stone wall. You can get a good idea of the spacing between the bents. These spaces are being referred to as ‘rooms’ and there are 55 of them between Strachan and Spadina.

below: One obstacle is the fact that Fort York Blvd passes under the Gardiner on a diagonal. Plans are to build a pedestrian/cycle bridge over the street. Also in the photo, note the TTC bus – Fort York and vicinity are finally on a bus route. Route 121 runs between the Portlands and Fort York via Union Station.

below: The section under the Gardiner Expressway between Bathurst Street and Fort York Blvd is not city owned. It is owned, and has already been developed, by the Onni Group who built the Garrison at Fort York condominiums on either side of it. This is the eastern end of phase 1.

below: Northbound traffic on Bathurst passes under the Gardiner.

Phase 2 of the park’s development involves land between Bathurst and Spadina. This is an area that is undergoing a lot of changes at the moment, i.e. a lot of construction.

below: Immediately south of the Gardiner on the northeast corner of Bathurst and Lakeshore is a construction site. Demolition of the old 1928 Loblaws warehouse building is now complete. The facade of the old building was disassembled rather than demolished; after cleaning and refurbishing of the bricks, it will be rebuilt in its original location. Two condo towers are planned for the space between Loblaws and the Gardiner. Yes, more condo towers to face the Gardiner and add to the tunnel effect that you get when you drive on the expressway.

below: The development of this site is a collaboration between a number of developers. I found a photo of one rendition (source) of what the space under the Gardiner will look like here in the future. Public space including a cafe are part of the plans. Check back in a couple of years to see what really happens here!

below: Standing on Bathurst Street, looking east along what will be Housey Street. This is just north of where the Loblaws development (above) will be. As you can see, you can’t walk there yet.

below: Southeast corner of Bathurst and Fort York Blvd. This is the section of land just north of Housey Street. Construction hoardings and cranes – familiar sights in this area. It also means that taking photos of under the Gardiner here are difficult!

below: Development north of the Gardiner between Bathurst and Dan Leckie Way.

Dan Leckie Way is a north-south road that runs under the Gardiner just east of Bathurst. It is the western boundary of Canoe Landing Park. This park is north of the Gardiner and the Lakeshore.

below: ‘Tom Thomson’s Canoe’, by Douglas Coupland sits at the highest point of land in the area; it’s almost at the same level as the Gardiner and is very visible as you drive by. This park extends down the hill.

below: Looking the other way from the same vantage point. The street running under the Gardiner here is Dan Leckie Way . Up until this point the Lakeshore is south of the Gardiner.

At Dan Leckie Way, the Lakeshore is still south of the Gardiner and the space under the expressway is wide open. By Spadina, one major block east, the situation changes. The Lakeshore splits and westbound traffic lanes go north of the Gardiner and eastbound lanes stay south. Shortly after Spadina, the Lakeshore runs under the Gardiner and there is no room for any further development under the road.

below: Standing on Spadina, just south of the Gardiner and looking west. Here there is a lot of road to cross for pedestrians on Spadina. Not only has the Lakeshore split to run on either side of the Gardiner, but there are also ramps between the Gardiner and the Lakeshore.

below: Still on Spadina, and still looking west, but now under the Gardiner. The space under the road is not as high as it was previously. Its lower and darker and not as inviting. It will be interesting to see what phase 2 of the Bentway development will look like in this space. I am not sure when it will to be finished but I will keep an eye on it!

As for the eastern Gardiner, what does that look like? Well, that’s a whole other blog post!

Project: Under Gardiner On this site you’ll find detailed maps and diagrams of this area as well as information about the plans for the various sections of the space.

gallery hopping

Posted: July 25, 2016 in galleries
Tags: art, atomic bomb, Bau Xi, galleries, Gardiner museum, head, kaneko, lead, map, Matthew Day Jackson, Michael Wolf, painting, photography, public art, Robert Motherwell, sculpture, Thomas Ruff, Toronto, vertical crevice garden

This post is subtitled ‘Staying Cool on a Hot Hot Day’. When the temperatures are into the 90’s (old style) and the humidity makes the air thick, walking streets and alleys is not very comfortable. Instead I took refuge in air conditioned arty places. With the help of the (mostly) air conditioned TTC I only needed to take a few steps outside.

below: At one point I walked through an air conditioned building rather than going outside. This is what I found there. ‘August 6, 1945’ by Matthew Day Jackson. Moments after I pulled my camera out of my backpack, a security guard appeared. I was sure that once again I was going to get the “this is private property” talk but instead we ended up discussing the work and how it is displayed.

It is constructed of four panels and it’s very heavy. The base is made of lead; you can see the lead where Lake Ontario is. It is attached to the wall with 18 very long bolts and each bolt is wired to an alarm.

below: Looking a bit more closely at it you can see that it is a map of Toronto. As you might have surmised, the title is a reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima by the USA during WW2. This isn’t just any map of Toronto, it’s an aerial view of a burnt out city after a nuclear explosion. It is one in a series of cities given similar treatment, all with the same title.

From the effects of man made death to the life enhancing effects of nature….

below: A few steps outside took me past the Gardiner Museum where I noticed that the front garden was redone about a year ago. ‘Vertical Crevice Garden’ was designed and donated by landscape artist Neil Turnbull. From the Gardiner museum website, a quote by the artist: “When the massive forces of continental drift push against layers of sedimentary rock, they cause it to crack, break, and rise. Over centuries, through exposure to wind, sun, and the freeze-thaw cycle, the layers split open. These fissures and crevices collect rain, dust, and an array of windblown bits like seeds and spores; plants take root, and life takes hold.”

below: When walking past the Gardiner Museum, one can’t help but notice the striped head. It’s actually called ‘Untitled’ (why do artists do that?) and it’s by Jun Kaneko, 2002. It’s made of glazed ceramic and galvanized steel. Before heading underground at Museum subway station I took a few minutes to try to take a ‘pretty’ picture of the head. The plants in the garden next door haven’t quite grown up enough to hide that ghastly table that the head sits on. I have always wondered why the museum chose such a mundane bland platform for the sculpture but now that I look at it again I wonder if it’s possible that the table is actually part of the artwork. Could it be?

below: A photograph in the doorway of a gallery caught my eye. The picture below is not the one in the doorway, but one that was hanging on a wall inside that I liked even more. ‘Paris Rooftops 4’ by Michael Wolf. It is 48″ x 68″ and is a chromogenic print (full-colour silver-based photograph), edition of 9. To buy it will set you back $22,000 but looking is free – check out more of Michael Wolf’s work on the Bau-Xi gallery website.

below: A man with a camera stares at a painting on a gallery wall. ‘Watching’ 2010, (26 inches high) by Tom Campbell on the left and ‘Brown Trail #7’ 2016 by Shi Le, a Toronto based landscape artist. These are at the other Bau-Xi gallery (the non-photography one)

below: Three paintings by NUBARR Gallery, a collection of the works of Armenian-Canadian painter Noubar Sabag (Noubar Sabbaghian) 1920-2006. These, and others by the same artist, are on show at the Art Square Cafe & Gallery but unfortunately I just learned that today is the last day.

below: How many people try to paint pictures like this? How many people sell such paintings, not to mention have them hang in the Art Galley of Ontario? But they aren’t Robert Motherwell. So I ponder on the age old question of what makes a piece of art valuable or collectable? Is the AGO (and other galleries) collecting paintings or names? Motherwell painted this in numerous variations – a few changes in colour, a slight change in the lines. Cheating? Or brilliant marketing? One for every gallery of note? This is Motherwell’s ‘Untitled (In Orange with Charcoal Lines)’ c1970. There’s that “untitled” again, the most popular name for an artwork.

My last stop of the afternoon was at the photography exhibit by Thomas Ruff at the AGO. Part of the exhibit was a few large photographs of stars, ‘Sterne’. Large pictures of stars in the night sky were made from negatives that Ruff bought from the European Southern Observatory in Chile in 1989.

below: They are difficult to look at, or rather it is difficult to what is the picture because the blackness of the photograph creates a mirror when placed behind glass. This is me taking a picture of the picture – me plus the picture on the opposite wall plus the lights and light fixtures in the ceiling plus a table plus another person in the room plus a few white spots that are stars.

below: ‘Walking Away, Walking Through the Universe’ a manipulation of a manipulation.

below: One last photo. Let’s end this on a positive note and give Thomas Ruff credit for some interesting work. These two pictures are part of his press++ series where he has taken old photos used in print medium and merged the front (picture) and back (words and markings) of the print into one.

Thomas Ruff, Object Relations, at the AGO until 1 August 2016

inked at the ROM

Posted: July 22, 2016 in events, galleries
Tags: arm, backs, body parts, CONTACT, exhibit, faces, ink, inked, men, patterns, photography, photos, pictures, ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, symbols, tattoos, women, words

There are seven or eight large photographs, portraits of older women, on University Avenue. They were actually part of the CONTACT Photography Festival and they have been on display outside the Royal Ontario Museum since early May. The photos are the ‘The Last Tattooed Women of Kalinga”, portraits by Jake Verzosa.

In the villages of the Cordillera mountains of northern Philippines the women have been tattooed with lace-like patterns for centuries. The tattoos are symbols of stature, beauty, wealth and fortitude and are traditionally applied during rituals. The tradition is dying out as standards of beauty change and as the old ways are replaced with more modern methods.

Each village once had their own tattooist, or mambabatok, but today only one remains. Born in 1918, Whang-od (or Fhang-od), is the last person to practice the centuries old technique called batok. The ink is made of charcoal and water and it is applied by tapping the skin with a thorn.

Once the men were also tattooed. The Kalinga tattoo has evolved from their ancient tradition as warriors and headhunters. Heads were taken from fights and battles as a trophy; each time a man brought home a head he would receive another tattoo as a reward. Tattoos were a mark of social status.

Indigenous groups throughout the Philippines practiced tattooing for centuries. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500’s they called the people ‘pintados’ or ‘painted people’ as it was not uncommon for people to have tattoos covering their whole body. While some tribes used tattoos to mark status, other tribes believed that tattoos possessed special spiritual or magical powers which gave the individuals strength and protection. The use of tattoos as protective symbols is an idea that occurs in many cultures.

In conjunction with the Kalinga portraits, the ROM is featuring an exhibit that examines the beliefs surrounding tattoos, and the role that they and other forms of body art play in different cultures over the years. “Tattoos: Ritual, Identity, Obsession, Art” is on view until September 5th. It is a global tour of tattoos past and present.

One of the cultures that is featured is the Chinese. For centuries, tattoos were forbidden, or at least taboo, in China. To be tattooed was to be discriminated against as they were associated with prisoners or vagrants. Recently that has begun to change.

below: Three large modern picture tattoos by Taiwanese tattoo artist Gao Bin featuring traditional Chinese images, Buddha, lion and dragon. Tattoos as a cultural expression. In some countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand images of Buddha are considered sacred objects of worship. While it’s not illegal to have such a tattoo, wearing one could get you into trouble.

below: Here is another example of why people get the tattoos that they do. This is a picture of one photograph in a series by Isabel Munoz. Munoz spent three weeks inside several prisons in El Salvador and photographed mara gangs. Gang members wear offensive tattoos to assert their antisocial behaviour and express their loyalty to the gangs. Tattoos as statement; tattoos as a mark of membership and belonging. Tribal.

below: A silicone arm with a tattoo by Montreal artist Yann Black on display. This is one of 13 commissioned tattoos on silicone body parts – arms, legs and torsos both male and female that are part of the exhibit. Tattoos as artwork. Individuality.

The oldest known tattoos were found on Otzi the Iceman, a natural mummy who was found in the Otzal alps near the Austria – Italy border in 1991. His tattoos were 61 lines ranging in length between 7 and 40 mm. The lines were arranged in groups. Most of his tattoos were on his legs where there were 12 groups of lines. Otzi is estimated to have died between 3239 BC and 3105 BC.

Tattooed mummies have also been found in other places – Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines, and the Andes in South America. We will probably never know what significance the tattoos had. Theories abound of course and they often involve reasons like protection, spiritual, status, tribal, or just for decoration. Reasons that probably ring true today too. The methods have changed and some of the images have changed, but human nature remains just that, human nature.

as I walk Toronto

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