as I walk Toronto

Is art privileged? What does that mean? I hadn’t meant to get philosophical when I planned a “Downtown Art Hunt” walk.  Put the question aside for a bit and let the ideas simmer in the back of your head.  Instead we’ll wander around downtown Toronto and see what we can find.

below: I wasn’t looking for Taylor Swift but she’s difficult to avoid these days.

below: It’s hardly art but it’s probably better than grey concrete.  Better still would be to get rid of these Jersey barriers that line Front Street in front of Union Station.  They are a temporary solution that is fast becoming a permanent installation.   “aaniin boozhoo” is Anishinaabemowin (also known as Ojibwe) and is a greeting.  (UPDATE – 25 Nov:  I just read that these barriers are being removed this week!!  Maybe complaints do get action!!).

below: “All Beings Connected” by August Swinson in the Main Hall of Union Station.

below: The figure in the image is rooted to the ground, drawing their strength from the earth beneath, connected to the life around.

The West Wing of Union Station connects the main building to the walkway to the UP Express or to the Skywalk that leads to the CN Tower and vicinity.  A lot of people pass by here.  At the moment there are two art exhibits, both of which are part of “Precarious Joys”.  This is the name given to a collection of art exhibits around the city,  the Toronto Biennial 2024 (which ends December 1st).

below: Using art as a backdrop to a family photo.  the Tong Yan Gaai (Chinatown) series by Morris Lum

below: Nicholas Galanin, part of “Threat Return” 2023

below:  “Mycelium” is the name of this network of lights designed by artist Nicholas Baier.  In biology, mycelium refers to a root-like structure of a fungus that consists of a network of thin fungal strands called hyphae.  In Toronto, it is found on the Bay Street bridge that connects Scotiabank Arena with CIBC Square and the GO Bus Station.

below: Because the walls of the Bay Street bridge are glass, “Mycelium” is also visible from the outside.

below: A green acorn.  From little acorns…..  There was a picture and a planter beside the elevator in this lobby.  Nothing more. A small austere space but someone cared enough to hanging a painting of an acorn.

below: Tucked away in a corner where it’s often overlooked is “Pi” by Evan Penny (1996).  A man’s head has been cut into four pieces, disconnected, and left sitting on the ground. I have walked past here many times and not noticed it.

below: It’s art, but it’s also a place to sit.

below: Another painting on a wall in a quiet lobby.  No signs.  Abstract, but it reminds me of two faces smushed together.  One of the faces has a mouth and chin made of crushed shredded wheat. He, or she, is wearing a black mask.  What else does it look like to you?

below: More lobby displays.  One of a group of paintings by John Eric Laford (1954-2021), an Ojibway artist from Manitoulin Island.

below:  Mama elephant is still leading her two little ones behind Commerce Court.

below: If the elephant could see, this would be her view.  I am not sure it’s art, but the white light trees that come out around Commerce Court at Christmas time are now up.

In same square (does it have a name?  Or is it just Commerce Court?), is an art gallery, Collision Gallery.  They are one of the locations featuring art from the Toronto Biennial.

below: Cecilia Vicuna helped co-found of Artists for Democracy in 1974 after she left her home country Chile.  A military coup upended that country in the early 1970s.  Here at the Collision Gallery she has an installation, “Futur.O [Futur.E]” that pays homage to Gail Kastner.

below: Words written on strips of paper. From the left, the first four are:   “I had a very [illegible] feeling in my head.  I had a blob not a head”, “The whole purpose was not to research brain washing but to design a system for extracting information from resistant [forces?]”, “These little books are her memory”, and “To defend herself and preserve her mind from erasure she created little books packed with extremely dense miniature handwriting”  When you read the story of Gail Kastner and her treatment at a Montreal psychiatric institute in 1953, these writings will make more sense.

below: Vicuna connects the electroshock experiments of the 1950s to the use of such techniques in interrogation and torture.  In this drawing she writes about electroshock treatment being used in Chile to “erase the past and the future, creating a great lie”.    Almost as an aside,  I’m not sure that creating lies requires such drastic measures; it seems these days that all you have to do it shout it loud enough and often enough and you can create whatever reality you want.  How do we retain our memories under such circumstances?  Memories help keep us connected to our past and to our present.  Who are we without our memories?

below: Dreamlike mythical figures dancing together in “Joyous Procession/The Infinite Serpent” by Rajni Perera.

below:  Details of a couple of the banners that hang from above to form a circle around an LED light fixture that suggests fire.  Artist: Citra Sasmita

below: “All Islands Touch” by Tessa Mars, another installation at Collision Gallery.  I am not fond of things lying around on the ground counting as art and I don’t think that they add much to the piece. You might disagree and that’s okay.

below: Fingers growing out of rocks?  Plant life at the bottom of the sea reaching skyward toward the light?

below: Playing with the cows

below: Denyse Thomasos (1964-2012) Trinidadian-Canadian, is the artist who painted this picture that hangs inside in the lobby of  the TD Centre-Mies van der Rohe building.  An abstract, but very much an urban scene with its vibrant chaos.

below: In the same lobby as the image above, this abstract by Susanna Heller  (1956-2021) tells a different story.  There is also chaos but it seems more “natural”, more like nature instead of man-made.  It is titled: ‘Restless Prowling from Night to Day Break’  and is 30 foot long.

below: Jose Bautista flips his bat after hitting a home run ….and his fans cheer.

below: Emily Pope and her series of (mostly) blue, black, and white.  “Antidotes for Yearning” or the examining of “the instinctual urge to ward off the inevitable despite our guaranteed decay. Through symbolic imagery…”   Abbozzo Gallery

below: Also at the Abbozzo Gallery are a series of very realistic looking paintings of waves by Katharine Burns.  (It looks better in real life!)

below: One of the wave pictures, zoomed in a bit.  Translucence, light, spray, motion, and so much more.

below: At the BAND (Black Artist Network in Dialogue) Gallery is a small showing of artworks owned by the founders of the gallery.   The BAND Gallery has temporary space at 401 Richmond West while its usual space at 19 Brock is being renovated.

below:  Two large paintings by Janet Cardiff, large figures, connected.  Dancing, Intertwined.  Are they happy?

below:  In one of the halls of 401 Richmond West is a large poster.  It is a collage of photos taken by Vera Frenkel with some of her words added to them.  Title: “Once Near Water: Notes From the Scaffolding Archives” 2008.  She took pictures of any scaffolding that she saw while walking around Toronto.   At the top left she opens with these words: “By the time you see this, the city we know will be gone.  Once a rich multi-course meal, now a dry biscuit.”   Do you think that we are turning into (or have become?) a “dry biscuit”?  We’re definitely changing and I’d like to think that some of the changes are for the better (and it would help if Doug Ford would keep his hands out of the cookie jar).

below: On another hallway wall (in the basement) of 401 Richmond is this piece….Do you think that you are tough? A tree made of bricks.

below: He’s got a long way to go.  Smashing the tree, brick by brick, smash, smash, hurt your head, crash, faster harder, smash, smash

below:  An oldie but goodie; a painting by Harold Town (1924-1990).  It’s on display at the Simon Bentley Fine Art Gallery along with a number of other paintings and artworks.

If you can remember waaaaay back to the beginning of this post, you will recall that I started with an image by Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge.  I am going to end the post with a couple more of their photos.   They obviously care very much about social issues.

below: A marvelous collage, “A Work in Progress”.  The original dates from 1979.  In 2006 it was updated by adding four in the series so that now 12 decades of women’s work/life is now covered. This is the picture that encapsulates the 1950s.  The wartime image out the window is actually the Hungarian uprising.  Elements include a calendar on the wall showing a woman working in a factory, a coffee percolator on the table, a Beatrix Potter children’s bowl on the table, a crucifix on the wall, a red squeezie ketchup bottle, the syrup container with the pull back tab opening, baby bottle, star weekly magazine, the old radio….

below: Not a Care, A Short History of Health Care.  This is actually a series of 12 images, each one representing a time and place in history from neolithic times to the present (made in 1999).  I discovered that the whole series is online and if you are interested, you can see them here:  Conde & Beveridge’s website

As for that statement about privilege and art…  there is no answer; there are many answers.  Making art is not for the privileged few; most of us have the need to create.  Whether it’s shouted from the rooftops or whispered quietly in a little corner, all art is valid to some degree.

Viewing art is not just for the privileged; there is so much out there… just get out and look.  You will think some of it is stupid, or mediocre but sometimes you’ll find something that makes you stop and think.  Or stop and stare.

 Those sentences barely scratch the surface and may seem quite lame but this is probably not the time nor place for philosophical essays… but feel free to leave your comments/opinions on the subject.

 “Opinions?  I’m supposed to have opinions?”