Posts Tagged ‘colors’

Pacita Abad at the AGO

Posted: January 19, 2025 in galleries
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two women looking at fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Pacita Abad (1946-2004) was born in the Philippines.  During the Marcos regime, she left Manila intending to study law in Spain. Instead, she ended up in the USA.

below: “Old Dhaka” (Bangladesh) 1978, oil on canvas

Many of the artworks that were on display were large-scale hanging trapuntos, a form of quilted painting made of stitched and stuffed canvas.

below: The central piece in this image is “LA Liberty” 1992.  Here Abad recasts Lady Liberty as an “International Lady of Color” as opposed to the very white, very European, statue that exists in New York City.

three large pieces fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below:  “If My Friends Could See Me Now”, An American Dream with all the trappings of a ‘typical’ middle class life.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: “Subali” 1983. Acrylic, oil, gold cotton, batik cloth, sequins, rick rack ribbons on stitched and padded canvas.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

below: Many of the fabric pieces had marine themes like this very big octopus in “My Fear of Night Diving” 1985.  It is 130 x 170 inches (or 330 x 432 cm).

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

people in an art gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, looking at artwork by Pacita Abad, large fabric pieces in vibrant colors, of underwater scenes

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario, underwater scene, different types of fish, colourful seaweed,

below: Details, striped braiding sewn on to make the seaweed

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario underwater scene, striped fish, colourful seaweed enhanced with striped braiding sewn on top of the painted mottled pink fabric,

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In foreground is an abstract with different sizes of squares and rectangles in different colours, in the background is one with a scene of a woman looking out a window with bars on it.

below: Some of the pieces were hung such that the stitches on the back were visible.  Also interesting.

fabric artwork by Pacita Abad hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Regrettably, this exhibit closes today.

Namaste, Merry Christmas, and more…

Posted: December 18, 2024 in locations, stores, transportation
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Another visit to Little India late one afternoon in December.  In December darkness descends early but with darkness come lights.  Some things are hidden but others are revealed.  Shadows shift and details blur. 

below: “Namaste!  Warning, This Store is protected by Karma.  Steal from here and you’ll soon find out why Karma’s a Bitch.”

sign in store window, with picture of buddha, Namaste, Warning,

below: Christmas lights on poles, and greenery with bows – it must be December in the city!

greenery and white bows in a planter along the sidewalk on gerrard, little india, utility pole beside it is wrapped in Christmas lights

sign painted on side of coffee shop, in large capital letters, you are here. with a decorated christmas tree beside it

seemingly cross eyed santa claus doll in a store window, skinny santa

below: I doubt that it says “Merry Christmas”!  … Nor does it say, “Namaste”.

sticker with arabic writing on it, on a utility pole that is wrapped in christmas lights

below: Love wins, regardless of the season.   A few of the characters on the exterior of a building painted by Al Runt.

two of the many characters painted by Al Runt on the exterior of a building on gerrard east, a sign in the window of the building says love wins

in store, man behind counter, looks out door as photo is being taken of mannequin in the window

portions of saris and other garments in store window, green beaded cloth, bright patterns,

below: A cash register on the counter and shelves crammed full of stuff – mostly household things – mugs, pots & pans, and the like.

looking in the window of a store, cash register on the counter, shelves full of stuff,

below: Looking in gallery windows too

GAS gallery window with large painting on display

north side of Gerrard

below: Baldev Paan – paan, ice cream, soft drinks, and bitcoin.

store in Little India, Baldev Paan, light green painted exterior, many signs in window,

below: Running for the streetcar

streetcar on gerrard,

below: Rana Gems, India Paan, and a restaurant with tacos and mariscos (seafood, en español) as well as a Christmas tree in the window.

2 store fronts on gerrard, India Paan, and both are two storey older buildings, picture taken late afternoon, lights on inside stores

below: Small, smaller, smallest?  or Big, bigger, biggest?  Biggest pencil? Yes!  …..  Karma’s Kitchen is squished in between two larger buildings.

three stores in little india, tall grey building, middle sized blue Neelams store, and short single storey restaurant,

below: More on the south side of Gerrard, Karmas Kitchen again, Sultan Jewellers and, the now empty, Alesha Beauty Salon and Spa.

early evening, three buildings on the north side of Gerrard, Karma Kitchen restaurant,

small metal table on sidewalk outside restaurant, list of food on wall, like lassi, sev puri, panu puri, and gol guppa, evening, street scene

below: Pretty in pink

exterior of restaurant, painted pink

below: Looking through the window

looking through window into restaurant with a large image of a woman in pink on a wall

below: Dancing among the flowers

part of a mural in Little India, two people dancing, woman in purple sari, man in pinkish orange outfit

decorations on a glass door, entrance to a store, lit inside, darker outside, evening

saris hanging up in window of clothing store

mannequins in store window, with sign that says everything must go, also a sign advertising 22k gold

mannequins in a window, evening, yellowish light inside

below: Shiny beaded fringes and reflected lights, playing with windows.

reflections of stores and lights in a window with saris and clothes with shiny beads on fringes, metallic threads,

part of a mural, a woman's portrait on a door, with colourful designs around her, leaves and flowers, stylized

advert posters on exterior wall, faded, both women,

mailbox with white necklace like dangly thing, with fake orange flowers at the end

bicycle parked in front of Lazy Daisy Cafe on Gerrard, bus shelter,

below: Harry’s on the northeast corner of Gerrard and Coxwell

TTC streetcar at Coxwell and Gerrard, in front of Harrys Burgers restaurant

below: Coxwell Variety

coxwell variety store signs, and people on sidewalk

below: Northwest corner of Gerrard and Coxwell

people walking north on coxwell from gerrard

below: Are YOU a Communist?

poster on a pole, Are you a Communist? Now get organized

sidewalk tree planter painted orange

Happy trails!  and a Merry Christmas….  Joyeux Noël …. Feliz Natal … Feliz Navidad to all!

a couple pushes a stroller past of striped bench on a sidewalk, in front of stores

under Adelaide and Richmond

Posted: November 13, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Both Adelaide St. East and Richmond St. East pass over King Street as they converge into Eastern Avenue.  Recently the concrete supports that help hold up these overpasses have been painted in bright, bold pictures.  The murals are entitled ‘Frozen Memories’ and they were designed and painted by street artist Shalak Attack with help from Bruno Smoky and Fiya Bruxa.

 All four pillars of the overpasses are in view.

Each pillar has a large face on the side that faces King Street and a picture that depicts something representative of Corktown on the other sides. 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, in the foreground is the face of a man with the eyes on the upper horizontal portion of the support and his mouth on the lower part.

These murals are a part of the StreetARToronto Underpass Program or “StART UP.” 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a man passes by on the sidewalk while in the foreground is a support painted with street scenes. Houses and streetcar tracks.

Enoch Turner established Toronto’s first free school in the Corktown area in 1848. 

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a young girl in a pink top sitting at a table and writing in a notebook. The word love is written on one of the pages.

painting of the Enoch Turner school on one of the pillars supporting Adelaide St. East in Toronto. Other Corktown houses are also painted here on the lower part of the pillar.

  Two of the main industries in Corktown were bricks and beer.   One pillar pays homage to the people who worked in these industries, including this bricklayer.

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a man portrayed in blue tones, wearing an old fashioned hard hat and holding a trowel.

Mural on concrete pillar of a blue brick layer surrounded by symbols of industry such as factories, gears, beer bottles, bricks. There is a parking lot surrounding the concrete support so there are cars parked in front of the pillar.

This mural is a another tribute to the early days of Corktown.   Sailing ships, maps and compasses are for the immigrants that came here.   The first church built in Corktown was Little Trinity in 1843.   It’s stained glass window is shown here.

Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, three supports are in the picture. The one in the foreground has marine scenes - two sailing ships, a large turtle, and waves. The two supports in the background are those with faces, one man and one woman.

other views

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Paintings on the large T shaped concrete supports of the overpass, a large multicoloured woman's face is on the concrete support that is across the street. A chain link ffence and yellow fire hydrant are in the foreground.