hoardings | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘hoardings’

intersections – Yonge & Bloor

Posted: July 16, 2022 in intersections
Tags: Bloor, buildings, construction, downtown, hoardings, Ron Arad, Safe Hands, street, Ukraine, Ukrainian flags, Yonge

below: Looking west on Bloor towards Yonge. The pink flags fly in front of Holt Renfrew. One Bloor East with it’s curvy vertical lines and 76 storeys dominates the sky. The blue structure is the top of ‘The One’ at 1 Bloor West – It may be short now but it won’t be for long. There will be 82 storeys once it’s completed (maybe in 2023?)

A few minutes at Yonge and Bloor in mid-July

below: Hoardings on the south side of Bloor Street

below: Construction. Blank whiteness on The One as it slowly rises.

below: Hanging Ukrainian flags on the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor.

below: South side of the intersection. At least the facade of the older buildings on Yonge Street are being preserved.

below: Looking south on Yonge from Bloor.

below: Looking east on Bloor from just west of Yonge Street. Rising 88 feet above the sidewalk is the metallic ‘Safe Hands’ sculpture by Ron Arad.

below: Anti-Putin protest, northeast corner

below: Waiting for a green light, northwest corner (more construction!)

Another circular route

Posted: May 15, 2022 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, intersections, old buildings
Tags: 33wallflower33, Broadview, construction, Don Valley parkway, DVP, Eastern Ave., foundry, Garfield, graffiti, heritage, hoardings, paste up, sketchrat, underpass park, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, water tower

From the West Don Lands, across Eastern, north on Broadview and then back west on Queen Street East to Parliament and the Distillery District.

below: Saved! Demolition of the old foundry building near the Distillery District. More on this story in a previous post from almost exactly a year ago. Also a paste up by 33wallflower33 of a well dressed woman throwing out Doug Ford’s head and paraphernalia such as beer can with “buck a beer” in it.

below: Signs of celebration on the fence around what ostensibly will be Eastern Avenue Affordable Housing (i.e. We’ll wait and see…)

bottom right: “Here’s why people are rallying to protect this Toronto heritage site from demolition. The provincial government has paused demolition of the Foundry site in the West Don Lands after an outcry in Toronto” From Toronto NOW.
bottom left: “Province starts demolition of heritage buildings in West Don Lands despite community backlash. Tearing buildings down ‘outrageous’ councillor says.” CBC News

below: A simple statement; a red paper heart tied to a tree.

below: Not all of it was saved… but at least they didn’t tear the whole thing down as originally planned…..

below: Ukraine symbol on a boarded up window

below: Smack! Urban Ninja Squadron paste-up along with a musical sketchrat.

below: The house with the two green cubes is still standing. Truth at the base.

below: A painted pillar in Underpass Park, with the pedestrian ramp up to Eastern Ave in background

below: A row of large rocks

below: The underside of the roof over the entrance to the condo is very reflective. It ‘mirrors’ the reflective ceiling of Underpass Park next door to it.

below: View from, looking east over Corktown Common, the south end of the Don River, as well as the ramp from the Gardiner Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway.

below: Eastern Ave and the DVP. Looking east.

below: Garfield the Cat just lying around

below: Northeast corner of Broadview and Eastern.

below: A row of old houses on Broadview still stand empty. It’s been years now since anyone has lived in them.

below: Just a bit north, at Queen Street East, another boarded up building. But this one is now in the middle of an active construction site.

below: In an alley behind Queen Street East.

below: A new view of Queen Street East has been opened up with the demolition of some of the buildings on the south side.

below: Northeast corner of Broadview and Queen East, once the home of Dangerous Dan’s.

below: Danger due to hole. On Queen East. The pyramid shaped roof is part of the Broadview Hotel at Queen and Broadview.

below: More danger…. watch out for spooky skeletons!

below: Riverside Common, a new public space on Queen Street East.

below: Looking back across the Don River from the bridge at Queen Street East.

below: Passing southbound under Queen Street East.

below: Looking north up Lower Bayview from Queen Street East

below: From almost the same vantage point as the photo above, but looking more west than north.

below: An Uber5000 yellow birdie on the wall of the Toronto Humane Society at Queen and River.

below: Painting of two fencers where the red wine seems to be winning.

below: Where Eastern Avenue meets Front Street, looking west towards downtown. The old brick building is now Toronto Police Services Division 51 headquaters. In a previous phase of its life it was Consumers Gas Station A, designed by Bond & Smith and built in 1898. Beyond Parliament Street and in the background is the blue Globe and Mail building.

below: The Porsche dealership on the northwest corner of Front and Parliament is now empty.

below: The southwest corner of Front and Parliament is entirely surrounded by plywood hoardings.

below: Another 33wallflower33 paste-up. This time she’s pinning Putin’s head to the ground.

below: And back to the Distillery District – and the new construction that is taking place at Front and Trinity, just north of the historic buildings.

on hoardings, Queen Street East

Posted: May 3, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Chris Perez, Elicser, hoardings, luvs, moth, mural, painting, Phillip Saunders, Queen St. East, rabbit, raccoon, steam, still life, turtle

The construction hoardings on the south side of Queen Street East between Broadview and the Don River were painted back in the fall of 2021.

below: At the east end, a dear with a rack of antlers beside a young woman in a bright and cheerful orange head scarf.

below: A face by Philip Saunders.

below: Elicser people

below: Yellow tea (or coffee?) pot with citrus fruit, still life by steam reflected on a shiny metal plate.

below: Closer up of the pinkish eye of a white rabbit

below: A large brown turtle slowly ambles by

below: A pigeon never looked so majestic!

below: A moth is attracted by the lights of traffic by the Queen Street East bridge

below: Luvs almost makes this little raccoon look cute!

snowy morning on Queen West

Posted: March 20, 2022 in alleys, graffiti and street art, landmarks, stores
Tags: alley, buildings, bus shelters, daisy, dolls, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, hoardings, Jeremy Lynch, jumblefacefoto, kode 905, kyara cabrera Fong, Life©️, lovebot, luvs, mannequins, murals, paint, pasteups, Poetaia, Queen West, Rush Lane, slaps, snow, Spadina, stickers, street art, streetcars, th!nk, TTC, uber5000, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, Windigo Army, winter

… and Graffiti Alley

below: Northeast corner of Spadina and Queen West

below: Mannequins on orange

below: Queen Street westbound approaching Bathurst

below: It’s always nice to see that there’s at least one Lovebot still hanging out in Graffiti Alley.

below: On the door, a jumblefacefoto collage

below: Reach out and touch someone

below: Open your eyes

below: Are you smiling? Are you happy?

below: Southeast corner, Queen & Niagara

below: Same intersection slightly later in the morning and from a slightly different angle

below: Windigo Army piece

below: A little orange character pasted to a pole; the work of kode_dipz aka Kyara Cabrera Fong

below: Because of the construction of a new condo at Richmond and Augusta there has been scaffolding in a section of Graffiti Alley. The other day some of it was being dismantled. This woman is more visible now but some of the bars remain.

below: Life©️ one eyed red daisy supersized

below: Part of UBER5000’s Toronto mural.

below: By luvs – a woman and her dog, with duplicate vision

below: A properly worn mask…..

What is creepier? Dolls or mannequins?

below: Poetaia wants to know what you’re up to, wink, wink.

below: Peeling paper makes the gold words difficult to read

below: There’s a yellow eye and possibly a blue one too?

a touch of spring

Posted: March 12, 2022 in graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, public art, reflections
Tags: Anish Kapoor, art, Camilla Teodoro, CIBC Square, CN Tower, Compartment Earth, construction, covid vaccination, Esmaa Mohamoud, fence, hoardings, Light Stolen from the Sun, live again, Louis Agassiz, Love Park, posters, Queens Quay West, reflections, Renty, Rentyhorn, Roxy Paine, Sasha Huber, sculpture, Steve Driscoll, The Brotherhood FUBU, the power plant, traffic cones, Visoleil, windows

It seems like it’s been a long winter with more extended periods of colder temperatures as well as never ending snow. Last weekend was the first sign that maybe spring would arrive this year …. before the snow came back! Here are a few things that I saw on my walk last Sunday while out enjoying some warm sunshine.

below: A sign of the times; a sign for the coming spring.

below: There is still a large parking lot on the corner of Rees and Queens Quay. It may be the last piece of undeveloped property along this part of the waterfront.

below: Clearing away the piles of snow.

below: The skating rink beside the Power Plant is melting quickly. The designs painted on the concrete below provide a bright contrast to the towers of glass and steel nearby.

below: Same spot as above but this time looking northwest.

below: On the south wall of The Power Plant, a large image of the artist, Sasha Huber, on top of a Swiss mountain.

large picture on the outside, south, wall of the The Power Plant. A picture of the artist, Sasha Huber, planting a sign and plaque for Rentyhorn, renaming a Swiss mountain.

“Rentyhorn” (2008) is part of a campaign to rename Agassizhorn, a Swiss mountain peak. Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was a Swiss glaciologist who became convinced that Blacks were an inferior species and that he could prove it. Renty was an enslaved woman who was one of a group forcibly photographed by Agassiz in his attempt to prove his theory. There is more of this story, and more of Huber’s work, on display in the gallery.

below: Reflections and distortions in the windows of The Power Plant.

below: Queens Quay

below: “Compartment Earth” in the lobby of RBC WaterPark Place building on Queens Quay. It is 16,000 pounds of stainless steel; a sculpture by American artist Roxy Paine.

below: Work continues on the park, Love Park, that replaces the old York Street exit ramp from the Gardiner Expressway.

below: Esmaa Mohamoud‘s large image titled: ” The Brotherhood FUBU (For Us, By Us)” covers 37 x 144 feet (or 11 x 44 metres).

below: Looking up to the blue sky.

below: Part art, part health, this is “Visoleil” in the lobby of the new CIBC Square. A glowing circle of light to lift the spirits during the grey of a Toronto winter. I went on a Sunday and the doors were locked so I couldn’t get closer. Unfortunately, it’s probably gone by now as it was scheduled to be removed on 11th March.

below: Also at CIBC Square, “Light Stolen from the Sun” by Steve Driscoll. This new CIBC building on (by the new GO Station and across from Union Station) has been under construction for a few years now. It isn’t quite finished.

below: Looking through the front window you can catch a glimpse of this magnificent piece of backlit glass. Apparently there are twelve. This is something that I am definitely going to come back to see!

below: Street closed. Construction.

below: More construction, King and John.

below: Development notice on Crocodile Rock… yikes, 68 storeys proposed at Adelaide and Duncan.

below: Northeast corner of Adelaide and Duncan

below: Hoardings on Lower Simcoe street – “A Stroll Through the City” by Camilla Teodoro

below: Looking west on Front Street from Bay with Union Station, CN Tower, Royal Bank building, and the Royal York Hotel.

below: In Simcoe Park (Front Street), there is an aluminium sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor. It was installed in 1995.

below: Outside Metro Hall, a banner promoting COVID-19 vaccination in kids.

below: Snarky graffiti – “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.”

below: Signs on traffic construction cones

below: Protest posters and graffiti. Anti condo development & corrupt landlords. Mercury contamination of water.

Adelaide & Peter

Posted: July 9, 2021 in construction, locations, public art
Tags: Adelaide St., CNE swings, dancers, graffiti, hoardings, Holly CHang, images, JAYU, Johnny Wu, Leilah Dhoré, Nawang Tsomo, paste ups, Peter St., photography, Radha, Sherry Yu, skateboarder, slaps, Stephen Attong, STEPS initiative, Toronto Makes Good

below: Southeast corner of Adelaide & Peter

below: West side of Peter at Adelaide

below: Still standing – Second Empire style from the late 1850s, with a mansard roof that was added a little later. Just north of it, a 47 storey condo is being constructed.

below: On the hoardings at this construction site on Peter, is “Toronto Makes Good” a photo exhibit hosted by JAYU and The STEPS Initiative that features the work of nine young people (ages 18 – 29).

below: “Swing Summer Away” by Johnny Wu. Taken at the CNE

below: “Toronto Waterfront Silhouette” by April Beatson. Taken at one of the wave decks near Harbourfront.

below: “Members of a Nicaraguan Dance Troupe” by Tenzin Dorjé. Taken at a performance at Mel Lastman Square.

below: “Game 6” by Stephen Attong. Raptors fans celebrating on the streets of Toronto after the team won their first NBA Championship.

Other photographers with images on the hoardings: Holly Chang, Leilah Dhoré, Nawang Tsomo, Radha, and Sherry Yu.

below: Saving the old facade

below: Some things can’t be saved.

save the foundry

Posted: May 13, 2021 in graffiti and street art, history
Tags: corktown, Dominion Wheel Foundries, Doug Ford, foundry, hearts, heritage, hoardings, politics, posters, protest, redevelopment, save the foundry, stencils, street art

I read in the news this morning that the graffiti and artwork on the hoardings around the old foundry site in Corktown/Canary District are being painted over now. I had previously mentioned some of the stencils and posters that we here when I first saw them back in February. Unfortunately I am a bit behind on my posts so I haven’t uploaded the pictures that I took on a subsequent visit to the area…. here they are now. This is what is being painted over today:

below: “The history that is represented in this era of globalization is very important not to bulldoze”
“I want to save the Foundry because the buildings lend character to an area that is being made more and more bland every day.”
Meanwhile Doug Ford can’t keep his hands off Toronto City Hall.

below: “Municipal Destruction Minister Steve Clark screws up plans for A-Ford-A-Bull-Housing.”

below: Why Doug? Why?

below: “Dear Doug Ford: Let us fix this for you.”

benched

Posted: March 28, 2021 in locations, public art
Tags: art, benches, Christiano De Araujo, David Ogilvie Engineering., design, Francisco Gazitua, grominator, hoardings, Jieun June Kim, Michelle Cieloszczyk, murals, Nathan Mabry, Patrick Li, reflections, sculpture, T-bonez, Thelia Shelton, urban ninja squadron

Arty things around Liberty Village

Back in May 2020, 14 benches in public places throughout Liberty Village were designed/decorated by different artists.

below: ‘Gathering’ by Patrick Li

below: “Home of Innovation” by Jieun June Kim

below: Red pigeons in front of a new condo – by Los Angeles-based artist Nathan Mabry. If you step back and look at it from the right angle, the large red parts look like a pigeon as well.

below: ‘Perpetual Motion’ by Francisco Gazitua

below: “In Memory of Omi and Opa” by Thelia Shelton

below: “Love Conquers Our Differences” designed by Christiano De Araujo and produced by David Ogilvie Engineering

below: Brightly carpeted stairs behind one of the old brick buildings typical of Liberty Village

below: mural by Jarus

below: One smart mural.

below: Grominator watches the dancers

below: It’s not easy these days but “smile, enjoy now”.

below: “Can” by Michelle Cieloszczyk, 2017

Time for coffee!

Protests. Advertisements. Words.

Posted: March 14, 2021 in graffiti and street art
Tags: activism, Angela Davis quote, covid, dalai lama, defund the police, graffiti, hoardings, Khaleel Seivwright, lockdowns, Maya Angelou, Parkdale Private Radio, posters, protest, social housing, Tibet, tiny shelters, utility poles, words

Good morning!
And welcome to another Toronto blog post! This time, it’s all about reading material found on the street recently. In a lot of ways, it’s a snapshot of some of the issues and concerns that occupy us at this particular moment in time.

Papers on boxes, papers on poles, and papers on walls. Protests. Advertisements. Words. Car caravan protest; Take back the night; call Jacki. A potpourri of thoughts and causes. An abundance of opinions and objectives.

below: 62nd Tibetans National Uprising Day, March 10th. In March of 1959, there was an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in which about 87,000 people died; it was at this time that the Dalai Lama fled to India (in the Himalayas) where he has lived in exile ever since.

below: Khaleel Seivwright is a carpenter who has been constructing tiny shelters. Some of the funds for the project come from a GoFundMe campaign. These structures have been placed in encampments for the homeless in parks and on other city-owned land but back in February, the city filed an injunction to stop the shelters on city property.

below: Another poster concerning the shortfalls of social housing in this city. As the average cost of house in the GTA hovers around a million dollars, there is a growing lack of affordable housing.

below: Cops aren’t workers – no police unions

below: Defund the police by 50% and invest in community supports and services – on top. And on the bottom, Disco 3000, a weekly (Thursday nights) radio show on Parkdale Private Radio.

below: Covid lockdown protest

below: We got a problem – Because the ones who are causing the problem don’t want us to know what it is.” The people named are all conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.

below: A quote from Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do”

below: A few survive – “Radical simply means ‘Grasping things at the root’ Angela Davis. Plus, My body; my choice.

below: In Parkdale a lot of the posters have been cut down leaving mysterious bits behind. The words here are written in a different alphabet and I have no idea what the poster was advertising or promoting.