Posts Tagged ‘images’

in-between at Ontario Square

Posted: November 11, 2015 in public art
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‘In-Between Worlds’ is a series of photographs by Canadian photographer Meryl McMaster.   This series centres around the role of McMaster’s dual heritage in her search for self;  The images represent her being part of, and also being between, two different cultures as she is part Cree and part ‘European’.

Three of the images are on display at Ontario Square by Queens Quay West and Lower Simcoe St.

below: Horse Dance.  The bright red and blue of the shaggy hobby horses against a winter landscape makes for an eye catching picture.  On closer look, you realize that there is a person’s head inside one of those horses’s head.  Heads that have no eyes to see or mouths to speak.

A large photograph of three red hobby horses with long blue mane, taken outside in the winter in the snow, with bare trees in the background. A mix of the real (outdoors) and the unreal (hobby horses instead of real horses). Photo is Mounted on a concrete wall outside.

below: Wingeds Calling.  Around the corner there is another picture of a person in costume, playing the role of a real, yet not real, animal.  A large black bird-like figure walks on the frozen ground, perhaps too big and awkward to fly.

A photograph Mounted on a concrete wall outside of a person draped in a large black cape and wearing a head piece that looks like a large black bird. Photo taken outside in winter so the background is all white and grey like a foggy winter day.,

below: Wind Play Variation.  The third picture baffles me a bit.  Although this is another picture of a person assuming a role,  this time the creature is totally of the artist’s imagination.  A blue hairy thing that is slightly blurry as it walks amongst the pine trees.   Is it coming or going?

Photo of a blue furry creature taken in winter with snow covered evergreens in the background. Mounted on a concrete wall outside.

58th World Press Photo Contest

Posted: October 3, 2015 in events, galleries
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At Allan Lambert Gallery, Brookfield Place,
winning photos from the 58th World Press Photo Contest

Winning images chosen from 97,912 photographs taken by 5,692 photographers from 131 countries.

Three people are looking at a series of photographs on display. One of the photos is a boat carrying refugees, taken from above, the boat is packed full

below:  Taken by Andy Rocchelli of Italy, part of his series of ‘Russian Interiors’ portraits. There were 10 photographs in the series, three of which are shown here (well, two and a half).  All were of women.

Three pictures on white board on display in the Allan Lambert gallery in Brookfield Place. Behind the board is the stone facade of the old bank building.

below:  One of the multitude of Chinese migrant laborers, a factory worker in in Yiwu China. His job is to coat polystyrene snowflakes with red powder.  There are 600 factories in Yiwu and they produce 60% of the world’s Christmas decorations.  Photo by Ronghui Chen, second prize winner in the Contemporary Issues category.

A picture of a photograph taken in a red room of a young man wearing a Santa Claus hat and a blue jacket.

 

below: The three winning photographs from the Sports (Singles) category.  The predominant photo is the second prize photo; it is a photo of Odell Beckham of the New York Giants making a one handed touchdown catch, taken by Al Bello.  The winning sports photo is the one on the far left.  It is a photo of Argentine football player Lionel Messi receiving the Golden Ball trophy at the World Cup in Brazil, taken by Bao Tailiang.   In the middle is a picture of Philip Hughes, a cricket batsman who was hit on the head by a ball during a game, taken by Mark Metcalfe.

Picture taken at night. The light source is from lights in the floor. Three photographs are on display, part of a larger exhibit of winning photography from around the world. The three shown here are sports photos. The main one being a football player catching a pass.

people looking at photographs, the winning pictures from the World Press Photo contest, on display at Brookfield Place

people looking at photographs, the winning pictures from the World Press Photo contest, on display at Brookfield Place

people looking at photographs, the winning pictures from the World Press Photo contest, on display at Brookfield Place

World Press Photo contest winners, sign cautioning people that the section they are about to enter has some disturbing images in it.

people looking at photographs, the winning pictures from the World Press Photo contest, on display at Brookfield Place

below: The winning photo, by Danish photographer, Mads Nissen of Jon and Alex, a gay couple, sharing an intimate moment at Alex’s home, a small apartment in St Petersburg, Russia. (It looks better in real life!)

A photo by Mads Nissen, the winning photograph of the 58th World Press Photography Contest, Jon and Alex , two men, one lyng on his back and the other sitting beside him. The greenish curtains in the background dominate the picture.

banners on Queens Quay

Posted: September 18, 2015 in public art
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 Waterfront Outdoor Photo Exhibit

For the past four years, the Waterfront BIA has organized a photography contest.  East year fifty finalists are chosen.  This year they have organized a photo exhibit of a different kind.  One hundred and fourteen images were chosen from the 200 finalists from their previous photo contests.  These images were used (and cropped!) to make vertical banners, 5 ft x 2 ft in size.   The banners are made of vinyl and the same image is on both sides.

below: You can see many of the banners on Queen’s Quay between Yonge and Bathurst.

Looking west on Queens Quay towards Bathurst street. New TTC streetcar is in the photo as well as a number of condos and other buildings on the north side of the street

Picture of round orange life ring on the edge of the waterfront in Toronto.

Three pictures in one. Each of the pictures is of a banner hanging from a pole outside. On the left is a picture of seagull, in the middle is a picture of two houses and on the right is a winter waterfront scene

A pole with a vinyl banner with a colourful picture of boats. Also on the pole is a street sign that says Yo Yo Ma Lane

looking towards the waterfront. A banner with a picture of the Canadian flag is on a post by a tree in the foreground. The old silos for Canada Malting Company are in the background as is a boat moored beside the silos.

A banner with a picture of a seagull on it. In the background of the banner picture is the CN Tower. In the background of this photo, there is also the CN Tower.

 

below: Sometimes it’s difficult to see the banners amongst all the other things along Queen’s Quay

TTC streetcar on Queens Quay

below: There are also some banners on Lakeshore Blvd between Bathurst and Spadina.

A woman is walking on a sidewalk, away from the camera, beside the Lakeshore Blvd in Toronto. There are a few cars on the road. There are skyscrapers in the background. The elevated highway, the Gardiner Expressway, is also in the picture.

A composite of three pictures, each of a vertical banner hanging from a pole outdoors along a street. One banner is a kayaker in the harbour in front of the Toronto skyline. Another is a sunset over Toronto skyline on a cloudy day

art and fashion on Dundas

Posted: August 13, 2015 in public art
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“Art Loves Fashion! Fashion Loves Art!” 
Retailer H&M is presently renovating the southwest corner of Yonge & Dundas.  On the Dundas St. side of the development, the hoardings have provided a space for an art exhibit. It is an outdoor digital gallery of images produced by students in OCAD’s Digital Painting/Expanded Animation (DPXA) program.

People walk by the hoardings beside the sidewalk on Dundas St. near Yonge, part of the new H & M store being built there. There are pictures on the wall.

below: ‘Nude Collage’ by Arshia Salesi

colourful image with slices of watermelon, purple hyacinth flowers, and a parrot

 below: Resting against ‘Indeterminate Peony’ by Trudy Erin Elmore.
To the left is ‘Nonscape V’ by Monica Moraru

A man in a white shirt and wearing a backpack leans against a white wall that has a picture printed on it.

below:  A woman walks past ‘Streetcar Style’ by Avery Kua.

A woman walks by a wall that has a picture on it os people getting off a streetcar. The woman is looking at the picture

below: ‘Blocked!’ by Ghazaleh Baniahmad

Artwork in grey tones using pieces of photographs of two women, mother and daughter, It is printed on white and displayed outdoors on a wall. It is called Blocked! and the artist is Ghazaleh Baniahmad

below: ‘Ascend’ by Niya Vaillancourt

A woman walks around a corner and is approaching a wall with a picture on it called 'Ascend'

 below: ‘The New Patronage’ by Cat Bluemke

A picture of two people, man and woman, both drawn with black lines, the man has pink highlights and the woman has blue. Both are from the shoulders up and they are looking at each other.

below: Sign making below ‘ Cloth and Jewels’ by Samet Choudhury

A man is sitting on the sidewalk. He is making a sign on a piece of brown cardboard. The wall behind him has a large picture on it that is part of an exhibit

Rubiks cubes and crayons

Posted: August 6, 2015 in galleries
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The art of CubeWorks
now showing at Art/Exp gallery in the Distillery District

 CubeWorks is a group of artists that use unconventional materials to create images.  They are known for the art that they create using Rubik’s cubes but they also use crayons, lego blocks, records, dice, guitar picks, spools of thread, and other mixed media. The pictures below are just a sample.

below: A copy of ‘The Creation of Adam’ that Michaelangelo painted on the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel ceiling in the early 1500’s.  This image is made with 12,090 hand twisted Rubik’s cubes.

A copy of Michaelangelo's painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Creation of Adam where God is giving life to man with the meeting of finger tips.

below: On a smaller scale, Space Invaders made with 20 cubes.

Little green space invaders from the old video game made of Rubiks cubes, green space invaders on blue background.

below: Artworks made of crayons, LOVE and a smoking gun.
Each square is 12″ x 12″ and contains just over 1000 crayons.

An image of the famous LOVE red letters in a black and blue square, this one is made of red, black and blue crayons on end.

An image of a smoking revolver that is pointed at the viewer. It is made from 9 squares and each square is filled with crayons on their ends. The background is red crayons, the smoke is yellow crayons.

An image of a smoking revolver that is pointed at the viewer. It is made from 9 squares and each square is filled with crayons on their ends. The background is red crayons, the smoke is yellow crayons. A close up of some of the squares to show the crayons more clearly.

below:  The Joker’s face, made with spools of thread, hangs from the ceiling.

An image of the Joker's face made with spools of thread hangs from the ceiling.

below: Images made with old broken record albums, Amy Winehouse and Jim Morrison

image of Amy Winehouse made from broken records on a background that is a collage of newpaper pieces.

image of Jim Morrison, the guitar player from Doors, his head with facial features painted in black but his hair is made with broken records.

Gallery sign on the exterior of a brick building, square sign with purplish background. Art Exp is the name of the gallery

More information on CubeWorks

 

billboards at Spadina and Front

Posted: June 8, 2015 in general Toronto
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Part of CONTACT photography festival,
billboard “art” on the NE corner of Spadina and Front streets.

All the billboards are in a parking lot in what was a junky looking space to begin with.

below:  Yellow rubber gloves with the fingers tucked back in…
to look like they’ve just been taken off a pair of hands?

a billboard above a parking lot, condos in the background. A pair of yellow rubber gloves with the openings turned into a cuff are all that in the image on the board

below: The body of the handbag is a loaf of bread.

a small billboard in front and a larger, higher one in the background. In the background is a woman's hand holding what looks like a handbag but the bag part is made of a loaf of bread. In the foreground, yellow background with household objects arranged in a face like shape.

below: Clusters of sponges.  At first I thought they were candies.

billboard art - three clusters of colourful sponges on a black background

three billboards with art images instead of advertisements
Supported by Pattison Outdoor Advertising and Nikon Canada.

a billboard with a large picture of clear bottles filled with coloured liquids in reds and oranges.

“Challenging how people perceive and interact with images in public spaces”

“Each of the artists destabilizes the conventions of advertising and the cultural codes associated with consumer lifestyles.”

Me?  I’ll call them dull and underwhelming clutter.  Too harsh?  Perhaps.
I’ll leave the verdict up to you.

from pork to park

Posted: August 9, 2014 in history, locations
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Corktown Common

One of Toronto’s newest parks

In one corner of the park there is a plaque that commemorates the William Davies Company, once the owners of the land and buildings in this part of the city.

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“From 1874 to 1927, this site was home to the William Davies Company, reputed to be the largest pork packing plant in the British Empire. Established in 1857 by William Davies (1831-1921), the company made its fortune preparing and exporting cured sides of pork to England. Later, its products were sold through William Davies Company shops, one of Canada’s first store chains. In its buildings here, the innovative company controlled the entire process from slaughter to shipment. Processing nearly 500,000 hogs annually by 1900, the company contributed to the city’s nickname “Hogtown”.
In 1892, Joseph Flavelle (1858-1939) became a partner and managing director of the company. Under Flavelle, the business flourished until the 1920’s when it was hurt by falling markets. The William Davies Company merged with three other packing firms to create Canada Packers, which continued to operate from this site until 1932. The last of the company’s buildings here were demolished in the 1990’s.”

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An old coloured map of the area now called the West Don Lands. This illustration also appeared in a blogTO post about the William Davies Company. http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/10/how_toronto_got_the_nickname_hogtown/

An old illustrated map of the area now called the West Don Lands. The red letters are as follows:
A – Gooderham & Worts, now the Distillery District
B – William Davies Company, now Corktown Common
C – CNR tracks
D – the Don River
A version of this illustration also appeared in a blogTO post about the William Davies Company.

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The last remains of the pork processing business disappeared long ago. After remaining vacant for a number of years, the site was developed into a park as part of the West Don Lands rebuilding.

 

small trees and other greenery , with a path and bench in the middle, in the foreground and the Toronto skyline is in the background.

The park is starting to look a lot greener as the plants and trees grow. This photo was taken from on top of one of the man made hills in the park. August 2014

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A black, grey, white and orange butterfly on a pink flower

There are now lots of butterflies….

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A bee and a butterfly on a tall upright light purple flower.

… and bees

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a metal and wood structure

A pavilion made of steel and wood sits atop a small hill in the middle of the play area. The pavilion was designed by by Maryann Thompson Architects of Boston The blue and green ovals are where there are fountains for warm weather water play.

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a woman is sitting on a bench, looking at her phone. Behind her there are a number of buildings under construction

Looking west, and slightly north, from the pavilion towards the downtown area.  West Don Lands redevelopment in the immediate background.  Autumn 2013 (the building under construction is now almost complete – see above)

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Part of a large red metal sculpture is in the foreground, looking past it you can see the pavillaion on top of a small hill that is part of Corktown Common park

Looking northeast through the wood and red metal sculpture,  ‘No Shoes’, by Mark di Suvero.  May 2014

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Newly planted trees surroounded by grass.

The trees are starting to grow. They don’t look like much at the moment but give them time!

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raspberries, not quite ripe, on a raspberry canes

There is even a large raspberry bush but by the looks of it, only the birds and insects have found it!

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A map, screenshot from google maps, of West Don Lands and vicinity.

A map of the area today. The red X marks the spot of the new park.

When the park opened in 2013, urbantoronto.ca had an article about it.  You can read  about it  here

Some wonderful aerial views of the area can be seen in another wordpress blog

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