Posts Tagged ‘paintings’

the lure of Craven Road

Posted: March 15, 2022 in locations
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Here are a few photos from a recent visit to Craven Road, one of my favorite streets.   The last time I posted about it was “Craven Road once more“, in May 2019.  That’s almost three years! – it doesn’t seem like that long ago but then again I find that COVID has really messed with my sense of passing time.  Anyhow, it’s always interesting to see what remains, what’s new, and what has just been rearranged.

below: Part of the fence

Craven Road art on a wood fence

below: Back in 2019 the clock read 12:10.  Time has passed.

found objects displayed on wood fence on Craven Road, green clock, angel figure,

Craven Road art on a wood fence, a black dog portrait, with snow in front

below: The sheep have been here for years (since at least 2015) and they are starting to show their age.  The other two images are recent additions.

Craven Road art on a wood fence, an old ripped painting of a flock of sheep in the snow, an orange sign that says Every Child Matters, and a night scene painting

below: Abstracts in blues

Craven Road art on a wood fence, small abstract paintings in shades of blue and purple

below: An upside down Q for the little red man.

found objects displayed on wood fence on Craven Road

below: I am hoping that the painting on the right says “The Great White North” …

Craven Road art on a wood fence, partially buried in the snow, blue circles around a green face

below: Even the mask has a mask

objects attached to a wood fence, a yellow plastic mask, small rubber boots, an old calculator, a small piano keyboard, a portrait of Marilyn Munro

a wood fence with many objects displayed on it, guitars, pictures, other found objects

below: Rubber boots, rubber gloves and a white hat make for a dashing figure.

found objects displayed on wood fence on Craven Road

found objects displayed on wood fence on Craven Road, two black guitars and some rainbow flags

found objects displayed on wood fence on Craven Road, diamond shaped mirror with markers to draw on it

below: Some newer landscapes

small landscape paintings displayed on a wood fence outdoors, Craven Road

paintings on wood fence

torn canvas, portrait of a dog lying on a porch, attached to a wood fence outdoors

below: …. and last, another two oldies of the feline variety.

canvas, portrait of a cat lying on a rug, attached to a wood fence outdoors

painting on canvas, goldish color cat, on a wood fence

blues – looking at the blues

Posted: October 26, 2021 in galleries
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Two exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario feature the colour blue.  One is “Blue View” consisting of paintings created by Canadian artist Matthew Wong between 2017 and 2019.  The other is an exhibit of Picasso paintings at the beginning of the 20th century especially his “blue period” 1901-1904.

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Matthew Wong (1984-2019)

two women in an art gallery looking at paintings by Matthew Wong

below: “Starry Night”

starry Night, a painting by Matthew Wong

a small painting by Matthew Wong of an open doorway into a bathroom from a darkened bedroom

women looking at blue paintings by Matthew Wong

Matthew Wong paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario

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Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

below: Nudes painted before the Blue Period… and when Picasso was only 19 or 20 years old.

man looking at Picasso paintings at the AGO

In 1901 Picasso was given access to Saint-Lazare prison-hospital in Paris where he painted many of the inmates, especially the women who were there as a result of their participation in the sex trade.  They were impoverished and forgotten women living in deplorable conditions, often with young children.  Picasso painted them in shades of blue and green and in his paintings sex work, motherhood and syphilis become intertwined.  They can be compared to images of the Virgin Mary with an infant Jesus, a secularized Madonna.

below: “Mother and Child by Fountain”

Picasso's painting Mother and Child by a Fountain, on wall at Art Gallery of Ontario

below: “Woman and Child by the Sea”, 1902

painting by Picasso

below: “The Soup”, 1902

young woman looking at Picasso painting, The Soup

below: “The Blue Room”, 1901

two women with grey hair looking at Picasso painting from his blue period, woman getting a bath in small tub in middle of her room

below: “The Frugal Repast”.  Not in blue but still with the theme of the working poor.  This was an etching that Picasso first made in 1904.  Later, in 1913, he printed 250 copies of it.

older couple looking at picture by Picasso, in greys and browns,

two women looking at pictures at AGO

With thanks to Alice and Arlene for spending a couple of hours looking at paintings with me.

“Picasso, painting the blue period” continues until 16 Jan 2022.

Matthew Wong paintings are on display until 18 April 2022

St. Patricks pop-up

Posted: October 22, 2021 in galleries, locations
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Toronto street sign for St. Patricks Square, in background is CP24 car that looks like it has crashed through the wall of a building

The building at St. Patricks Market on Queen Street West is empty but the exterior walls are now a pop-up outdoor gallery.  It is part of Art On Queen West.  Some of the artwork that is on display:

below: “I See You” By Peru143

image on display at outdoor pop-up gallery, St. Patricks market, by Peru 143, stylized text says Toronto

below: “Bouquet” by Curtia Wright

image by Curtia Wright, woman with purple skin and pink hair, head and shoulders portrait

below: “The Queen” (representing Queen West) by Andrew Patterson

image by Andrew Patterson, white line drawing on blue, purple, and orange background, a human-like figure with crown on head and objects in upraised arms

below: “Pies, para que los quiero si tengo alas para volar?” Or in English: “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” by Alejandra Paton

image of Frieda Kahlo

below: “The Reimagining of the Steps” by Jenelle Lewis

an illustration by Janelle Lewis of many people on circles of stairs and steps

below: “Untitled” by Jenelle Lewis

illustration by Janelle Lewis, a woman getting onto the back of a blue and purple tiger with black stripes

below: “Pizza Night” by Jieun June Kim

stylized marine scene, pink and yellow striped octopus, fish, starfish,

 

Me As Happening

Posted: October 13, 2021 in galleries
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an exhibit by Miriam Cahn
at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

large painting on a wall in a gallery by awindow with sunlight coming in and making patterns with shadows and light on the floor and on the wall

Miriam Cahn (b.1949) is a Swiss artist.

a number of paintings by Mirian Cahn on an art gallery wall

Most of the paintings are of faces or bodies and many of the pieces are sexually explicit, or brutally dark, or both.

a painting by Miriam Cahn, a naked man is punching a woman in the face,

two paintings of faces on a gallery wall

a number of paintings by Mirian Cahn on an art gallery wall

three people talking in a gallery with two large paintings of full frontal naked women on one of the walls

The exhibit continues until 2 Jan 2022.  More information can be found at the Power Plant website

Andy Warhol at the AGO

Posted: July 30, 2021 in galleries
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The Art Gallery of Ontario has re-opened after several months of COVID lockdown. They have created an all new Andy Warhol exhibit in celebration.

This is some of what can be seen:

 

people standing in an art gallery looking a three large and colourful paintings by Andy Warhol of faces

below: Elvis Presley

a man in pale blue jacket and baseball cap stands in front of a portrait by Andy Warhol

below: Part of a series of images of an electric chair in different colours

two women look at prints of electric chair in 4 different colour tones

three young women look at two paintings of guns by Andy Warhol, large and on a gallery wall

a couple pass by six Andy Warhol paintings. Two of Debbie Harry and two of Dollie Parton and two of Mick Jagger

below: Debbie Harry

Andy Warhol portrait of Debbie Harry

below: Karen Kain

two portraits of Karen Kain, one on turquoise background and the other on light purple background

The exhibit is on until October 2021.

Immersion in Van Gogh

Posted: September 6, 2020 in events, galleries
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Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit at the old Toronto Star building at 1 Yonge Street.

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - large faces of Van Gogh projected on the wall, from self portrait paintings

Images from paintings by Vincent Van Gogh were projected on all four walls plus the floor of a very large space. The installation includes his work the Mangeurs de pommes de terre (The Potato Eaters, 1885) to the Nuit étoilée (Starry Night, 1889), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers, 1888), and La Chambre à coucher (The Bedroom, 1889).  It was a slow moving video that was about 35 minutes long.

vincent Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit, 4 people, turquoise flowers, 2 men standing, one person sitting on a bench

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - person sitting on floor, taking aphoto with camera, starry starry night

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - a middle aged couple sitting on floor, a baby stroller sitting by the exit

There were circles on the floor in which you had to stand/sit but you could move from circle to circle if there was an empty one.

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - crooked tree with white blossoms on a turquoise background

The most interesting portraits were those of people dressed in white.

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - a woman in a long white dress crouches beside the wall, images project onto her and her dress, pinks and purples

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - a woman stands beside the wall, orange colours all around her including the floor, green images of windows and shutters too

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit

Mirrors were placed around any structures that were in the way.

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - people sitting and standing

Vincent Van Gogh Immersive exhibit - people sitting on the floor with projections of images of inside of house with tables and chairs in orange and yellow tones

Link for more information on the exhibit
which continues at least until the end of October

#VanGoghTO

paused, paintings

Posted: May 1, 2020 in galleries, locations
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The Great Pause, March 2020 (and then April…. and now into May)

paintings on a fence including one that says the great pause.

paintings on a wood fence, with backs of houses in the background

below: Courage, joy, spirit, celebrate, community, equality, and one that has flipped over.

coloured flags on a wood fence, red flag for , gold flag for joy, yellow for spirit, light blue for celebrate, light blue-green for community, blue for equality. , also a picture of the Beatles, black on mirror

below: All you need is love.

paintings on a fence

little wood planters on a wood fence

Canadian flag displayed on a fence with a guitar at either end

below: What to do when spring seems so far away….

chalk drawing of three flowers growing out of a wood planter mounted on a wood fence

downtown Saturday

Posted: June 3, 2019 in events, people
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This blog post wanders from Burger Mania at Yonge Dundas Square to the Riverside Eats & Beats StreetFEST and onward to the Riverdale Art Walk  out Queen Street East, with a few distractions along the way.

thre people sitting at different tables in a coffee shop

a man with glasses and hair that is shaved on one side of his head is offering another man a rice krispie square, he is holding it to the man's mouth

a woman in long overcoat and hat is talking to and gesturing, with a woman in a white head scarf and top

a man selling rice krispie squares and other desserts, outdoors, Yonge Dundas Square, from E and R Sweetery

under a red tent roof, people preparing food

a woman in a red shirt and sunglasses walking with her son who is also wearing sunglasses, south asian ethnicity

under a tent roof, a man is cooking burgers

a large inflatable pool floatie in the shape of a pink flamingo sits on the ground at Yonge Dundas Square, in front of a bar selling drinks

a young Asian woman is taking a picture of a small burger with her phone

family group - mother and father laughing, baby in stroller, Asian, at Yonge dundas square

people sitting on a bench by large red flower pot in Dundas Square. Man at end, balding with grey hair, is reading a newspaper, two people are eating

a woman sits at a high table with three small burgers on it, two dogs are beside her on the ground but looking up

a young man is being grabbed and held on to by two security guards and they are removing him from Yonge Dundas square

a topless man with a bag on his back skate boards at Dundas Square

a woman is laughing as she talks on her phone and walks up Yonge Street

a couple walking together on Yonge, passing the Stag Shop. He is wearing pink pants and a white jacket. Both have white hair.

below: Yonge Street was closed to traffic between Queen and Dundas Streets because a large crane was parked there temporarily while heavy objects were lifted onto the roof of the Eaton Centre.

a large crane is on a truck in the middle of Yonge street, downtown, with tall buildings on both sides including the Eaton Centre under renovation on the right

three workmen in orange safety clothing use a crane to lift heavy objects off a flatbed truck

a police man in a bright yellow jacket stands in front an orange cone and yellow police tape to block off Yonge Street. He's directing traffic, to make cars turn on Queen street. A woman with orange hair is walking across the street , just went in front of the police man

a man in a kiss t-shirt is talking, a black man is waiting for a streetcar behind him, streetcar is just arriving.

reflection in the glass of a door and window of a Burger King restaurant, of a woman witting on the sidewalk pan handling

a couple holds each other on the street

Riverside Eats and Beats

a man playing a fiddle, smiling, wearing a blue cap and a blue plaid shirt

below: Soundcrowd was practicing for their performance at The Opera House that evening.

a choir onstage with a man with microphone standing in front of them

in a store window, two mannequins with no heads waering gold close fitting dresses, in front of window is a rack of clothes on the sidewalk, with two women looking

a group of women talking, outside

 

Riverdale Art Walk at Jimmy Simpson Park.

a large bed of pink and white tulips in front of a white tent (roof only) with paintings on the side that are for sale, Riverside Art Fest

a woman holds a small white dog while she talks to a man, in front of a white tent with artwork on the walls for sale. Two women inside the tent are looking at the dog and smiling

two paintings on easels outside a white tent. One is an airplane at an airport and one is a barn in snow

a framed portrait of a woman on a metal grid, people standing behind it including a man with a white shirt with bright red and black blotches

large images (photosgraphs) in red, black and yellow, for sale

small artwork hanging on a white tent wall, light is coming from behind so they are silhouetted

a boy in a fedora sits cross legged on a high stool while looking at a phone. He is in a tent with artwork on the wall that is for sale

at an art show, an art piece made of metal, images on metal

‘Femmes Noires’ – Mickalene Thomas

Posted: February 18, 2019 in galleries
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Mickalene Thomas was born in 1971 in Camden NJ.  She’s a contemporary African American artist now based in Brooklyn New York who likes to examine how Western art has treated women and beauty.   She celebrates black femininity and sexuality with her artwork – something that has been overlooked (or neglected).

below: Close examination of ‘I Learned the Hard Way’, 2010.  Embellished with rhinestones.

a man is looking at a large painting by Mickalene Thomas of a black woman sitting on a sofa. Two women in the foreground
close up of an artwork by Mickalene Thomas at the AGO, a black woman's legs, seated, crossed at the knee, embellished with rhinestones

below: Part of ‘Qusuquzah Une Tres Belle Negresse’, 2012 showing detail in the blue veil that runs diagonally across her face.

close up of a woman's face from a Mickalene Thomas painting, blue eye shadow, and a blue mesh veil diagonally across her face

below: ‘Living Room Tableaux’ (the seats and carpets) with ‘Los Angelitos Negros’ 2016 in the background.  The latter consists of videos playing on four monitors arranged horizontally.

a mother and young daughter sit on seats in a room at the Art Gallery of Ontario, watching videos by Mickalene THomas as part of her Femmes Noires exhibit

below: Also part of ‘Living Room Tableaux’ but from a different angle.  The painting on the wall is ‘Blues’, 2016 which was influenced by the movie “The Color Purple”.  Whoopi Goldberg (in the painting) was one of the characters in this movie which was based on the novel of the same name written by Alice Walker.   Based in rural Georgia in the early 1900’s,  it is the story of Celie Harris, a young black woman and the struggles that she faces.

furnishings, comfy armchairs and a carpet on the floor, turing a room at the AGO into a livingroom. On a wall in the background is a piece by Mickalene Thomas as a tribute to the Colour Purple

below: ‘Living Room Installation’.  This one is different from the one above – in a different room at the AGO.

people sitting, furnishings, comfy armchairs and a carpet on the floor, turing a room at the AGO into a livingroom, one wall has video (or videos) playing over its entire surface

below: Part of “Portrait of Kalena”, 2017.   The geometric face is a direct reference to the style used by Picasso in some of his work.  Picasso was inspired by the work of African artists so here Thomas is re-appropriating Picasso’s geometric and mask-like shapes.

a portrait of a black woman by Micklene Thomas where the face has been done in a Picasso-like style

Thomas’s website

The exhibit at the AGO ends on 24th March

art at Nathan Phillips

Posted: July 9, 2018 in events, galleries, people
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Toronto Outdoor Art Fair 2018,
Nathan Phillips Square

three men, in two different booths, side by side, looking at paintings, Nathan Phillips Square, outdoor art fair

three men looking at paintings, Nathan Phillips Square, outdoor art fair

two small paintings on wood, hanging on a metal grid

reflections in a framed artwork, people passing by, outdoor art fair

woman in a brown hat starts to pack up her paintings of people's faces at the end of an outdoor art fair in Toronto

two paintings in a booth at an outdoor art fair, one is yellow, there is a table in front of it, with a flower and and a hat on it, a man walks past

three little glass sculptures of little robot like creatures with rectangular heads and one large antenna

a woman walks past a painting of a cat head in blues and greys,

old rusty hand saws with wood handles, blades have been cut in intricate designs, one in maple leaves and the other with oak leaves

a couple looks at a painting at an outdoor art fair

a man, with back to the camera, stands beside a painting of a topless woman, their faces are close together

a woman carries a large painting, passes by another large painting of a black man with a white beard

a woman in a large brimmed pink hat is talking to another woman in front of some paintings at an outdoor art fair

five black and white photos are attached to a string with wooden clothes pegs

square artworks arranged in a grid on a metal mesh wall, hanging at an outdoor art fair.

sqaure artwork, mainly yellow, person body with large clock head , fish swimming around, letters and numbers on the edges

two muslim women in head scarves walk past some glass sculptures at an outdoor art fair

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