Toronto Through My Lens
There’s nothing quite so rewarding in street photography as setting out for the day, having no destination in mind; you merely wind through the city with your camera wherever your feet take you, recording the city as it goes about its daily business.
I love shooting in black and white – it makes everything so much more interesting, moody, dramatic and contemplative. Here are some black and white shots from one such session:
On the front lawn of a house located at 77 Yarmouth Road in the Christie Street-Dupont Street area, there sits a life-sized white elephant sculpture. Why, you might ask?
The sculpture was created in 1999 by Matt Donovan as part of his student thesis project at Ontario College of Art and Design. The sculpture has a fibreglass and chicken wire body, coated with spray foam over a plywood skeleton. The pachyderm, named Sally (for reasons unknown), stands nine and a half feet tall. Apparently the sculpture originally included a bronze red herring and a flock of life-size concrete black sheep.
In 2003, Sally was given to James Lawson, a friend of Matt Donovan. Thereafter, Sally was placed in front of Lawson’s home, where she has been standing for the past two decades:
The McMurtry Gardens of Justice on University Avenue is a series of sculptures and fountains sitting among Osgoode Hall, the Law Society of Ontario, and the Superior Court of Justice. Each item in the gallery is designed to represent one of the fundamental legal rights that belong to all Canadians.
The McMurtry Gardens of Justice were created to recognize the Honourable R. Roy McMurtry, who served Ontario for decades as a public servant, elected official, and diplomat. McMurtry was a Member of Provincial Parliament from 1975 to 1985, spending part of that time as the Attorney General of Ontario. He was appointed to the Superior Court of Ontario in 1991 as the Associate Chief Justice, and by 1996 he became the Chief Justice of Ontario at the head of the Court of Appeal. He remained there until he retired in 2007, which was the same year the Gardens opened.
This statue is a prominent landmark in downtown Toronto, standing in front of the courthouse containing the Superior Court of Justice. When it was unveiled in 2007, The Pillars of Justice was the first and only statue in the McMurtry Gardens of Justice.
The Pillars of Justice was sculpted by Edwina Sandys in 2007. She was first inspired to be an artist when she saw her grandfather, Sir Winston Churchill, painting. Over the last 35 years, the United Nations has commissioned five of her sculptures for their centres in Geneva, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, Dublin, and New York. Her work is famous for responding to political and social issues, and this piece is no different.
This sculpture depicts a jury of eleven people standing under a roof that represents a courthouse. Juries are usually made up of twelve people, depending on the type of case. Looking at The Pillars of Justice, you will notice an empty space where the twelfth juror would be. This empty space invites the viewer to imagine they are the twelfth juror.
The McMurtry Fountains were designed by landscape architect Michael Hough and installed in 1964. They were restored in 2010. The fountains act as symbols of balance and justice, themes that run throughout the Gardens. They form a significant cultural presence in the City of Toronto and continue to symbolize the importance that Canadians place on the values of our justice system and human rights:
Freedom of Expression is a bronze and stainless steel sculpture created by Marlene Hilton Moore in 2012. Hilton Moore is a renowned artist based in Hillsdale, Ontario. She has created public art and hosted art exhibitions in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. She is also responsible for the Freedom of Religion statue that faces this one. These two pieces, along with Equal Before the Law, were added to the Gardens in 2012.
The statue depicts a female figure delivering a speech with her arms open wide, holding a book in one hand. The figure stands on a black-brown base of granite, determined to communicate her message. Both of Hilton Moore’s pieces use bronze, which is usually associated with classical sculpture, and stainless steel, which we see in contemporary art and architecture.
Freedom of Religion was created by Marlene Hilton Moore in 2012, who also made the Freedom of Expression statue across from it. Both figures are made of bronze. Like Freedom of Expression, this piece stands on a base of black-brown granite.
This sculpture depicts a male figure proudly holding up a globe. The globe is covered with eleven symbols associated with the world’s religions and faith groups. The individual symbols are beautiful images in their own right, and together they represent and individual’s freedom to practice whatever religion they choose:
This piece, created by local Canadian artist Maryon Kantaroff in 1980, is a memorial to lawyer Frederick G. Gans. Gans was killed in 1978 by a former client’s husband in the hallway of the courthouse that used be at 145 Queen Street West (now the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts). Although installed in 1980 and not formally a part of the Gardens, the sculpture is consistent with the Gardens’ themes in style and values:
By Eldon Garnet, 2011. The lion and the lamb are represented as classic figures in Western thought. The lamb often signifies purity, meekness, and vulnerability, while the lion is the ‘king of beasts,’ powerful and imposing. The lamb and lion’s physical differences are amplified by their symbolic meanings.
Both of these animals are life-sized and constructed out of bronze. This sculpture connects to the other pieces of art in the Gardens by combining bronze and stainless steel, which is used in the scale:
The tower is twisted to a 60-degree angle, which runs parallel to the top of the scales. The ends of the platform are cut at 30-degree angles in relation to the support tower. Everything is calculated to be in perfect proportion, always balanced but turned or angled. The final effect is a scale that gets its balance from a good deal of complexity and careful planning.
The text on the scale is taken directly from section 15(1) of the Charter. It reads: “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination.” The Charter continues, “and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental and physical disability.”
In April 2019, the Toronto Lawyers Assocation (TLA) dedicated a new Scales of Justice bike rack at the Court House, 361 University Avenue. The bike rack/sculpture is composed of a series of scales of justice, engraved with legal principles, as suggested by the clerks of the Court of Appeal. The work was produced with the assistance of at-risk youth:
References: Osgoode Hall
The Al Green Sculpture Park runs between Davisville Avenue and Balliol Street in mid-town.
Abraham (Al) Green (1925-2016) was an entrepreneur, sculptor, philanthropist and Order of Canada recipient. He believed that anyone with the desire to sculpt, regardless of prior experience, should have a welcoming, inclusive, accessible environment in which to learn and develop their skills. Al Green was also a project developer in Toronto and responsible for the construction of apartment buildings in the Davisville area.
This is the entrance to the Sculpture Park off Balliol Street. Contrary to the sign, it is actually named “The Al Green Sculpture Park”, not “Garden”:
Outside the Pier 27 Condos, located at 29 Queen’s Quay East, there are two intriguing installations, both the work of Alice Aycock.
This was Phase 1 of the project, completed in 2017. The Toronto Twister is made of structural steel with aluminum powder coated white. It is 25 feet tall at its highest point:
The second phase of the project was installed in 2021 outside the Pier 27 Condos:
The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden is found on the 14th floor Atrium of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at 610 University Avenue. I should mention that the Healing Garden is not to be confused with the Max Tanenbaum Sculpture Garden at the Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital (click here for my earlier post on the Sculpture Garden).
The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden officially opened on November 10th, 2014. It was established by the Tauba and Solomon Spiro Family Foundation in honour of Tauba’s father, Max Tanenbaum, a noted businessman and philanthropist who loved nature and the outdoors. Created as a year-round oasis for patients and visitors at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, the Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden is a creative way to honour those who have been affected by cancer.
The challenge was to create a natural and beautiful space without using live plants in order to ensure a pleasing, year-round, no-maintenance garden on the 14th floor Atrium of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
In response to this challenge came the design from Janet Rosenberg and Studio. The Studio design uses the strong, cultivated patterns of formal French gardens and incorporates the artistry of hand-blown glass flowers, enclosed by an artificial boxwood hedge. The vertical walls feature decorative panels that add another visual dimension and unify a garden rich in colour, creativity and natural forms:
The hand blown glass flowers have each been created to blend together in a colourful garden that resembles a rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple are all represented in the garden with flowers that carry one colour or a blend of multiple colours and tones:
Here’s a short video of the Healing Garden:
Flowers can be dedicated via a monetary gift to the Cancer Centre. Here’s a little info from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s web page:
Secure a flower in The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden with a gift of $1,000 and dedicate it to a loved one. If you would like to make more than one dedication, then you may secure multiple flowers; each flower can be dedicated with a donation of $1,000.
The Healing Garden is a display of honour, hope and healing and is a tribute to the many loved ones who have been affected by cancer. Every flower helps us to continue making advancements in patient care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and carry out our mission to Conquer Cancer In Our Lifetime.
There are a limited number of flowers available – To ensure that you are a part of this beautiful display, please make your gift today. You can also call (437) 225-1711 to secure your flower over the phone.
Text reference: The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
The last time I walked down The Esplanade, I was struck by how many new condos have sprung up in that neighbourhood. I thought it may be interesting to put together a little photo journal of the structures I encountered that day.
In 2018, Paul Raff Studios installed a sculpture entitled Hours of the Day. The piece honours Ontario’s correctional workers who have fallen in the line of duty.
The “sheets” are actual sculptural representations of the angles of the sun as it moves over the hours of the day, month, season and year, forming a kind of a three-dimensional sundial.
The sculptor of the piece – Paul Raff – remarks that:
…one doesn’t need to read the time with it, but what it does do is speak to the theme of time, which to me was the most important and essential theme in recognizing the vital role that correctional workers play in the health of our society. It is this contribution, of the hours of service, that we felt needed to be articulated in the sculptural form.
The geometry of the sculpture is derived from a very specific and elaborate computer program which tracks the angles of the sun throughout the day.
What I love about [the sculpture is that with its very accurate, high tech, three-dimensional mapping, it actually strikes a remarkably unique figure that offers a lot of visual richness. It looks different from every angle, unfolding for pedestrians as they commute past it, looking different on their way to work than on their way home. It looks different at different times of the day, and in different light.
The sculpture is situated by Queen’s Park Crescent East, near the Legislative Assembly:
Continuing on in the Yonge-Eglinton area, I came across a couple of interesting sculptures on Roehampton Avenue:
This sculpture is located at 70 Roehampton Avenue beside “The Republic” condo building. What’s Your Name? identifies North Toronto Collegiate Institute (NTCI) students past and present by reproducing their proper names and handwritten signatures on the sculpture’s stainless steel surfaces.
One sheaf shows all the first names of students who have attended the school since 1912, beginning at the top of the inner page. Each name is present only once, and at the moment it first appears in the school record. The chronological list includes new names through to 2010 with a total of 2053 different names. The names of the last students to occupy the original NTCI building appear at the bottom of the outer page.
The second sheaf creates imprints of the students’ public and private identities by contrasting the names of those who attended the school over the past century with a selection of signatures from alumni and current students.
‘What’s Your Name?’ is often the first question we ask someone, and by answering we announce ourselves to each other and to the world. During adolescence our relationship to proper names tends to change; a name is no longer something given but something made, crafted and personalized through the deliberate art of the signature. Schools, and particularly high schools, are where the proper name and the signature intersect.
Paper and print, which are the core tools of education, become dynamic sculptural forms on which an imprint of students’ public and private identities is inscribed.
Located outside the condos at 101 Roehampton Avenue is a work entitled Points of View: Looking North. The stainless-steel sculpture combines precise geometries with expressive organic form — an exploration between the rational and emotional aspects of material forms:
The entire material world, whether natural or man-made, consists on a fundamental level of rational geometries-ratio. Our appreciation of their complex appearances is, however, our emotional response. ‘Points of View: Looking North’ combines these apparently very different worlds and traits of human thought.
Outside the condo buildings at 150 and 155 Redpath Avenue, there is an interesting 2-part sculpture entitled Stargate.
Designed by Toronto and Krakow-based artists Blue Republic (Anna Passakas & Radoslaw Kudlinski), the 2016 installation includes alien-inspired pieces on the two west side corners of Redpath Avenue, fronting the entrances to the condo towers at 150 and 155 Redpath.
The crew of blue and yellow characters, each weighing thousands of pounds, create a window into outer space, both through the bold creatures themselves and their surrounding landscape of swirling vortices.
Our inspiration for this piece came from the unique diversity of this city. For some, moving to a new neighbourhood is like moving from one universe to another. So many people bring various experiences and cultures with them from all over the world. We are both science fiction fans, and we felt that “Stargate”, drawing from this popular genre, could be the glue between these narratives.
Inspired by both Eastern and Greek mythology and science fiction, Stargate serves as a connection between different worlds and a call to explore the unknown.
I love black and white! Great job on putting together this collection.
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