Toronto Through My Lens

Category: Sculptures (Page 8 of 8)

Condo Sculptures

Sculptor Shayne Dark, a Kingston native, has three sculptures which dot Toronto’s downtown condo landscape.

I. Double Vision

Double Vision is located on the northwest corner of Jarvis and Charles streets in front of X Condominium at 558 Jarvis Street. The huge red poles jutting out of the sidewalk bring to mind bamboo shoots.

II. Double Take

Just across the street, at 101 Charles Street East in front of The X’s younger sister building X2, sits Double Take. It is characterized by the same monumental poles, but this time they are slightly slanted toward Double Vision as if the two pieces are communicating. You have to be careful when you come out of Rabba at this site, as you could potentially brain yourself or take one of these in the eye… not the best way to appreciate the artwork.

It’s an interesting project because there’s a dialogue between the two pieces across the road from one another. You’ve got the red vertical sticks, then you’ve got the blue horizontal ones and it sets up a dynamic and creates a threshold. They are engaging both in their own right and also with one another. They engage in an interesting artistic and architectural discussion,

Brad Golden, a Toronto public art consultant whose job it is to partner with developers and organizations to help them figure out what kind of art would work for their space.

III. Nova

Shayne Dark’s third condo-based sculpture, Nova, is located at the Tableau Condominium at 125 Peter Street. The piece is completely incorporated into the structure of the building.

“Nova” photo by UrbanToronto

Shayne Dark’s Inspiration For The Pieces

Initially, we’d walk in the forest or along the lakeshore and I’d find these interesting found objects, like a big pile of sticks and pieces of driftwood, and these became my art practice. I think for any artist, where you live is so important. Being Canadian at this point in history, on this day, in this time is an experience and feeling I want to document. I feel where you’re from can not help but influence every artist’s practice to some degree.

The “One Percent Solution”

“Under Section 37 of Ontario’s Planning Act, developers are allowed to have taller buildings or more units and other such concessions in exchange for putting a minimum of one per cent of the project’s construction costs toward public art. The art can either be on-site, on city property nearby, or a combination of both. The guidelines set out by the program ensure that the art is of public benefit and is also visible, accessible and adds to the urban character of the city in a positive way.

Financial investment is a huge factor for anyone who makes their living as a sculptor. Shayne Dark, the artist, says it costs literally tens of thousands of dollars to manufacture the materials necessary to make those big public art projects you might see as part of a condominium development.

‘Those jobs in Canada are few and far between. But luckily, what ended up happening in a few major Canadian cities was this one percent rule where if you were a developer working on a public building, a portion of the construction costs would actually go to art,’ says Shayne Dark”.1

1Storeys, Real Estate News

Untitled Sculpture

At 1033 Bay Street, there stands this bronze, marble and mosaic monolith. It was designed by Hamilton-based artist Robert Bowers and installed in 1988 as part of the Polo Club condominium complexes that went up at that time on Bay Street.

With all due respect to the artist, I think this thing is Plain Butt Ugly and the face in the circle simply gives me the creeps. The shallow, sad, empty pool with raised and dislodged tiles surrounding the piece is not doing it any favours either.

The Aga Khan Museum

For some time I had heard the buzz about the Aga Khan Museum in Don Mills at 77 Wynford Drive, and decided to check it out one sunny afternoon. For those not familiar with it, the Aga Khan is a Toronto museum of Islamic and Iranian art and Muslim culture.

The minimalist-style formal gardens and surrounding park are quite calming and serene:

The Aga Khan Museum was opened to the public on September 18, 2014 and houses approximately 1,200 rare objects assembled by His Highness the Aga Khan and Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.

According to the blurb on Wikipedia, the Aga Khan Museum was recognized as one of the best museums in Toronto by Condé Nast Traveler in 2018.

Curves…
… and lots of sharp angles

The Interior Courtyard

The interior courtyard of the museum is surrounded by glass walls imprinted with patterns resembling traditional Islamic Jali (lattice) screens:

“In a personal letter to architect Fumihiko Maki, His Highness the Aga Khan suggested the Museum be designed around the concept of light. Light, His Highness noted, has been an enduring inspiration for the world’s religions and civilizations since earliest times. Maki responded with a design that invites direct and diffuse light into the building in ingenious ways. The building is positioned 45 degrees to solar north to ensure that all exterior surfaces receive natural light over the course of the day. Angular walls of white Brazilian granite, a material chosen for its resilience and luminosity, enhance the play of light across building surfaces.” – AKDN Website

The Ismaili Centre

The second building on the site, The Ismaili Centre, is a religious, social and spiritual building for the Ismaili Community. Designed by architect Charles Correa, the building is oriented toward Mecca.

Crashing A Wedding Photo Shoot

During my visit I also happened upon a wedding photography session that was going on…

On The Way Out…

Leaving the grounds I noticed this unusual piece. Unveiled in 2016, the bronze piece is called “Horizontal Lovers” by Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli.

“Primrose”

For the last couple of years I’ve walked past this sculpture thinking, “What the …?”, but it all made sense once I learned the backstory of the piece.

This sculpture is called Primrose, and was created by Canadian artist Myfanwy MacLeod. Primrose is located in Clover Hill Park, at the entrance to U of T’s St. Michael’s College (Bay Street and St. Joseph Street). The work is based on an actual baby donkey named Primrose who was born prematurely in 2012 at the Bind Equine Veterinary Practice in Shropshire, England. Primrose’s underdeveloped bones would have led to permanently bowed legs, so local vets put some custom pink casts on her to straighten them out. It took about three weeks for the foal to start walking on her own, but not before she had captured hearts worldwide as the “wonky donkey” from England.

The artist, Myfanwy MacLeod, is known for other large animal sculptures in Canada, most notably the pair of giant sparrows, titled The Birds, in the 2010 Olympic Village in Vancouver.

And… here’s the real, live Primrose herself!

“To Serve And Protect”

For years I’ve seen the sculptures around the Toronto Police Headquarters at 40 College Street, but have never really stopped to pay close attention to them – until now. I’ve wanted to photograph the sculptures for quite some time – which I’ve finally done today – and post the shots. Posting these shots led me to investigate the works a bit more. As I discovered, the sculptures have an interesting purpose and back-story; looking at them with what I now know enriches the experience, and I understand why they exist.

The sculptures around the Police Headquarters are called To Serve And Protect – the motto of the Toronto Police Force – and were created by Toronto sculptor Eldon Garnet. Unveiled in 1988, the sculptures are a three-part installation with a theme.

[Note: The following commentary and explanation from Eldon Garnet has been sourced from the website Artworx TO.]

Sculpture 1

“This is the central element where all the figures are moving towards. In this location you will see a stepped up pyramid type of device on which there is nothing. The plinth is empty. You will see a bronze representation of a police woman. This is very much an allegorical figure. This is not really a police woman, this is a police man. This is all police. She is stepping on the pyramid type of device and she is building it. She has a trowel in her right hand and in her left hand she has a walkie-talkie. And she has a gun on her left side which is holstered, but it’s a closed holster which is very symbolic. And allegorical. It’s not a gun ready for action; it’s much more suppressed and to be used under consideration, not like the westerner with the gun at his side ready to be drawn. And she also has a baton on her right hip. And that again is another mode of enforcement but again on her hip. And the walkie-talkie on her hand obviously is about communication and talking, that’s what it’s about. And she’s in the process of building. That’s very important that this police woman is not just on guard, but she’s constructing. Constructing what?”

Sculpture 2 – “Little Glenn”

“This boy is pulling an obelisk on a wagon. You can pat his head, you see it’s becoming a little shiny from people patting this gentle boy’s head. He’s pulling an oversized obelisk on an oversized wagon. And he’s just a young boy, just a young child. He’s not a boy or a girl, he’s not white or is he black or Asian, he’s an allegorical figure of a young person pulling an oversized load. And on this wagon is this 20 foot granite obelisk. What does the obelisk represent? The obelisk has a long history of symbolic meaning. And it has first and foremost a symbol of power. It was used by ancient Egyptians to signify their strength and their markers to the entrance to the grand buildings. And it also has a long history of being stolen. It is not uncommon that all these Egyptian obelisks have been removed from Egypt mostly to museums or in front of other buildings. And so there’s this notion of theft involved in an obelisk also, and power. Why is he pulling this? Where is he pulling it? These are questions you should ask yourself. What about the police woman in the central square? The plinth is empty waiting for something. Could it be this obelisk that this boy is pulling towards her?”

Located at the southeast corner of Bay and Grenville Streets, “Little Glenn” is pulling a 22-foot-tall stone obelisk in a four-wheeled cart. On the obelisk are carved the words “To Serve And Protect”, the motto of the Toronto police force.

Sculpture 3

“This is the Everyman. The Everyman is carrying a wooden support on his shoulders which is bronze in this rendering, two bricks and two large oversized books. He’s obviously a representation of justice and equality, and he’s walking, he’s in motion. What are these objects on his shoulder? The books? The books of the law of course, the books of knowledge, the books of engineering. And on his other shoulder are two granite blocks. These two granite blocks are what is missing from the sculpture on the other side of the building. He walks right through the building, past the desk and out the east doors, and will confront the policewoman who is building a base. This man, this Everyman, is also involved in building a base for a sculpture which is to arrive [the obelisk from Little Glenn]. He is the future. He again is an allegorical figure and is part of the construction of the positive nature of building something for the future.”

Artist’s Conclusion

“What I’m asking in this 3 part sculpture is that all 3 components are working together to build, to build something which is a monument but is an incomplete monument which deals with power, knowledge, authority, all the elements that are embodied in the notion of policing. And what I always wanted was the notion that the police were never finished the task of doing what they had to do, that it is much of a community activity, that it has to take place with all these people working together to build something.”

Commentary source: Artworx TO

Cows In The City!

The Pasture by Sculptor Joe Fafard

Cow sculptures in the TD Centre Courtyard. The Pasture features seven life-sized cows relaxing in the grass. The cows are made of brass, and were put in place in 1985 at the TD Waterhouse Tower just across the street from its current location at 77 King Street West. The sculptures have been moved between these locations numerous times over the years due to construction at the different properties.

Grange Park

I have passed through the Grange Park many times but have never stopped to photograph it… until now. Grange Park is located south of the Art Gallery of Ontario, next to the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU) and north of University Settlement House, at the north end of John Street. The Park lends its name to the Grange Park neighbourhood in the vicinity of the park. Historically, the park was the backyard of The Grange, a manor that was later expanded and became the Art Gallery of Ontario.

St. George by the Grange Anglican Church (background)
Flowers In Remembrance of Queen Elizabeth
Left on the plaque for the Queen Elizabeth II Rose Garden in Grange Park
St. George by the Grange Anglican Church
St. George by the Grange Anglican Church
Sidewalk Poem
Gwendolyn MacEwen
“Peace Not Pieces”
by TheKaunArtist, Grange Park
“Large Two Forms” by Henry Moore, 1966-1969
In the summer of 2017, “Large Two Forms” made the move from the corner of McCaul and Dundas Streets – where it lived since 1974 – to Grange Park. The sensuous curves of this larger-than-life sculpture invite visitors to interact with and explore the bronze giant.
“Aquaverde” by William Pye
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation commissioned Aquaverde for the redesigned Grange Park adjacent to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. This water sculpture resulted from a limited competition to design an artwork for the circular area at the end of a curved wall carrying a rill of water across the park. The design is a mirror polished stainless steel bowl which receives the water from the rill, with seven spouts delivering laminar flowing water into cups. The cups break the flow and create animation of the water that can be seen from a distance. LED lights are set below the cups to provide a programme of colour changing lighting at night. The park was reopened and Aquaverde inaugurated on July 8, 2017 by Mr. and Mrs. Galen Weston.
Rear of Art Gallery of Ontario
“The Grange” in foreground
Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD University)
Underneath the Sharp Centre for Design, 100 McCaul Street

Today’s PhotoWalk

It was a beautiful day today, so naturally I went for a photowalk with my trusty camera. I wandered down to the Esplanade then back, capturing the city on a Saturday afternoon. Here’s a few shots from earlier today.

[Note: this is an older blog post from July 2021 which I’ve brought over from my general blog site, Ramblings. I’ve posted it here on TOcityscapes as it’s in keeping with this blog’s topic.]

St. James Cathedral Centre Event Venue
65 Church Street
Market Street
St. Lawrence Market
“Dream Ballet” by Harley Valentine
Outside Meridian Hall, southeast corner of Front and Yonge Streets
Part of “Dream Ballet” (left) and surrounding towers
Leonard chills out, promoting Canada Post’s new stamp
Yonge Street and Wellington Street West
Chess at Yonge-Dundas Square
Yonge Street Music History Murals – Part II
On south-facing building at 423 Yonge Street
Newer posts »

© 2025 TO Cityscapes

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

Subscribe to TO Cityscapes

Subscribe to TO Cityscapes

Join my mailing list to receive an email alert when I publish a new post.

You have successfully subscribed! Check your email for further info.

Pin It on Pinterest