sculptures
name . I.T.
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Sculptures, monuments, and statues are prominent forms of public art. These permanent installations can operate as tools for placemaking and can contribute to community building. Certain monuments can also represent oppressive histories and can further perpetuate harmful ideologies. A thoughtfully designed sculpture can become a landmark and tourist attraction, which can bring spin-off economic benefits for its surrounding neighbourhood or city (City of Toronto, 2019).
FURTHER LISTENING: a podcast with Canadian artist —Coco Guzman— working at the forefront of new monument culture
I.T. stands at 40 feet tall, looming over its new home in Toronto’s Distillery District. The immense sculpture, constructed with over 10,000 pounds of steel, was originally shown at Burning Man in the United States (pictured above). The artist, Michael Christian, drew inspiration from his childhood love of sci-fi experiences. The resulting alien-like arachnid donned a ladder at Burning Man which festival attendees could crawl up to get inside the head of the sculpture. The ladder has since been removed but the sci-fi feelings are still strong. (Jones, 2019).
name . Thomson's Canoe
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The Vancouver-based artist, Douglas Coupland, created this iconic red canoe as an homage to Canadian landscape artist Tom Thomson. As a member of the Group of Seven, Thomson often captured Canadian landscapes from the vantage point of a canoe paddling through Algonquin Park. The vista from this artwork is a sharp contrast to what Thomson painted, but the large red canoe invites visitors to crawl inside and reimagine their city as a place to explore. (Paez, 2016).
Paint your own landscape from this location!
name . Joshua Glover Memorial
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A very recent addition to Toronto’s collection of public art sculptures is a commemoration of Joshua Glover who escaped slavery in the United States via the Underground Railroad and settled in Etobicoke. The Toronto-based artist Quentin VerCetty used an Afrofuturism lens to depict Glover in the statue. Toronto, and the rest of Canada, lack monuments that pay tribute to people of African descent. This public art piece is a small step towards rectifying that imbalance (City of Toronto, 2021).
References
City of Toronto. (2019). Toronto Public Art Strategy 2020/2030. https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/92e1-Toronto-Public-Art-Strategy-2020-2030.pdf
City of Toronto. (2021). Mayor John Tory unveils public art to commemorate abolitionist figure Joshua Glover. https://www.toronto.ca/news/mayor-john-tory-unveils-public-art-to-commemorate-abolitionist-figure-joshua-glover/
Jones, Finn-Olaf. (2019). Missed Burning Man? Burning Man, or at Least Its Art, Is Coming to You. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/travel/burning-man-art-installations.html
Paez, Beatrice. (2016). ArtVenturist: Coupland’s Red Canoe. Torontoist. https://torontoist.com/2016/01/douglas-coupland-red-canoe-park-public-art/