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Art that smarts

Rating: NNNNN


Campsite Founding

(Brad Golden and Lynne Eichenberg, at Simcoe Place Park 1994) Commemorates the contributions of John Graves Simcoe and wife Elizabeth to the establishment of Upper Canada.

What critics say: Doesn’t suit the site. Should be moved closer to the lake – and maybe thrown in.

Untitled (Mountain)

(Anish Kapoor, at Simcoe Place Park 1995) “Was not necessarily created to pose any specific question or to seek a finite resolution to any particular issue,” is what the city’s Art Walk brochure says – which is where the controversy begins.

What critics say: A brave choice or complete waste of money, depending on whom you talk to.

Woodpecker Column

(Dai Skuse and Kim Kozzi, at south entrance of Metro Convention Centre 1997) A reference to nature and the site’s history as a swamp where waterlogged and decaying trees would have attracted indigenous woodpeckers.

What critics say: A bad example of “art” for tourists’ sake.

Selections From The Synopsis Of Categories

(Micah Lexier, inside Metro Hall 1992) An ode to city employees.

What critics say: A success. Allows for contemplation and doesn’t get in the way of what you’re there to do.

Glenn

(Ruth Abernethy, at the south entrance of CBC Building on Front 1999) Tribute to internationally renowned pianist Glenn Gould based on a photograph by Don Hunstein.

What critics say: Enough already with the statues of famous people sitting on benches.

Patterns For The “Tree Of Life”

( John McEwen, on Park Street, 1989) Commissioned by the city of Toronto and Crown Life Insurance Company. Inscription: “In the faces of our children – in the songs of our voices.”

What critics say: Not the most inspiring addition to a public art collection obsessed with animals.

The Audience

( Michael Snow, at Skydome, 1989) Animated figures face the city, turning the everyday activities and lives of its occupants into a spectacle.

What critics says. Whimsical, oddly fascinating and a good counterbalance to “artier” pieces in the city’s collection.

Fair Grounds

(Michel Goulet, at Wellington and Windsor, 2003) Billed as “a poetic celebration of the physical and psychological experiences people share” and as a reminder of “the fairness and equality necessary to our shared experience.”

What critics say: Yeah, right.

Triad

(Ted Bieler, at Front and University, 1984) Commissioned by Marathon Realty to mark Toronto’s sesquicentennial and symbolize growth of our city.

What critics say: A rare example of corporate art that actually fits into its surroundings.

Gardiner East Public Art Project

(overseen by artist John McKinnon) Columns of the former Gardiner Expressway restored to provide “a frame for the entranceway to the new urban corridor.”

What critics say: Creates a surprising sense of space in windblown wasteland.

King Edward VII

(Sir Thomas Brock, at Queen’s Park, 1919) Brought to T.O. in 1969 as a gift from the government of India.

What critics say: Memorializing our colonial history by putting a white man on a horse is generally not a good idea.

Innercity Gate

(Kosso Eloul, at Toronto General Hospital’s Elizabeth Street entrance, 1978) One of many modular pieces by Eloul scattered across the city as part of a study in balance.

What critics say: Way too linear — and way too many of them.

Sun Life

(Sorel Etrog, at University and King, 1984) Bronze commissioned by Sun Life Assurance Company and dedicated to the city.

What critics say: Tame. A good example of the bad art that happens when artists try to satisfy corporate clients instead of creating art for the public.

The Archer, Three Way Piece No. 2

(Henry Moore, at Nathan Phillips Square 1966) Specially designed and created by Moore and purchased and erected for the city by private subscription.

What critics say: Exquisite. Conceived in relation to the notion of space.

Stainless steel silhouettes

(artist team of Randy and Berenicci, at Queen and Spadina) One of a group of monuments celebrating the cultural and ethnic history of Spadina.

What critics say: Art that gives us an opportunity to talk to one another by representing a meeting place of traditions.

Monument to fashion industry

(Stephen Cruise, at Richmond and Spadina) Nine-foot stack of coloured buttons capped by bronze thimble commemorates contributions of fashion industry workers.

What critics say: A good argument for bringing back wide-open competitions for public art projects.

Workers Safety and Insurance Board’s workers monument

(Simcoe Place Park, by John Scott, Stewart H. Pollock, Derek Lo and Lana Winkler, 2000) A reminder that our city was built by “ordinary” workers.

What critics say: Absolutely awful example of figurative sculpture – and politics driving the art agenda.

Constellation

(Albert Paley, at the entrance of 56 John, 2002) A modern-day frieze intended to convey the movement, dynamism and crackling energies of Canada’s largest city.

What critics say: A welcome abstract and a reprieve from the “urban furniture” that citizen advisers are increasingly pushing on the city.

No Shoes

(Mark Di Suvero, in High Park, 1967) A remnant of the Midsummer Night’s Dream International Sculpture Symposium and one of two Di Suvero “sculptures” in High Park.

What critics say: We don’t care – it looks like junk.

November Pyramid

(Bernard Schottlander, in High Park, 1967) Centrepiece of High Park sculpture garden and yet another commission of the Midsummer Night’s Dream International Sculpture Symposium.

What critics say: Far less than local residents, who’ve defaced the piece so often that the city was forced to apply a protective wax coating in 1999.

The Poet, The Fever Hospital

(Bernie Miller, at Metro Hall Square, 1992) Inspired by the site as the seat of Toronto’s earliest municipal government.

What critics say: No narrative or thematic thread.

Space Composition

(Hayden Davies, outside Bell corporate headquarters at Trinity Square, 1984) Commissioned by Bell Canada.

What critics say: Looks like the artist slapped something together to satisfy Bell’s art obligation to the city.

Memoire Du Futur

(Patrick and Anne Poirier, inside north tower of Metro Hall on King, 1992) The focal point of a multi-component installation commissioned by Marathon Realty and paying tribute to “the vision and persistence… that have shaped Toronto.”

What critics say: The good that can flow when a developer embraces the idea of making an artistic statement.

Per Ardua Ad Astra

(Oscar Nemon, at University south of Dundas, 1984) Also known as the Airmen’s Memorial. Donated to the city by Henry R. Jackman and the Jackman Foundation.

What critics say: Gumby goes to heaven.

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