Midtown Urbanist
Superstar
Should there be a thread dedicated to public art in Toronto? (Both institutional and not)
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Clover Hill Park (5 St. Joseph, 0s, NAK Deisgn)
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
ptbotrmpfn
Senior Member
It’s Called art! appreciate it for its creativity, not what you personally think of it. Everyone has different tastes and styles they like and this city (Toronto) is great at distributing its artistic tastes and flavours for all. We can’t have every style in one place to please everyone right. what would that even look like?
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
I don't know about this. As I imagine the subjective nature of this would make it...err, "fun" to moderate.
AlbertC
Superstar
Patch
Active Member
Not sure if it's 100% true but apparently based on the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary & video below based on a reddit comment...
greenleaf
Senior Member
I mean we could have gotten the Rotterdam gnome statue here.
This is interesting, it’s art, it begat a public conversation on a message board. Sounds like it worked.
This is interesting, it’s art, it begat a public conversation on a message board. Sounds like it worked.
Benito
Senior Member
Well the statue really looks like that donkey, down to the colour of the casts on the front legs. I still don’t like it.
ADRM
Senior Member
From Layton’s newsletter:
"Primrose", a bronze baby donkey standing at approximately 3.6 metres high has been unveiled at the northern end of Ward 11's Clover Hill Park. The sculpture is the work of Vancouver-based artist Myfanwy Macleod, known in part for her giant sparrow sculpture in Olympic Park, and marks the entrance to the University of Toronto's St Michael's College.
The sculpture was financed through Section 37 funding, and chosen by a five-person jury as part of a competition led by the City's Economic Development and Culture division. The jury included community members, as well as subject-matter experts in contemporary art and public art practice.
According to Macleod, whose work often combines art history, folklore, and pop culture, the sculpture is "a parody of the equestrian monument," placing it in dialogue with dominant forms of public art. Primrose merges a number of additional references, including the image of Jesus riding a donkey (due to this location's historical importance as a Catholic site); the idea of the valorization of the working donkey; the prevalent symbolism of animals in Western art; and the true story of Primrose, a baby donkey born prematurely and unable to stand, who was fitted with a pair of pink casts that allowed her to walk. Primrose's plaster casts also invite the signatures of children, playing on the idea of graffiti in public space.
"Primrose", a bronze baby donkey standing at approximately 3.6 metres high has been unveiled at the northern end of Ward 11's Clover Hill Park. The sculpture is the work of Vancouver-based artist Myfanwy Macleod, known in part for her giant sparrow sculpture in Olympic Park, and marks the entrance to the University of Toronto's St Michael's College.
The sculpture was financed through Section 37 funding, and chosen by a five-person jury as part of a competition led by the City's Economic Development and Culture division. The jury included community members, as well as subject-matter experts in contemporary art and public art practice.
According to Macleod, whose work often combines art history, folklore, and pop culture, the sculpture is "a parody of the equestrian monument," placing it in dialogue with dominant forms of public art. Primrose merges a number of additional references, including the image of Jesus riding a donkey (due to this location's historical importance as a Catholic site); the idea of the valorization of the working donkey; the prevalent symbolism of animals in Western art; and the true story of Primrose, a baby donkey born prematurely and unable to stand, who was fitted with a pair of pink casts that allowed her to walk. Primrose's plaster casts also invite the signatures of children, playing on the idea of graffiti in public space.
TheSix
Active Member
Love this art piece, it sparks a conversation over being forgettable (like many other pieces in TO). Great addition to the city.
P23
Active Member
What a pile of shit. It's as much 'art' as the buildings behind it are great architecture.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
No, it's still art even if everyone doesn't like it nor agrees with it.
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It could always be much more offensive and weird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindlifresserbrunnen
AlbertC
Superstar
If there was one quirky piece of public art in the world that I would poach and bring to Toronto, it would be the (now removed) man with head stuck in building at the Collegium Hungaricum in Berlin:
junctionist
Senior Member
I really like the sculpture. It makes me wonder if the cartoonish donkey was hit by a car on Bay Street, as so many people drive aggressively and cause a lot of accidents there. So it reminds me of how much damage our culture of prioritizing driver convenience in the city causes us.
Also, it makes wonder what the Catholic Church's message would be with regard to the injured animal, since so many of their teachings revolve around how people should treat other people as opposed to animals.
Also, it makes wonder what the Catholic Church's message would be with regard to the injured animal, since so many of their teachings revolve around how people should treat other people as opposed to animals.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
That looks like something out of Attack on Titan...