During the December Holidays I had the chance of visiting Toronto. My eye for street art was sharpened hoping to find some images to share on Across Borders. Along Dupont, Street close to the intersection with Lansdowne Avenue there is a railway under-pass where I found this collection of faceless figures and signs. I first snapped the shots and then went home to try finding some info online regarding the murals.
I learned that this whole series of images were commissioned to artist Joel Richardson who was paid $2,000 by the city during the administration of Mayor David Miller. Interestingly, I also found out that the work generated some controversy as apparently the city itself painted over it after (likely as part of new Mayor Rob Ford's graffiti eradication campaign). You can read a full article from the Toronto Star here.
Joe Richardson’s website says that he was born In Canada in1971 and grew up in Owen Sound. He “began his career as a portrait painter. His early work demonstrated a fascination with the fusing of extremes in ideas and techniques, all of this in an attempt to expand traditional portraiture into the realm of social documentation.” You can fins some of his work and biography at www.joelrichardson.com and a gallery of his work at his Flickr account.
Additional image on old and new Toronto including the Lansdowne area can be found on the blog Lost Toronto by GBC. This blog compares historical archives with current images of Canada’s largest city.
Enjoy!
