Hugman

 

Location: The PATH, Exchange Tower

Date photo taken: 8 September 2024

If you've been in the Financial District in the last few weeks, you might have noticed a bit of a quiet invasion. Scattered inside and out, across several properties, are a number of Hugman sculptures. These crude human figures, which range from pint-sized to roughly adult height, are the work of Nathan Sawaya, an American artist, and they are made completely out of Lego. What started out as a street art project in New York has now spread to cities around the world. Brookfield Properties is responsible for bringing Hugman to Canada, first to Calgary, and now most recently, to Toronto. While to some eyes the tree-hugging stance may evoke thoughts of protest, Hugman just likes to hug. According to signage, the series was inspired by the simple idea of embracing others. 

Love Hands

 

Location: King Street east of Bay

Date photo taken: 10 June 2024

This installation for Pride is located on the north terrace of Commerce Court West. It's more than just a fun piece celebrating Pride however, it also channels the power of social media to fundraise for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.  If you happen to visit it, take a snap, share it to Instagram and tag @commerce.court. If you do, QuadReal and Commerce Court will donate $2 to the 519 Community Centre. Hopefully, all those toonies will add up to some serious support for the 519 and their programming.

Pi

 

Location: Wellington Street, just west of Bay

Date photo taken: 12 August 2020

Tucked away in one of the Financial District's many weird pedestrian access lanes sits this unusual multi-part bronze sculpture by Toronto-based sculptor Evan Penny. It was commissioned in the 1990s while Penny was teaching at the Toronto School of Art and it is actually meant to function as seating. I couldn't find any information about the specific subject of the piece but I can't help seeing a resemblance to Sir Wilfred Laurier.  

Two Circles

Location: Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower

Date photo taken: 11 July 2023

While grand in scale, Two Circles is a seemingly simple installation at the Bay Adelaide Centre. As the name implies, it is comprised of two circles, identical in size and placement on the wall. The circle at the south end of the lobby is solid black, the one on the north, just an outline. Interesting enough, but it's when you get close to the work that you realize there is so much more to it. Which is where this photo comes in. The walls, which look smooth and unremarkable from a distance, are actually comprised of over 800,000 small ceramic sticks, each of which has been broken near the mid-point. That break line is visible and forms "a line drawing that is reminiscent of heartbeats, stock market graphs and sound waves", all very apt for the location of this piece, in the heart of the city's financial core.

TD Rabbit

 

Location: above Bay and Front Streets

Date photo taken: 25 January 2023

The TD sign, now such a visible part of the city's night sky, first appeared in 2000. That was when TD Bank purchased Canada Trust and took over their building at 161 Bay Street, replacing their logo with the TD shield. At that time, the four sides of the sign were made up of a collection of 325 green and white neon tubes. In 2020, a major renovation was begun to convert the sign to LEDs which made the sign both brighter and more energy efficient. It also allows the display to be programmed to show things other than the logo. Like this rabbit, which commemorates the start of the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar.

Traffic Signal Box - $10 Face

Location: Corner of York and Wellington
Date photo taken: 4 September 2018
Image #11 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

In 2018 the Financial District BIA partnered with StART’s Outside the Box program to decorate a selection of traffic signal boxes in the downtown core. They put out a call to artists and from the more than 50 submissions received, chose 5 finalists. Dean Martin was one of those finalists, and this is one of two boxes he designed. Viewed up close, the graphic appears to be simply a pattern of circles, but as you move away, the image resolves into a portrait. Each box features two individuals who have at some point graced the Canadian ten-dollar bill. In his artist’s statement he explains: “… The individuals we choose to feature on our currency are also reflective of nation building; of who we are and how we see ourselves. This perception however, has evolved greatly over the years and nowhere is it more apparent than in the diversity of those we seek to acknowledge and celebrate… This is meant to be more than a one-way journey that simply re-evaluates yesterday’s values versus today’s. It is about standing far enough back to see that character and contribution manifest in different ways and that it can come from anyone, a feature of Canada that make us the envy of the world.” More of his statement can be read here.