Toronto: Jazz Festival 2016: Toronto Mass Choir

Toronto Mass Choir, Jazz Festival 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

I am a sucker for the union of many voices. How many eons of humanity are there in which we have curled the sounds we can make with our throats, mouths, tongues, and the manipulation of air through our lips - in unison or in harmony - to effect a communal one-ness?

In listening to gospel music specifically, it evokes for me strength, surrender, hope, determination, acceptance, love, exuberance, action, declaration, courage, unity.  

The Toronto Mass Choir performed at the Jazz Festival.

A sample here:

And here:

Toronto Mass Choir, Jazz Festival 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Toronto: AGO: Watching

I like the peace in the original artwork and in the quiet looking upon the artwork. The contemplator's head is slightly tilted, like the little girl's.

One of my favorite paintings at the AGO is below. It's by William Kurulek. I can't decide which photographic version I prefer, and I don't have to.

William Kurulek, Home on the Range, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

William Kurulek, Home on the Range, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Toronto: AGO: The Teeth

Exterior stair, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

When Sandy and I visited the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), we entered through the front door. On the opposite side of the museum, where the staircase (in the above photo) hangs suspended from the building like a King Kong on the Empire State Building, there was a construction zone that restricted access to this side of the museum campus.

Exterior stair, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

It was only through a photo series about the AGO design that I saw the above stair structure depicted, and the very first image that came to my mind was of a skeletal profile of a jutting jaw with teeth. Fascinating! I had to find this and see it for myself! My God - Cyclops-sized chomping teeth outside an art museum!

Exterior stair, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Sandy indulged me on at least two occasions in visiting the edge of the barricaded Grange Park so I could try to get my own photos. Once in late afternoon and once in the evening. A construction fence created an unhappy barrier to my quest.

Exterior stair, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Speaking of teeth .... 

Frank Gehry is the architect who designed the AGO renovation and remodel.

When I mentioned to an architect acquaintance that I'd visited the AGO and uttered Mr. Gehry's name, it triggered a wondrous fire-and-brimstone sermon against the Satanic force that is Gehry and others of his aesthetic persuasion, which is godless. I was impressed.

Also, evidently, Mr. Gehry can be an asshole.

There is some evidence to support this opinion: 

Frank Gehry. Source: Archinect.

On the other hand, you can move beyond a few moments in time, as depicted above, to a fuller story as told through Sydney Pollock's 2006 documentary, Sketches of Frank Gehry, below:

Toronto: AGO: The Light

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Some museums in Toronto offer free admission on certain days and times. The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is one of those museums, and Sandy and I took advantage one evening, early. We followed a guided tour that covered the museum highlights.


When we walked through the Galleria Italia, I gasped.

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Galleria Italia, AGO, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

The best work of art in the entire museum, made all the better because your body and its shadow become part of the installation when you walk through it, sit in it, stand in it.

I had to know - who designed this magical ship of light and lines, the Galleria Italia?

I learned it was architect Frank Gehry.

Heheheheh, more on that gentleman later.

Toronto: Jazz Festival 2016: Dione Taylor

Dione Taylor and the Backsliderz, Toronto Jazz Festival 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Under the cool, dark tent on a hot day, Dione Taylor.


A sampling here:

And here:

Dione Taylor and the Backsliderz, Toronto Jazz Festival 2016, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Toronto: Pig, Deconstructed

Pig deconstructed. Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

On one of our forays through Toronto's Chinatown, Sandy and I passed by a pig, deconstructed.

This reminds me of another time when Sandy and I encountered a pig in such a state. It was at the Rustavi Kalakhoba, the city fair, in November 2011.

Pork for dinner, Rustavi Kalakhoba, November 2011.

I don't remember if Sandy was with me at the market in Old Rustavi when I saw these young pigs:

Pigs at market in Old Rustavi. Caucasus Georgia. February 2012.

Toronto: Chickens

Whole-headed chicken, Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario. June 2016.

In Toronto, you gotcher chickens:

• Whole-headed
• Half old 
• Black
• Air-chilled

"Half old." Refers to the sale of half of a chicken that was old? Or refers to a whole chicken that was middle-aged? Or adolescent?

Half old chicken, Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario. June 2016.

Ah, I thought, when I saw the black chicken. I've seen this before on Food Channel's Chopped.

Black chicken, Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario. June 2016.

And then there was the "air-chilled" chicken:

Air-chilled chicken, downtown Toronto, Ontario. June 2016.

The "air-chilled" chicken label puzzled me. A euphemism for formerly frozen? Or simply refrigerated and never frozen? But I have since educated myself and, holy giblets, who knew?

A video explanation below:

Hint: the video isn't talking about the fresh breeze those free-range hens are getting out in the pasture.

Toronto: Jazz Festival 2016: Jane Bunnet and Hilario Duran

Although most of the Toronto Jazz Festival venues were outdoors, such as at Phillips Plaza, there were several smaller events tucked into various Toronto nooks and crannies.

An upscale department store, Holt Renfrew, was one such nook. My two take-aways from that experience: 

1. The enjoyable performance Jane Bunnet and Hilario Duran delivered to an appreciative audience; and
2. Holy mother fuckity-fuck, are you serious that the pretty skirt I saw on sale for an incredible 75% off or something like that was originally priced at many hundreds of dollars, so even at 75% off, it was absurdly expensive? It wasn't as if the materials or colors or design warranted such a grotesque price; I can't even remember what it looked like. I confess that this sort of profligate commerce offends my plebeian sensibilities.

Below is a piece by Jane Bunnet and Hilario Duran at Holt Renfrew:

Setting aside the channeling of my malcontent Irish forebears who likely shook their fists impotently against the robber barons .... Jane Bunnet and Hilario Duran ... they were a fresh musical breeze to whisk away the cares of the world.

Toronto: Dancing at the Harbourfront: Salsa

Dancing at the Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

My God, I love the photo above.

Yeah, I know, the dance instructor's feet are lopped off at the bottom.

But look at the movement in this photo, the color, the facial expressions.

The showmanship of the instructor - magnificent!

After I finish looking him up and down and sideways, my eyes go to the woman in the blue dress, which hugs her just right, whose body slants diagonally, as does her purse strap, as does the placement of her feet - and her side-eye over to the instructor - all marvelous.

Then I admire the sunset-painted toes of the woman on the right, with her luxuriously thick hair, with those latte stripes, so pretty.

Life is good on this fine evening along Lake Ontario.

Toronto: Body of Art

Tattoo exhibit, Royal Ontario Museum, photo of Fang-od Oggay. June 2016. Photo by Jake Verzosa.

Fang-od Oggay, the subject of the photo above, is a beautiful woman. The above photo was on a super-sized poster outside the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), enticing passersby to visit the exhibit called Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art.

The woman as photographic subject pulled me in, as did the dappling of light on the picture.

Below are a couple of other photos of Fang-od Oggay:

Fang-Od Oggay with a man she just tattooed. Credit: Mawg64

Fang-Od Oggay. Credit: Mawg64

I should look so good when I'm 100 years old. Not to mention being so physically and occupationally active.

A number of tattoo connoisseurs make pilgrimages to Fang-Od Oggay in order to get a tattoo from her. Here and here and here are three such stories.

But this post is about art, specifically about who "owns" the art. Well, ownership is part of it, but it's more than that. It's about this question: Who is the artist?

For example, I am featuring Fang-od Oggay in this article. Am I the artist? No. I think it's clear I am not presenting myself as an artist in this article. I am clearly presenting someone else's art.

But whose?

I am featuring a photograph, taken by a professional photographer, whose work was used in an international art exhibit, of Fang-od Oggay, who is wearing the art created by another tattoo artist.

Is the photographer (in this case, Jake Verzosa) the artist? After all, he created the photograph, selecting the subject, the pose, the decision to wear/not wear clothing items, the light, the focus, the crop, the frame, etc. He presumably sold the photo - or the rights to the photo usage - to the exhibitor, as a product of his creativity and skill.

Or is Fang-od Oggay the artist, as the wearer/owner of the art and as a tattoo practitioner in her own right?

Or is the person who placed the tattoos onto Fang-od Oggay the artist?

It's not my intent to single out Mr. Verzosa in any way - it's a universal question I have when we photograph another person's art and then present our photo as a creative product in itself.

Toronto: Luminato 2016

Toronto skyline from Luminato 2016 venue, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

I dig the title of this Toronto art festival: Luminato. Luminaria. Illumination. Lumens. Luminous. Lou Reed.

The Luminato Arts Festival - a multi-arts-media event - is a creative apology and amends for Toronto's architectural blandfield.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

I'm also a fan of derelict, decaying structures, and that's where Luminato takes place.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

Luminato 2016, Hearn Generating Station. June 2016.

That's Sandy walking up ahead of me.

This exhibit mesmerized me:

Still does. And listen to the sounds within the exhibit and in the vast air space of the relic structure. 

I'll finish with a gigantic disco ball.

Luminato.

Toronto: Architecture: Shadows and Light

Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

I find Toronto's tall, generic, blue, modern buildings dull, dull, dull. But interplays of shadows and light somehow make things better.

Old City Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Old City Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. June 2016.

Heheheh, I like the incongruity of the Dairy King truck in front of the staid Old City Hall. 

Toronto: Brains

Brains in Toronto. June 2016.

Over the course of my series on Toronto, I think you may come to the same conclusion I did: Notwithstanding its tame veneer, there is something just a little whack about Toronto.

I present Exhibit A, to wit:

I've seen many cities and towns that sponsor art events that focus on a particular animal or object. A few examples:

• Horses in Amarillo
• Fiddles in Opelousas
• Donkeys in Carrizozo
• Cows in Perth
• Frogs in Rayne

But in Toronto, it's brains. Brains.

Brains in Toronto. June 2016.

A Visit to Toronto: Preview

Toronto skyline from Toronto Islands. June 2016.

After my fine visit with friend Suzanne, in Washington, D.C., I flew directly to Toronto to visit my friend and former TLG colleague, Sandy, for two weeks.

Toronto was about:

• Brains, hearts, uteri, and other organs
• What Torontonians stand in line for
• Universe-bending subway cars
• Jaw-dropping architecture, with "jaw-dropping" useful in both the negative and positive senses
• Islands
• Music and dance
• Being intercultural
• Living spaces 
• Getting to the airport
• The inexplicable untidiness of going through US customs from Toronto
• Tattoos 
• A Georgian reunion

 

Toronto lighted sign. June 2016.