Posts Tagged ‘Port Lands’

It all started a few weeks ago while shooting some video at the River City construction site…Along one of the blue walls was an advertisement for Banksy’s new film titled “Exit Trough the Gift Shop”!!  I quickly got on the phone and made plans to see it with an old friend and fellow Banksy enthusiast… Wait wait wait!! Let me first explain who this Banksy character is. 

That in its self is no easy task since no one realllly knows his identity, so I’ll start with his story to better explain my story.  Banksy is a British graffiti artist known for his political, playful and thought provoking stencils that have mysteriously popped up in many major Cities throughout the world! He’s successfully done these murals without being caught or identified, adding to the legend known simply as “Banksy” (stop by http://www.banksy.co.uk/ for more of his works).

Now back to how he applies to Toronto.  So I made plans to watch his new film on its Friday release and came out loving every second of it. The film showed the hard and sometimes dangerous work street artists go through to put up their art. I was left with a ton of questions all relating to ones perspective of the topic, some which include “what defines art” or more importantly “what defines GOOD art”… “Is it the message” “Could it be the person making work” “The story of that person” “Does its venue give it more or less credibility?” “Does any of it even matter?” These questions could be debated for hours and probably by more authoritative sources so I’ll save that convo for another day…   

Officially Banksy has never been to Toronto or even Canada for that matter, but after watching the film I couldn’t wait for the day he would!  Thankfully for me, that day came a lot faster than I could ever have imagined.  By Sunday I was hearing stories (primarily on the Torontoist and Show & Tell Gallery) of Banksy’s work appearing in different parts of the City. With the release of the film happening the same weekend, I had my doubts about these and figured this was just a publicity stunt to create a buzz.  Unfortunately for me, I tend to get suckered into “buzz-worthy events” pretty easily.

Fake or not I had to see it…street art doesn’t last long especially Banksy’s, who’s past pieces have been known to fetch large sums of money, I’m talking 1-bedroom-plus-den-with-parking-in-downtown-Toronto kind of money!!!  For that reason, the location of the stencils was left unknown.  All “Banksy hunters” had to work with were local landmarks in photos taken by others….

All those times being stuck in downtown traffic jams were about to pay off! I jumped into the Cooper and took to the streets and back alleys hoping to find me some Banksyyy!  My first stop was by The Docks, where the back of the drive through sign was used as the canvas for one of his famous “rat” stencils!  I started snapping photos around 11:30 Sunday night as an event cleared out.  A lot of people were wondering why I was so furiously snapping photos of a spray painted rat.  Looking back, I must have looked strange with my Blackberry in one hand and camera in the other….though it was totally worth it.  By mid Monday the “rat” was removed by a team of construction workers! 

I can only wonder if those construction workers had any idea as to what the value of the billboard was worth. Here are some pictures for those who didn’t get to see it:

I took to the back alleys of Dundas and Queen St. for hours searching for others….sadly nothing, so at 3am I called off the search.  Monday morning more pieces popped up including a “Spadina Rat” and an “intimidating balloon guard dog”.  Sadly, for one of the pieces, it was too late.  The stencil on an Adelaide wall (described as “0% Interest in People”) had been painted over.  Now there was 7 confirmed Banksy’s in Toronto with 2 either stolen or painted over.  I went back on my search Monday night exploring the City to find the others before it was too late. 

Finally…SUCCESS!! Here’s what we found:

To some the pictures may be of nothing more than “vandalism” or “garbage”…yet to others (myself included) it’s the chance of a life time!  By searching down the various locations of his art, I got to rediscover the City and even visit parts I’ve never been too.  A few weeks back I visited the AGO for my first time and saw a lot of beautiful works, but I found the staff to be very protective and at times even confrontational making it was hard to truly enjoy the art.  With street art, there are no boundaries…takes as many pictures as you like, touch it, discuss it, and view it any time of the day.

This whole Banksy experience brought a lot of attention to the Toronto street art scene and even showcases our own local talent… Fauxreel (pretty sure this is one of his pieces pictured below)

 

So get off the blog and out on those streets…create your own experince and enjoy Banksy in Toronto until it’s gone for good!