User:Zanimum/Gallery of the Greek Gods

Garden of the Greek Gods is the name applied to a series of 20 limestone sculptures by Canadian sculptor E. B. Cox and the surrounding landscaping, located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Before being the focus of the garden, the works were displayed at Georgian Peaks ski hill near Collingwood and the artist's home. Largely overlooked for many years, this public art regained notariety in 2014, as Exhibition Place allowed tenant nightclub Muzik to fence the works into their patio area. On the relocation in 1979, Cox noted his interest in children's access to the sculptures.

Background

A 1990s guidebook of Toronto suggested that E. B. Cox (1914-2003) had “more sculpture on view in Toronto's public places than any other single artist.”<><ferenc> He began carving wood as a child, learning by watching his grandfather, in spite of his father's objections to “graven images”.<> Cox supported himself through university in the 1930s by carving small totem poles;<> his later work has been described as “the great bridge” between Aboriginal art and modern art, with Iroquois and Haida influences.<> At university, a professor introduced him to artists A. Y. Jackson, Fred Varley, and Arthur Lismer, members of the Group of Seven whom he would accompany in sketching expeditions to the north.<>

Many of Cox's works portrayed indigenous Canadian species, including birds, bears, and beavers, many in “quirky fluid poses”, capturing “their essential natures.”<>

Cox travelled to Greece several times in his life, and has been described as “passionate” about the country.<ferenc>

Sculptures

Cox carved a series of 20 sculptures based on Greek mythology, beginning in either 1959 or entirely during the 1960s, depending on the account.<> The process took two years,<> and the artist consulted a personal library of books to ensure accuracy.<ferenc> Each of the sculptures has a “bio”, established by Cox.<ferenc>

The 20 works are titled:<>

• Aphrodite
• Boy on a Dolphin
• Centaur
• Cerberus
• Cyclops
• The Harpies
• Hercules
• The Hydra
• Mermaid
• Medusa
• The Minotaur
• Narcissus
• Orpheus
• Pan
• The Phoenix
• Sea Horse
• The Sphinx
• The Three Graces
• The Triton
• The Typhon

In 2005 Kathy Sutton, Cox's daughter, told the Toronto Star that “he loved it when people handled his sculptures, touching them or sitting on them.”<ferenc>

A large memorial service for Cox was held at the foot of Hercules, after his 2003 death.<ferenc>

Display

The works were initially installed at Georgian Peaks, west of Collingwood, Ontario, a notable winter resort town. They were placed “deep in the woods” of the ski hill, accessible by chairlift.<ferenc><>

Move to the CNE

Immigrant restauranteur Arthur Carman (born Athanasios Karamanos) established Carman's Club in 1959, one of the few high-end restaurants in Toronto not to be in a hotel, and one of the few to serve liquor, thanks to Carman's efforts to qualify it as a “club”. Carman was a significant personality in Toronto, attracting celebrities and politicians to his restaurant, attempting to start a large multicultural carnival, and claiming to have invented garlic bread.<carman> Carman, who claimed to have invented garlic bread, decided to give back to the city by purchasing artwork by Cox, who at one point would claim to have invented “coffee table art”.

Carman purchased the sculptures for Exhibition Place, sharing the $125,000 cost with a Wintario grant. The sculptures arrived for storage on the grounds in late 1977, around the time of the Royal Winter Fair, and a sod-turning ceremony was held in spring 1978.<>

The sculptures were placed in the southwest end of the Exhibition Place grounds, on a lawn south of the Horticultural Building, north of the Bandshell grounds, southwest of the Princess Margaret Fountain, and east of the Scadding Cabin.<> During the 2005 International Stone Sculpture Symposium, Israeli artist Berny Fink commented that “art should be promoted more often in places like this.”<ferenc> As Exhibition Place leased many of its structures, the site's seclusion lead to it becoming a “break” spot for “tired Ex visitors.”<ferenc>

Initially, a landscaped garden with fountains was established for the sculptures.

An event listing from 1981 lists the Garden as a “display of sculptures from Sculpture Society of Canada”,<1981> a long-established artists' organization.

Muzik nightclub and Free the Greek Gods

The club is also believed to have power washed or sandblasted the sculptures, removing their natural patina developed over the decades.

Leslie Ferenc Garden of the Gods provides heavenly relief for tired Ex visitors Toronto Star 19 August 2005 B4

What's on and where at the CNE: Tomorrow Children's Day 23 August 1981 Sunday Star A12

Hilary Caton Garden on the Greek Gods working group forms to move sculptures by E. B. Cox Parkdale Villager 13 February 2015