Why subway stations make great art galleries
Curator of Luminato exhibit Spaced wants to bring art to the people, by putting it in the TTC
Duane Bobbsemple's goal is simple: he just wants to put art in a place where people can see it.
That's the driving principle behind Spaced, an exhibit he's curated that puts art into Toronto's subway stations. The exhibit is part of this year's Luminato Festival.
Bobbsemple says he's loved art ever since he was a kid, but as a child of Caribbean immigrants, he sometimes noticed that traditional "art spaces," like museums and galleries, felt uncomfortable for his parents.
"It always felt like they were intimidated by those spaces, like it wasn't home for them," he says. "Places where art is typically present aren't accessible to large parts of society. People like my parents just don't want to step in. It's not for them. So I was always interested in creating exhibitions that could be seen by as many people as possible, in spaces that are accessible to everyone."
Arguably, nowhere in Toronto is more public, accessible and frequented by folks from all walks of life than the city's subway stations. Bobbsemple adds that it is also, on average, kind of a boring space that's ripe for something to break up the monotony.
"You've seen people's faces on the subway," he says. "It can be a bit of a mundane experience on the subway. To bring a vibrant collection of art, I felt it could help inspire people and change the whole dynamic and feel of the typical subway ride."
He says that three of the four stations in the exhibit — Spadina, Finch and Kennedy — were chosen for him when he took on the project. But the fourth, York University, he chose because, by the standards of subway stations, it's a pretty good art gallery.
"A lot of natural light leaks into the space," he says. "When you have a lot of good lighting and you also have a huge white wall, it allows you to really appreciate [the art]. People can focus on it a bit more intensely."
Brendan George Ko is one of the artists featured in the exhibit. Both an art photographer and a photojournalist, his work in Spaced includes photos he took outside of Yellowknife following last year's wildfires. He says that, for him, it's a chance to show the severity and scale of the fires to an audience that, otherwise, might not understand it.
"These wildfires are happening very far from urban centres," says Ko. "[In Toronto,] we didn't see the fires themselves … There's one image in the exhibit that shows that the sky was literally red in the middle of the daytime … I think there's such a difference from being able to see these [pictures in] websites or a magazine versus seeing a large-scale image of it."
While selecting pieces for Spaced, Bobbsemple was inspired by a quote from the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh.
"[Abloh] had this thing about 'catering to both the purist and tourist,'" the curator says. "The purists are the people who are deeply entrenched in the culture, value authenticity, value the tradition and have a deep understanding of the subject. The tourist is the casual enthusiast, and they're attracted to the excitement … Sometimes, you go to [art exhibitions] and it's esoteric and something only a small group of people can enjoy. I just wanted to create something everyone can enjoy."
Ultimately, he says, he wants people to walk away from the exhibition thinking differently not just about art, but about the spaces they pass through every day.
"Your creativity knows no bounds," he says. "I like to reimagine how we engage with spaces and consider all the ways that we can interact with the environments that we use on a daily basis."
Spaced can be seen at Finch, Kennedy, Spadina, and York University stations in Toronto until June 16.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
