Downtown Yonge Artwalk

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Communications

  • Steel
  • 1983
  • 483 Bay Street, Toronto

About the artwork

This constructivist sculpture also known as Space Composition for Trinity Square, is located at the southwest corner of Trinity Square, on the west side of the Eaton Centre. The sculpture plays an important role for Toronto’s public art scene, at the edge of monumentalism and brutalism, it creates a heavy contrast between the various materials of the structure and the surrounding environment. The reflection of steel on the facade of the building plays with the daily variations of the sun, recreating the shadows of Toronto’s downtown.

About the artist

Haydn Llewellyn Davies was born in Rhymney, Wales, in 1921. A Canadian resident since 1929, Davies’ unique mix of Welsh tradition and landscape feature prominently in his work. He studied painting and drawing at the Ontario College of Art and later, sculpture at the University of Toronto.

Although Davies’ first career was in advertising, he left the field in the 1970s. He won his first public sculpture commission in 1974 from Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario. The resulting work, Homage, made from Western Red Cedar, was Davies’ first large-scale public sculpture. Subsequent large-scale works in steel or aluminum are located at the entrances of the Vero Beach Art Museum, Florida, the Government of Ontario Offices, in Windsor, Ontario, the Burlington Art Centre, Ontario, the Bell Canada Head Office, Toronto, and the Windsor Sculpture Garden.

In Europe, his works are in the permanent collections of the Galleria Nazionale D’Arte Moderna e Contemporenea, Rome, Italy, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Venice, Italy, the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.

A poster done by Davies during his WW2 service in the RCAF is in the Permanent Poster Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Davies passed away in Toronto in 2008.

Fun facts

  • This constructivist sculpture is also known as "Space Composition for Trinity Square".

Engagement questions

  • How does this work by Davies make you feel?
  • Why do you think this material was chosen for this piece?
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