exhibition: flavio trevisan

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Grey Area
Flavio Trevisan
drywall compound and millboard on plywood [2009]
56” x 118” x 1½”

show runs from September 18 - October 17, 2009

Most maps are in the service of providing as much information as possible. This is achieved by introducing numerous layers of information, such as natural and man-made landmarks, geography, built form, infrastructure, etc., all the while providing this information both graphically and in text.

Here in Grey Area, with the reduction of the map to a single layer of information—the public street and highway system—a surprisingly clear and complex reading remains. Because extraneous layers of prescribed information are removed, an understanding of place is possible. Through analysis of this pattern, a mix of cultural, geographical, social and political histories of Toronto can be unearthed.

From the original 10 blocks that were the birth of the metropolis, to the subsequent surveying of the surrounding lands, and the final filling in of these super blocks, one can get a sense of how the City of Toronto grew to where it is today. The outlying villages that were eventually annexed and their modern day equivalents in the making of the megacity can still be discerned. The development of the first 20th century suburb of Don Mills is a distinct pattern that can be seen reproduced in areas further away from the city centre. Interestingly, as land has become more valuable, the density of the blocks in these recent suburbs often more closely resembles that of older areas downtown. But the meandering suburban street is still seeming more popular in these new developments than the regular grids of downtown.

The natural environment also has a major effect on this pattern development. Everywhere the presence of natural watersheds of rivers and creeks that run through the city can be seen by absences of streets or, at the very least, their deviation from the grid. Many natural features can be discerned by following the oddly twisted streets along the old Lake Iroquois shoreline, the Scarborough Bluffs, and even the long buried Garrison Creek. As well, much of our infrastructure is oblivious to these natural features. For example, the 401 route often passes over large ravines without a traveler realizing it, while the Don Valley Parkway, by its very nature, is a clear contrast.

In this map, the road system is represented as a sculptural relief, giving the organizing structure of the city its presence, and alluding to the containing and compartmentalizing nature of the system. Streets are of course absolute urban necessities for allowing us to move people and things at will, yet at the same time they act as boundaries, intentionally or not becoming lines within the grey area.


Flavio Trevisan is an artist working in Toronto. He was born in 1970 in Padova, Italy and was educated at the School of Architecture at the University of Toronto. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions since 1999. He is a founder and co-director of convenience gallery in Toronto.


convenience is a window gallery that provides an opening for art that engages, experiments, and takes risks with the architectural, urban, and civic realm.

convenience
24/7 window gallery
58 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto ON M6K 2V9
(at Seaforth Avenue, one block North of Queen)
www.conveniencegallery.com

contact: Flavio Trevisan
flavio@flaviotrevisan.com
www.flaviotrevisan.com