Éloges de Fontenelle - Toronto, ON - Abstract Public Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This sculpture consists of two very large pieces of steel that are curved and form half circles. They are several feet taller than the average height of a person and although they do not entirely block the sidewalk you may have to detour around them during times when it is busy and crowded in front of the convention centre. The two pieces are several metres apart from each other and while one piece is concave the other is convex which gives a nice balance and also provides a flow both visually and physically if you are walking around them. They are both a dull, brown colour and seem to blend into the background which is interesting because of the large size of this sculpture. Unfortunately they are a blank canvas and one of the pieces has been marked by initials that were scratched into it.

Éloges de Fontenelle is one of the featured pieces of art (#11) on the City of Toronto's Art Walk - Toronto's Outdoor Art Gallery. Link: (visit link)

"Éloges de Fontenelle
Royden Rabinowitch, 1984

The abstract and complex works of Royden Rabinowitch often refer to the ambiguous and uncertain principles underlying our existence. In the case of Éloges de Fontenelle, there exists in the two components a contrast of concave and convex forms - positive and negative elements - that defy the linear grid of the urban design, interrupting the expected flow of the streetscape, literally and metaphorically. Located on a very busy sidewalk at the north entrance to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, physical negotiation of the work is a task that not each person will necessarily approach in the same manner. Represented here are a multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives that challenge notions of absolute direction, purpose or truth.

The title of the work refers to the 17th century French poet and philosopher Bernard Le Bouvier de Fontenelle whose writings addressed notions of truth and ambiguity in the emerging scientific knowledge of his time."

You will find this sculpture on the sidewalk on the south side of Front Street West in front of the Metro Convention Centre. It is west of Simcoe Street and east of John Street.

Title: Éloges de Fontenelle Artist: Royden Rabinowitch Media (materials) used: Steel Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Metro Convention Centre, 55 Front Street, Toronto Date of creation or placement: 1984

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