Rocky Dobey Addendum: A map of treasures
Plus, my all-time favorite act of civil disobedience
If you haven’t checked it out yet, we just published a piece on Rocky “Zenyk” Dobey, a Toronto street artist who has been active since 1971. This Addendum is here for those who want to do their own hunts for some of his pieces. Many of Dobey’s older pieces may be rusted and worn almost beyond recognition, but since the pandemic there have beem many fresh installations for seekers to find.
St. Stephen-of-the-Fields (West of College & Spadina) – Multiple pieces
As mentioned in the story, the church itself seems to shelter this street pole treasure trove from being uprooted or overly exposed to the elements. On it you can find examples of many different projects over the years, from letter-shaped installations to political and personal memorials.
Parkdale Library (1303 Queen St.) – Bench
There is exactly one bench outside the Parkdale library, but it wasn’t installed by the city. The Punchclock collective that Rocky frequently works with built the bench and bolted it to the sidewalk one night after the City had removed the previous ones in 2008, depriving homeless folks and passersby of a place to rest. According to Dobey, city workers now maintain the bench as though it were their own, like drones mindlessly tending to an interloping parasite. Features a small RD plate on the side dedicated to a homeless man named Stavos, whose van was suspiciously burnt weeks before a new condo development on the grounds where he had parked it. Rumour has it similar benches exist throughout the city…
316 Dupont (West of Dupont & Spadina) – Be Blatant. Be Emotional. Risk Everything.
A more recent street pole plaque that hasn’t been too thoroughly defaced. It’s a good example of some of the recurring iconography and phrases in RD’s art (the throne, “All that is solid melts into air” etc), and it’s one that has much of its full detail and lustre.
Kensington (Augusta & Baldwin) – Wal Mart So Tough (and dozens more!)
Maybe the most widely-seen of 2010s street installations, this piece from 2013 protests a then-current plan to bring a Walmart to College St. This one’s hard to miss if you’re looking for it, as it’s mounted at the corner of a busy Market thoroughfare.
As I’ve noted, since the lockdowns Rocky has installed dozens of new pieces in Kensington Market alone. As you traverse the hashtag of streets that represent the core of the Market’s commercial area, you’ll see tons of them—fellow Dobey fan jwcurry has posted a selection of his own recent finds to give you a sample.
The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen St. W) – Patrick Conner Memorial
On the upper floor of the Theatre Centre there is an outdoor terrace with a commissioned RD sculpture memorializing Patrick Conner, an actor/director and ethical food activist. It’s quite an unusual-looking piece, shaped somewhat like a cloud skewered by jagged lightning bolts. The terrace closes in the winter, but if it’s warm out you should be able to sneak up to see it.
This is also a great place to scope plaques; there’s one of a series of tributes to RD’s friend Victor on a nearby pole at Queen & Lisgar, and between Queen & Dufferin and Queen & Dovercourt there are at least five other pieces to check out.
South Riverdale Community Health Centre (955 Queen St. E) – The Toronto Drug Users’ Memorial
Probably the piece that you can most easily glimpse on Google Street View, this eight-foot-tall flame-shaped sculpture is found in a small green space tucked between the Health Centre and the Presbyterian Church next door. The list of victims is regularly updated, and family members and friends frequently leave small tributes around its base.
I found most of these just by keeping my eyes open, but on his Instagram (@rockydobey) he will occasionally give the specific intersection / area where a piece can be found as well.