Watawa life » Bank of Canada http://www.robink.ca/blog A photo blog set in Ottawa Wed, 16 May 2012 01:43:14 +0000 en hourly 1 Bank of Canadahttp://www.robink.ca/blog/bank-of-canada/ http://www.robink.ca/blog/bank-of-canada/#comments Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:39:38 +0000 Robin Kelsey http://www.robink.ca/blog/bank-of-canada/ The Bank of Canada building on Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa was built in 1937 by architect S.G. Davenport of Montreal. The building is decorated with sculptures designed by Jacobine Jones. The sculptures are prime examples of the weird semi-erotic socialist realism that was in vogue for public art at the time.

Heavily-muscled naked man with a hammer. Construction worker!

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The logger has a strategically placed saw. All the male figures except for the construction worker are holding something in that region. Perhaps the artist thought that when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

logging.jpg

The first female figure, Miss Ukraine. Er… Agriculture. All the female figures are fully nude and unconcealed. By modern fashion-model standards, they seem impossibly chunky and big-hipped. They look like real women.

agriculture.jpg

Mining.

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Manufacturing.

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Fishing. The ship looks like it was copied off a dime.

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Miss Electricity. Va-va-voom!
electricity.jpg

On Nov.12, 2006, I took a look at some of the erotic sculptures around Parliament Hill. Come see.
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