Art Walk

Flower Power

Flower Power

Mark Di Suvero
b. 1933

Flower Power
  • Steel I-beams, wood, cable
  • 1967
  • 4 m x 4 m x 8 m
  • 26 Telegram Mews, City Place, Toronto

About the artwork

Created by internationally renowned sculptor Mark di Suvero, Flower Power, along with a similar sculpture, No Shoes, was commissioned for the International Sculpture Symposium in Toronto in 1967, and installed in High Park.  These works were the first large-scale works completed by the artist and had been installed in High Park for more than 40 years. In 2008, the works were removed by City of Toronto Cultural Services and sent to the United States to be restored by the artist. Since this transition, the work has returned to the city and resides in its current location along the rail path. 

About the artist

Mark di Suvero is an American abstract expressionist sculptor who was inspired in his early days by demolition buildings materials while working in construction. His monumental sculptures are the result of the incorporation of demolition debris such as wood and metal. Later in his career, Di Suvero explored how to transform H-beams and heavy steel plates to recreate his today world-known artworks exhibited in various public spaces. By evoking constructivism, the work crafted by the American artist shows his ability to give a considerable degree of motion to the structures, while conceptualising the utopian socialist reconstruction idea of a better world. Di Suvero is, as of today, a widely prised artist and the 2010 recipient of the National Medal of Arts.

Fun facts

  • The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles.

Engagement questions

  • How do you define a successful public art project?
  • How does this artwork transform the space around it?
  • In your opinion, what are the characteristics that make an artwork iconic?