Michael Snow sues over axed public art
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 | 4:22 PM ET
CBC News
Canadian visual artist Michael Snow has launched a breach of contract lawsuit against the developers of a condo project attached to Lightbox, the forthcoming new home of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Snow is seeking $950,000 in damages from filmmaker Ivan Reitman, condo developer Daniels Corp. and their venture, King John Festival Corp., over a public artwork the artist says he was hired to create, according to a report in the Toronto Star.
The 80-year-old multidisciplinary artist and experimental filmmaker is known for some of Toronto's major public art, including Flightstop, a collection of life-sized Canada geese displayed in flight inside the Eaton Centre mall, and The Audience, a massive sculpture affixed to the exterior of Rogers Centre that depicts fans in celebration.
Snow says he was commissioned to create a public work for the entrance of Festival Tower, the condo building rising above TIFF's new Lightbox headquarters, slated to open Sept. 12, in Toronto's downtown theatre district.
According to the artist, after working on the piece — titled Tower of Film — for years, and despite an enthusiastic reception from the developers two years ago when he presented his proposal, the company abruptly decided not to proceed.
The allegations in Snow's statement of claim have not been proven in court.
Firm denies contract
A Daniels Corp. executive told the newspaper the company never signed a contract with Snow, and the matter will proceed in court.
Snow has a long relationship with the Toronto International Film Festival, which has featured his cinematic creations.
This year's film festival, which begins Sept. 9, will include a newly struck print of Snow's landmark 1967 film Wavelength as well as an event with the artist in conversation with avant-garde film experts Annette Michelson and P. Adams Sitney. Snow's Slidelength will also be among the films shown as part of a free exhibit opening TIFF's Lightbox headquarters.
The Reitman family, which owned the site where Lightbox and Festival Tower are located, offered the land to TIFF for the new development in 2003 and teamed up with Daniels Corp. for the project.
Share Tools
Whitney Houston's final song Celebrate debuts by Jessica Wong May. 23, 2012 2:46 PM It seems fitting that Whitney Houston's final release is an upbeat and uplifting duet in which she passes the torch to a younger singer with vocal powerhouse potential. In the high energy song Celebrate, from the upcoming film Sparkle, Houston duets with singer and former American Idol Jordin Sparks.
Top News Headlines
- Quebec Education Minister 'ready' for new student talks
- Michelle Courschene said she hopes to meet with student leaders to break through the tuition crisis impasse, but Quebec's special protest law is not on the table. more »
- Canadian climber describes Everest as 'a morgue'
- A Canadian woman who was climbing Mount Everest the same weekend four others died provided a chilling description of her own perilous journey, saying the mountain seemed "like a morgue." more »
- Finley expected to detail EI changes Thursday
- Human Resources Minister Diane Finley is expected to put an end to speculation about the government's plans to change employment insurance on Thursday when she holds a news conference. more »
- Shareholders sue Facebook over botched IPO
- Facebook is facing a lawsuit from angry shareholders and multiple probes from regulators over the disappointing handling of its initial public offering last week. more »
Latest Arts & Entertainment News Headlines
- Security breach alleged in making of bin Laden raid film
- A House committee chairman charged Wednesday in Washington that the CIA and Defence Department jeopardized national security by co-operating too closely with filmmakers producing a movie on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. more »
- Tom Wesselmann celebrated in new Montreal exhibit
- With Beyond Pop Art: Tom Wesselmann, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is trying to give the reserved, modest American art icon the attention he deserves. more »
- Mario Bros. creator gets Spain's Asturias Award
- Japan's Shigeru Miyamoto, considered the father of the modern video game, has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. more »
- David Cronenberg exhibit planned at TIFF
- With Canadian director David Cronenberg drawing attention at Cannes with the upcoming release of Cosmopolis, the TIFF Group is getting ready to celebrate his film career with a new exhibition. more »
Q Blog
Stephen Merchant stands up for himself May. 23, 2012 4:44 PM The comic best known for collaborating with Ricky Gervais on hit TV shows "The Office" and "Extras," talks to Jian about recently returning to his stand-up comedy roots, whether there are taboos in comedy, and more.
CBC Books
The problem with modern motherhood May. 23, 2012 5:26 PM French writer Elisabeth Badinter has written a controversial new book about modern motherhood. It in she argues that parenting methods like attachment parenting undermine women. She explains why to Day 6.
- Mom can't leave Canada with children, or stay either
- Canadian climber describes Everest as 'a morgue'
- Shareholders sue Facebook over botched IPO
- Massive Montreal rally ends with police clashes
- Tories prep back-to-work law for Canadian Pacific Railway
- 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber
- Bear drags Winnipeg man from camp outhouse
- Toronto mother, daughter slain in Atlantic City identified
- 15 ways to use a 450-page federal budget bill
