Street artist Birdo is making his mark on Toronto one mural at a time
You may have never heard of birdO before, but you've likely seen his work around the city.
While the real face of the eagle-masked Toronto street artist (his other moniker is Jerry Rugg, though apparently that's not his real name) remains a mystery, his large-scale, animal-infused murals are hard to miss.
At this point, birdO is a full-fledged international sensation: he has commissioned work gracing towering canvasses in Chicago, Puerto Rico, Maui, Al Mafraq, Shanghai, among others.
But we're still quick to claim the Saskatoon transplant who has graced plenty of our own city walls (and plenty of art pop-ups) with his futuristic animal pieces.
His most recent work: the deer mural across from St. Clair subway station, which is a colourful and pretty literal homage to the Deer Park neighbourhood, spanning a whopping 10 storeys.
There's the giant yellow bird gracing the sign at The Village by the Grange, Rugg's biggest piece to date, which adds some perfect complementary colours to the OCAD building next door.
The facade of the old Holiday Inn-turned-Kimpton Saint George hotel got a much-needed spruce up with an iconic steam punk-looking owl.
Meanwhile a husky's face now adorns the home court at 80 Mornelle Court at Morninside and Ellesmere.
There's the watchful pigeon on Ossington.
A giant birdO flamingo graces the aptly-named Flamingo Room in the Darling Mansion.
And a hammerhead shark ode to the late Rob Stewart sits on the side of the Opus Restaurant On Prince Arthur to honour the passing of the Canadian conservationist and filmmaker.
