Statue of Alexander Wood, Former statue site in Church and Wellesley, Toronto, Canada
The statue of Alexander Wood was a 244-centimetre solid bronze figure by Del Newbigging, modelled on Georgian silhouette portraits of Wood and dressed in dandy fashion: high-collared knee-length overcoat, waistcoat with round buttons, bow tie, long hair to the collar, a round hat held at his side and a walking stick. A red rose sat on the lapel. It stood on a 1.5-metre, 10-tonne granite base with plaques; both were removed and destroyed on April 4, 2022.
The work was created by sculptor Del Newbigging and installed in 2005, becoming the first public memorial of its kind in Canada. It was removed in April 2022 after a review of the historical record of the person it represents.
The statue's lapel carried a red rose, a tribute to Pierre Trudeau, whose government decriminalized homosexuality in Canada in 1969. A plaque on the granite base described Wood's 1810 rape investigation, including a motif of a suspect's exposed buttocks; Xtra reported in 2012 that rubbing the bronze buttocks had become a lucky charm for passersby, wearing the patina smooth and bright. The statue was destroyed on April 4, 2022.
Nothing remains at the corner of Church and Alexander Streets: the granite base was removed and the space filled with concrete after the April 4, 2022 destruction. The site sits in Church and Wellesley, Toronto's gay village, reachable on foot from the Wellesley subway station.
Del Newbigging based the design on Georgian silhouette portraits but added fashion elements tied to a later dandyism movement, mixing two distinct historical styles in one figure. This makes the statue look noticeably different from most monuments found on Toronto's streets.
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