The new six-foot sculpture marks a milestone in Lanterra’s public art program and celebrates a multi-year partnership with OCAD University

Lanterra Developments, renowned for its vision of building iconic urban condominiums, proudly unveiled The Cat, the Clock and the Rock, a striking six-foot sculpture by internationally renowned British artist Ryan Gander OBE RA, on April 29, 2025. Installed at the heart of the public concourse at Artists’ Alley (234 Simcoe Street), the trio of sculptural forms serves as a bold focal point for the vibrant public concourse and marks Gander’s first permanent public art installation in Canada.

Artist Ryan Gander OBE RA and Mark Mandelbaum, Chairman of Lanterra Developments, at the unveiling of The Cat, the Clock and the Rock sculpture

First announced in 2022 following an invitational competition, the commission anchors Lanterra’s vision of blending residential life with accessible cultural experiences. The piece is located along the pedestrian promenade that connects Simcoe and St. Patrick Streets, a pedestrian-friendly corridor flanked by new residential towers, curated retail, and an evolving canvas of public art – all central to the identity of this mixed-use downtown destination.

The Cat, the Clock and the Rock (2025) is a thought-provoking sculptural trio that brings together time, history, and stillness. A mirrored stainless-steel clock, doubled in form and precision-milled to perfection, rests atop an enlarged digital replica of a 4.3-billion-year-old rock ethically sourced from the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt in Hudson Bay by geologist Jonathan O’Neil. Nestled nearby is a life-sized stone sculpture of a domestic cat, peacefully asleep in the rock’s shadow. Together, the three elements form a surreal and poetic scene, inviting viewers to reflect on the collision of the ancient, the mechanical, and the everyday.

The installation reflects Lanterra’s broader vision to blend urban development with cultural enrichment, a commitment further embodied through a meaningful partnership with OCAD University. As part of the public art initiative, Lanterra funded a mentorship bursary and supported the creation of a new minor in public art at OCAD U. In 2022, six upper-year students and alumni were selected to participate in a week-long intensive with Gander, titled A Melted Snowman, exploring public space and intervention around the OCAD U campus.

This collaboration aligns with the City of Toronto’s 10-Year Public Art Strategy and reinforces the importance of industry-education partnerships in shaping accessible and ambitious urban art experiences.

Artists’ Alley, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, is a master-planned community that includes three sold-out residential towers ranging from 18 to 39 storeys, premium retail spaces, and a central public concourse offering both visual appeal and functional connectivity to TTC’s St. Patrick Subway Station. Artists’ Alley offers a wide selection of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites with a total of 899 suites. The suite interiors are exquisitely designed by award-winning Studio Munge and detailed with splendid features and finishes. Every suite is impeccably appointed to offer the ultimate in modern condominium living, with high-quality laminate flooring, gleaming porcelain tiles, fine-crafted cabinetry, panelled and stainless steel appliances, and more. Residents also enjoy a robust suite of amenities, including a 24-hour concierge, fitness and yoga rooms, rooftop lounge, outdoor swimming pool and hot tub, party rooms, landscaped patios with BBQ areas, and a pet spa. The project is nearing completion and is already well into occupancy, offering residents the opportunity to experience this vibrant new community firsthand.

With this installation, The Cat, the Clock and the Rock joins Lanterra’s growing portfolio of public art, which includes notable works such as Immigrant Family by Tom Otterness and Dream House by Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier, further cementing the developer’s impact on Toronto’s cultural and architectural landscape.

About Ryan Gander

Ryan Gander OBE RA (b. 1976. Chester, UK) is an artist living and working across Suffolk and London in the UK. Over the past two decades, Gander has established an international reputation through a vast and pluralistic body of artworks that materialize in many different forms, ranging from sculpture, apparel and writing to architecture, painting, typefaces, publications and performance.

Through associative thought processes that connect the everyday and the esoteric, the overlooked and the commonplace, Gander’s work involves a questioning of language and knowledge, a reinvention of the modes of appearance and creation of an artwork. His work can be reminiscent of a puzzle, a network with multiple connections, the fragments of an embedded story, a huge set of hidden clues to be deciphered, encouraging viewers to make their own connections and invent their own narrative in order to solve the charade with its many solutions, staged by the artist.

Gander studied at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, NL and the Jan van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht, NL. The artist has been a Professor of Visual Art at the Universities of Huddersfield and Suffolk and holds an honorary Doctor of the Arts at the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Suffolk. In 2017 he was awarded an OBE for services to contemporary arts. In 2019 he was awarded the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University. In 2022, he was made RA for the category of Sculpture.

Recent solo shows have been held at Ishikawa Cultural Foundation, Okayama, JP; Tokyo Opera City, JP; TARO NASU, Tokyo, JP; Lisson Gallery, New York, US; Kunsthalle Bern, CH; Esther Schipper, Berlin, DE; BASE / Progeo per l’arte, Florence, IT; gb Agency, Paris, FR; Lisson Gallery, London, UK; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, JP; Hyundai Gallery, Seoul, SK; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, CA; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, AU; Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore, SG; Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK.