David Scriven

I think we move forward as rowers, facing the receding shore of the past, and memory provides the landmarks ashore that let us navigate a coherent path.  The commemoration of the past becomes a path into the future….

Excerpt from Hollow City, Rebecca Solnit, Verso, 2000

City Block is an ongoing long-term project documenting the streets and laneways encompassing Queen Street West, Ossington Avenue, Dundas Street West and Dovercourt Road. As a long-time resident of Little Portugal, I have observed and documented its rapid transformation from supporting an ethnic community to a trendy entertainment destination. 

In August 2025, I exhibited a large outdoor mural at the Alleyway Gallery, Toronto entitled City Block: Liminal Spaces. That work included four black and white images of empty storefronts from each of the defining streets in the background and five colour images from the laneways in between.  

JUX draws images from the City Block project and builds on the interaction of black and white and colour images in that recent work. In addition to placing the artist in the neighbourhood, the images in JUX emphasize the ephemeral nature of the neighbourhood public surfaces and the cryptic communications they support.

(Mural in Peeling Posters by Othello Grey, 2021)

David Scriven is a lens-based artist living in Toronto, Canada. Using analog cameras and grounded in documentary photography, his practice explores the confluence of place and time. His work tells stories through small details and circumstance, observed as a gardener views a wild space.

City Block captures the Little Portugal neighbourhood where he lives. For nearly ten years, he has documented changes in a neighbourhood as it evolves from an ethnic community to a trendy destination. Images from this series were featured in an outdoor mural at the Alleyway Gallery, Toronto in 2025.

Another project entitled Common Ground, emerged out of ancestry research started during the pandemic. This work has led to travels to where his French-Canadian ancestors first settled in the province in the 1860s. Images from this series were featured in the online magazine Carte Blanche, Issue 46.

In November 2021, he self-published a photo book entitled Alexandra Park that captured a year in the demolition and rebuilding of a Toronto west-end community housing project.

David has participated in groups shows at several galleries in Toronto and Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is his first time showing work outside of Canada.

Contact the artist directly for information on purchasing.

Contact: Dscriven57@gmail.com
Website: davidscrivenphotography.com
IG: @davidalbertscriven

May 6th to May 17th, 2026
918 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Sun and Star Rooms

Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 12pm to 5pm
Opening reception: Thursday May 7th from 6-9pm
Artist talk: Saturday, May 9th from 1-3pm