“Neil Young in Keys” by Guy Whitby

Parkside Student Residence
111 Carlton St, Toronto, ON

This custom portrait of Canadian rock and roll icon Neil Young was fabricated by Australian artist Guy Whitby using only re-purposed computer keyboard keys. This piece was commissioned for Parkside Student Residence in Toronto. Knightstone flew Guy from Australia to Toronto to create this art piece that synthesized the neighbourhood’s deep music history with its academic orientation using technology as a catalyzing link between the past and present.

It pays homage to the venerable music roots of the neighbourhood, formerly home to the McClear Recording Studios at 225 Mutual Street. Once a Toronto landmark that hosted some of the biggest names in 20th century music, including Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney, James Brown, Gordon Lightfoot, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Rush, in addition to numerous CBC television programs.

About Guy Whitby (Works by Knight)

Guy Whitby is an Australian artist specializing in the fabrication of celebrity portraits using re-purposed keyboard keys. A large part of his work is influenced by the transition from analogue to digital: “My youth was spent without computers or mobile phones yet the transition to them being such a vital part of my life seemed effortless and mandatory. Only now as our world becomes touchscreen dependent do I reminisce upon the buttons I used to push. Perhaps I draw a parallel between discarded analog devices and my own mortality. For I too one day will become discarded and irrelevant.” www.guywhitby.artstation.com